Votive

La Serenissima - a beautiful but deadly city where corrupt aristocrats rule and everything, including love, has a price. Tallow is anything but a simple candlemaker and when she has everything taken away from her - friends, family, hope - all she can do to survive is rely on the Maleovellis. Casting aside the safety of her disguise, she becomes cold-hearted Tarlo, female courtesan and the toast of those who, if they knew her secret, would destroy her. But the intrigues of the Serenissian nobility are nothing against the larger forces moving within the world. And Tallow's enemies have a hidden asset: the one thing they know she cannot possibly resist.

Associate Professor Karen Brooks is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland and has a PhD in cultural studies. Renowned internationally for her work on popular culture, Karen is also a dynamic and award-winning teacher. She is a weekly columnist for The Courier Mail and an 'expert' on Channel 7's Sunrise and The Morning Show and has appeared on 60Minutes. She was also a regular on ABC's The Einstein Factor as part of the Brains Trust. Author of the popular Cassandra Klein quartet and Rifts through Quentaris, Karen's first non-fiction book Consuming Innocence: Popular Culture and Our Children was published in 2008 to rave reviews. In recognition of the public debates she has stimulated and her academic and creative contributions to Australian and global society, she is cited in Who's Who of Australian Women 2007-2011, as well as Who's Who in the World. Karen has a wonderful partner, Stephen, and two gorgeous children, Adam and Caragh, and shares her house with her cuddly dogs and, occasionally, her fabulous friends as well.