The Starnberg Series

Set in the glamorous world of opera, the book charts the tempestuous and passionate relationship between the world-famous soprano, Marie Nyman, and Arabella Cooper, a young pianist and aspiring conductor. Marie is married and deeply in the closet, Arabella out and proud. Can Marie overcome her fears and acknowledge the love of her life, as Arabella’s career takes off? Two beautiful women battle their demons in locations as diverse as New York, London, Vienna, and Munich.

Juliette Simon is married, more or less unhappily, and is the most popular folk/pop singer in the German-speaking world. She is Marie and Arabella Cooper-Nyman’s new neighbour, and lives in her purpose-built villa on Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. She meets and falls in love with one of her backing singers, Jodie Sanchez. Their story is one full of trials and tribulations. Juliette must confront the homophobia rampant in the folk music world. Jodie must decide: her solo career in the USA, or Juliette?

In Give Me Time, the story unfolds around Leonie Brandt, a nineteen-year-old aspiring artist and theatre designer, daughter of the Cooper-Nyman’s housekeeper. Her life takes an intriguing turn when she meets the accomplished young director, Pia Hartmann. Despite an undeniable attraction, Pia hesitates, finding Leonie too youthful for romance.

As Leonie starts her career, their paths cross intermittently, sparking a tumultuous mix of longing and frustration. Leonie’s journey into romantic relationships between women begins under the mentorship of an older companion, leading her into a passionate affair with the enchanting opera singer, Thea Doukas. Meanwhile, Pia, trapped in a lackluster relationship, yearns for the bond she once shared with Leonie. As Leonie matures and becomes entrenched in the world of theatre and opera, both women navigate the complexities of their desires and careers. Pia finds herself struggling to break free from her unsatisfactory relationship in hopes of rekindling what she and Leonie once had. With emotions running high and ambitions at stake, the question remains: Have they missed their moment, or is a shared future still within reach?

This third installment of The Starnberg Series delves deep into the emotional whirlpool of sex, love, and ambition, capturing the essence of youthful aspiration and the trials of the heart.

Thea Doukas is on a downward spiral, attempting to recover from a broken heart after her lover Leonie Brandt marries Pia Hartmann. On the rebound, she goes from affair to affair, until she finds some peace staying with Suzanne Weigl and her wife Beth in their house on lake Starnberg.

A dilapidated house next door is up for sale and Leonie suggests they buy it together. Thea is doubtful she can ever live so close to Leonie and Pia, until she meets Leonie’s best friend Emma Stoiber. Winter sport dominates the area, and Emma is on the German biathlon A Team. Thea is immediately infatuated, but Emma has a boyfriend. A full-blown crisis erupts when an intimate photo appears in a scandal newspaper. They separate, their expectations too difficult to reconcile.

A slow-burn romance between two women from very different worlds.

This is the fourth book in the Starnberg series.

Lennie Adams is a stage manager and aspiring director working in London’s West End. While employed on a dubious revival of Noël Coward’s nostalgic play Private Lives, she meets renowned classical actress Melanie Blaine. The beautiful woman is imprisoned in an unhappy marriage to a TV soap star.

Their mutual attraction leads to a tour romance. Back in London and struggling to maintain their affair, reality intervenes and a dramatic traffic accident triggers Melanie’s repressed guilt. She spirals into a breakdown.

Lennie wants to help Mel heal, if only she’ll allow it. Or will Melanie’s anguish overwhelm them both?

Join this stirring backstage drama of two creative spirits grappling to overcome ghosts from the past.

With the enchanting backdrop of Lake Starnberg as its setting, the novel features Alexandra ‘Sasha’ Strauss, a young woman of Japanese and German descent, who finds herself on the cusp of love and career. As she tutors the challenging daughter of Marie Nyman and Arabella Cooper during her last year of university, Sasha’s path unexpectedly crosses that of the enigmatic French-Canadian film producer, Dominique Thibault.

Dominique, a woman with a mysterious past, is collaborating with the renowned director Juliette Simon on a film located in a run-down hotel on the south side of the lake.

Sasha, an aspiring professional photographer, seizes the opportunity to intern as a stills photographer on their set.

Amid the glitz and glamour of the movie world, an undeniable attraction ignites between the ambitious intern and the aloof producer.

As Sasha and Dominique navigate their growing feelings, secrecy becomes paramount. However, when Sasha is framed by a malicious individual on set, Dominique’s response shatters their delicate trust. Can they overcome the pain and rebuild what they once had, or will their love be lost forever?

Sybilla Frank, fledgling star of the new film, The Jawlensky Trail, based on Emma Stoiber’s captivating thriller and directed by the talented Juliette Simon, feels her life is perfect. Happily married to her husband Thomas, and scaling the career ladder, Sybilla arrives on set for the first day of rehearsals. An immediate confrontation with her co-star, Hannah Snyman reveals an unprecedented antipathy between the two actresses. They snipe at each other to the growing irritation of the film’s director, until a stunt gone wrong unexpectedly brings them closer together. But is the affair merely a torrid film set romance, or could it be something deeper? Hannah’s commitment issues threaten to stand in the way of a more permanent relationship when they are torn apart as filming ends.

Go softly, goodbye is the seventh instalment in the acclaimed Starnberg Series.

Discover the depths of Sybilla and Hannah’s journey in this must-read novel.

This seventh installment of The Starnberg Series delves deeply into the emotional whirlpool of sex, love, and ambition between the two women.

In the eighth and final book of the Starnberg set series, no couple escapes the grip of misfortune. They find themselves in a true annus horribilis. From a terrifying cancer scare and a child's meningitis to a life-altering car crash in distant Toronto and the unravelling of a once-strong love, this year is a true battleground.

As the women confront these challenges, their bonds of friendship and support deepen, providing a lifeline through the storm. Amid the turmoil, an older love rekindles: Sybilla's mother, Emmeline Merting, faces a family tragedy and rediscovers her first love, the formidable divorce lawyer Magdalena von Reichenbach. The eye of the storm as chaos whirls around the lives of the others.

Will anyone emerge unscathed?