By: SA Jones/Allen&Unwin

The dress haunts my steps. Flashes of red on the street mesmerize me. It flutters through my dream life like a taunting red banner. Sometimes there is just the barest hint of it so. I am not even certain that it flared at all…Here’s the story of an intimate circle of friends and a couple, Will and Emily crazily in love with each other. Then, one day, Will gives Emily a stunning, very sexy red dress. And somehow, everything changes!

Hot Tip: A clever novel about break-ups and breakdowns.

By: Dennis Lehane/Harper

Celebrated crime novelist Dennis takes on the historical genre to churn out a stunner, set in Boston at the end of WWI. US post war politics and morality come under his creative gaze as two families one black, one white are caught up in a maelstrom of revolutionaries, anarchists, immigrants, all battling for survival. In focus are beat cop Danny (striving to unionise Boston Police) and baseballer Luther Lawrence (a black man on the run from the mafia, striving to reunite with his pregnant wife). As their paths cross, we also meet historical figures like baseseller Babe Ruth, playwright Eugene O’Neill and US president Calvin Coolidge and reenter events such as the Spanish influenza of 1918 and the violent Boston police strike of 1919-all cameos that add a dash of authenticity to the very imaginative, very ambitious writing.

Hot Tip: A fiery read, with epic potential!

By: Alison Goodman / Bantam

Enter a realm of ancient Chinese lore, redolent of such visions as seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Eon is training to become a Dragoneye, a powerful Lord who can command wind and water to nurture his land. But Eon has a desperate secret: He is, in fact, Eona, a young woman! If exposed, his masquerade will mean certain death, because girls are not allowed to practise martial arts. But even with his subterfuge, Eon is brilliant enough to catch the Emperor’s eye. Summoned to court, he’s thrust into a lethal struggle for the throne. Poison- laced politics and sexual intrigue make this tale truly timeless!

HOT Tip: The truth can be a deadly thing to say in a world of lies. Fantabulous figment of a fearlessly fertile mind!