Welcome to Booktoberfest, Booktopia’s annual celebration of books, authors and of course you – our readers and book lovers!
In this post I’ve selected the best life and love books – everything from Rachael Johns’ The Art of Keeping Secrets, Belinda Alexandra’s Southern Ruby , Christina Lauren’s Beautiful and the latest from Helen Fielding.
If you order any of the books from this post, you’ll go into the draw to win a fiction prize pack worth $1000! And, if you order any book from the Booktoberfest Showcase you’ll go into the draw to win a year’s supply of books. That’s a $50 gift voucher every week – for an entire year!
Hayley Shephard’s Book of the Month
The Art of Keeping Secrets
by Rachael Johns
They’ve been best friends since their sons started high school together, and Felicity, Emma and Neve share everything … or so they thought.
But Flick’s seemingly perfect marriage hides a shocking secret which, with one word, threatens to destroy her and her family’s happiness. Emma is in denial about a potential custody battle, her financial constraints, the exhaustion she can’t seem to shake off and the inappropriate feelings she has for her boss. And single mum Neve is harbouring a secret of her own; a secret that might forever damage her close-knit relationship with her son.
When the tight hold they have each kept on their secrets for years begins to slip, they must face the truth. Even if that truth has the power to hurt the ones they love, and each other… Learn more.
Hayley chats about her Life & Love Books of the Month
Hayley Shephard’s Life & Love Picks of the Month
Bridget Jones’s Baby
The Bridget Jones Series: Book 4
Helen Fielding
As Bridget careers towards baby-deadline, tortured by Smug Mothers miming her ticking biological clock, a series of classic Bridget Jones moments finally leads her into pregnancy – but just not quite as intended.
It’s a pregnancy full of cheesy potatoes, outlandish advice from Drunken Singletons and Smug Mothers, chaos at scans and childbirth classes, high jinks and romance, joy and despair – but all of it dominated by the terribly awkward question – ‘Who’s the Father?’ … Learn more.
Beautiful
The Beautiful Bastard Series: 10th Story
by Christina Lauren
The tenth work in the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling series that started with Beautiful Bastard. This one focuses on the love life of Jensen, the brother of the heroine in Beautiful Player. A movie of the series is in the works with Constantin and Lionsgate.
A new couple finds love, and the casts of the previous books join in to celebrate this series finale in the most Beautiful way possible… Learn more.
Southern Ruby – Order Your Signed Copy!
by Belinda Alexandra
Forbidden love. Family secrets. A twist of fate. The stunning new generational saga from Belinda Alexandra, bestselling author of Tuscan Rose and White Gardenia.
In New Orleans – the city of genteel old houses and ancient oak trees covered in Spanish moss, of seductive night life, of Creole culture, voodoo and jazz – two women separated by time and tragedy will find each other at last.
Amanda, orphaned as a child and suffering the loss of her beloved grandmother, has left Sydney in search of a family she never knew. Ruby, constrained by the expectations of society and class, is carrying a lifetime of secrets. Amanda’s arrival sparks revelations long buried: a double life, a forbidden love, and a loss that cannot be forgotten… Learn more
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The Birdman’s Wife
by Melissa Ashley
Artist Elizabeth Gould spent her life capturing the sublime beauty of birds the world had never seen before. But her legacy was eclipsed by the fame of her husband, John Gould. The Birdman’s Wife at last gives voice to a passionate and adventurous spirit who was so much more than the woman behind the man.
Elizabeth was a woman ahead of her time, juggling the demands of her artistic life with her roles as wife, lover, helpmate, and mother to an evergrowing brood of children. In a golden age of discovery, her artistry breathed wondrous life into hundreds of exotic new species, including Charles Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches.
Melissa Ashley answers the Booktopia Book Guru’s Ten Terrifying Questions
Secrets of a Happy Marriage
by Cathy Kelly
Number One bestseller Cathy Kelly returns with a sparkling tale of family, friends, and marriages in trouble, told with her trademark Irish wit, warmth and wisdom.
It’s a very special birthday party, a chance to get family and friends together and raise a glass in celebration. And no one throws a party like the Brannigans.
For Bess, hosting the lavish weekend at Lisowen Castle to celebrate her new husband’s birthday is a chance to show the world how far they’ve come. Yes, Ed may once have been the poor boy from the village, but look at him now. But who knew joining a new family could be so difficult?
For Ed’s daughter Jojo, having a new stepmother was never going to be easy, especially when the memory… Learn more.
Must Have Titles For Christmas
Did You Love…?
One with You
The Crossfire Series: Book 5
by Sylvia Day
The final chapter in the global blockbuster Crossfire quintet.
Gideon Cross. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It happened instantly. Completely. Irrevocably. Marrying him was a dream come true. Staying married to him is the fight of my life. Love transforms. Ours is both a refuge from the storm and the most violent of tempests. Two damaged souls entwined as one.
We have bared our deepest, ugliest secrets to one another. Gideon is the mirror that reflects all my flaws…and all the beauty I couldn’t see. He has given me everything. Now, I must prove… Learn more.
Kamila Shamsie tells us all about her novel: “Best Of Friends” 
On The Pod: Booktoberfest Edition – Myf Warhurst, Taylor John Smith and more!
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