# New Titles and Recommendations April 2026 Source: https://ballaratmi.org.au/new-titles-and-recommendations-april-2026/ ## New Releases ## Rosemary recommends > ##### Mystery *The Girls Before | Kate Alice Marshall* [Reserve](https://ballaratmi.org.au/reserve-a-library-book/) ##### Mystery *What the Bones Know | Kirstyn McDermott* ##### Aus Mystery *Dark Desert Road | Tim Ayliffe* ##### Aus Mystery *Haze | Sam Elliott* ##### Aus Mystery *Old Games | Fiona Hardy* ##### Aus Mystery *On The Edge | Kate Horan* ##### Aust Mystery *Antihero | Gregg Hurwitz* ##### Aus Mystery *Two Islands | Ian Kemish* ##### Aus Mystery *Shellybanks | Louise Milligan* ##### Aus Mystery *The Cursed Road | Laura McCluskey* ##### Aus Mystery *The Pact | Lisa Walker* ##### Historical *The Strawberry House | Rachel Burton* ##### Historical *The Shock of the Light | Lori Inglis Hall* ##### Historical *The Girls of Good Fortune | Kristine McMorris* ##### Historical *Meet the Newmans | Jennifer Niven* ##### Historical *The Orphans at the Irish Adoption House | Michelle Vernal* ##### Historical *The Inn at Penglas Cover | Lauren Westwood* ##### Historical *The Violin Maker's Secret | Evie Woods* ##### Aus Historical *A Far-Flung Life | M.L. Stedman* ##### Romance *The Island Retreat | Cathy Kelly* ##### Romance *An Almost Perfect Summer | Juill Mansell* ##### Romance *This Book Made Me Think of You | Libby Page* ##### Aus Romance *The Last Poem | Courtney Peppernell* ##### Novel *The Secrets of the Lost Vineyard | Erin Palmisano* ##### Aus Novel *Iluka | Cassie Stroud* ##### Aus Novel *Three Summers | Karen Swan* ##### Aus Novel *In a Common Hour | Sita Walker* ##### Psychological *My Husband's Wife | Alice Feeney* ##### Non Fiction *Letter from Provence: A Memoir | Sheryle Bagwell* ##### Non Fiction #### Rosemary's Newsletter ##### Authors of the Month **Fiona Lowe** Fiona has lived in Edmonton Canada, Madison Wisconsin, and currently lives close to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. In 2005 she sold her first Medical Romance to Harlequin Mills and Boon. Since then she’s written nine books won a Catarmomance Reviewer’s Award and has been nominated for the Ruby (Australia’s premier romance writing award). *Fiona Lowe, author* **Anna Johnston** Anna lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughters. *The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife* is her first novel. Anna left an imminent career in medicine to follow her heart into her grandfather’s nursing home where she became the social support coordinator, When injury left her unable to continue, she began to write about it. Anna has enjoyed a lifelong passion for theatre, screenplay, travel and creative ageing. *Anna Johnston, author* **Both Fiona & Anna will be in conversation at the BMI this month. Find out more below.** [Get Tickets](https://events.humanitix.com/host/bmiballarat) Book of the Month A Far-Flung Life M.L. Stedman **Western Australia, 1958 where, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a remote sheep station, Meredith Downs. A million acres, it’s an ocean of arid land.** One ordinary day, on a lonely road, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds, the lives of his entire family are shattered. Then, instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBide, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide, as he is forced to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness. Recommeded Reads The Inn at Penglas Cove Lauren Westwood **When Juno’s marriage implodes, an unexpected inheritance offers her a way out: a crumbling inn perched high on a Cornish cliff, left to her by a great-aunt she never knew.** Hoping to give her children a fresh start, Juno swaps city life for windswept coastal walks and salty sea air…only to find that the Cross Keys Inn is steeped in secrets. Locals talk of pirates and a mysterious ghost shop connected to the chilling tale of Bess Trevelyn, murdered at the inn two centuries before. Meeting the handsome but cold landowner Will Penhelion, a descendent of poor Bess’s husband, Juno realises the past and present are entwined in ways she never imagined. This Book Made Me Think Of You Libby Page **When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husand waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock, as her husand Joe died five months ago.** The gift is simple – twelve carefully chosen books from Joe, one for each month… Shellybanks Louise Milligan **On the sands of Shellybanks, where tides can quickly turn treacherous, journalist Kate Deleney once nearly drowned. Years later, reeling from a violent cime that has upended her life in Melbourne, she returns to Dublin to comfort her beloved aunt Dolores-only to discover Dolores has her own buried trauma.** As a teenager, Dolores was drawn into a disturbing religious movement that stole her youth, her freedom, and so much more. With Katie’s help she is determined to confront the powerful network that made her suffer years of silence and shame. **Find out about our Author Talks** [Author Talks](https://ballaratmi.org.au/talks/)