Helpful Score: 3
didn't like this one that much.
Reeve McKenna and his brother, Jamie are separated as teenagers in Ireland as Jamie is transported for thievery and Reeve departs on a whaling ship for Australia. 20 years have passed and Reeve has spent a good portion of that time trying to find his brother.
Maggie Chamberlain is an actress in London who believes Philip when he tells her he loves her and has her travel to Sydney as an indigent who will then be expected to repay her passage as a servant for three years unless she marries. Of course, Philip has no intention of marrying her and even fails to appear when the ship finally arrives. Maggie is thrust into a situation that is totally beyond her abilities. She has hot hunky men after her, mortal enemies Duncan and Reeve.
I picked this up because I'm fascinated with Australia and hoped to get some good descriptions of the surrounding countryside so I could enjoy Australia vicariously. Unfortunately, there wasn't much "Australia" in the story at all. Yes it took place in Sydney, Brisbane and Queensland but beyond the description of the ocean and the houses, there wasn't much Australian to be had. Oh well, the story was okay but not great. The animosity between Duncan and Reeve was fun. The whore Loretta bopping back and forth between them was annoying. And Eleanor, what a scank.
I simply felt that it was dragged out much further than need be and it didn't even get exciting until about 250 pages in after the whaling accident. Then the action ramped up and it finally turned into a page-turner as expected of a novel by Linda Lael Miller. Interestingly enough, I was more interested in Jamie's story and can't wait to get my hands on that book, Angelfire.
Maggie Chamberlain is an actress in London who believes Philip when he tells her he loves her and has her travel to Sydney as an indigent who will then be expected to repay her passage as a servant for three years unless she marries. Of course, Philip has no intention of marrying her and even fails to appear when the ship finally arrives. Maggie is thrust into a situation that is totally beyond her abilities. She has hot hunky men after her, mortal enemies Duncan and Reeve.
I picked this up because I'm fascinated with Australia and hoped to get some good descriptions of the surrounding countryside so I could enjoy Australia vicariously. Unfortunately, there wasn't much "Australia" in the story at all. Yes it took place in Sydney, Brisbane and Queensland but beyond the description of the ocean and the houses, there wasn't much Australian to be had. Oh well, the story was okay but not great. The animosity between Duncan and Reeve was fun. The whore Loretta bopping back and forth between them was annoying. And Eleanor, what a scank.
I simply felt that it was dragged out much further than need be and it didn't even get exciting until about 250 pages in after the whaling accident. Then the action ramped up and it finally turned into a page-turner as expected of a novel by Linda Lael Miller. Interestingly enough, I was more interested in Jamie's story and can't wait to get my hands on that book, Angelfire.
Good read.
Stranded by a shattered promise on Australia's vast shores, Maggie Chamberlin vowed to shape a new Iife for herself in Sydney. Then she encountered arrogant, wealty Reeve Mckenna, a man as ruggedly splendid as the Australian wilderness. Though he thrilled Maggie's senses and held her proud, untried heart captive, Reeve could not be hers alone. For he was obsessed by a lifelong hope -- to find his beloved brother James, lost two decades before.
Torn between the clash of their wills and the sweet dark rush of desire, they rose time and again to rapture. But Reeve's fierce hunger for the Yankee beauty was not yet love, and Maggie would have the pleasure of his passion and the full surrender of his heart -- or nothing at all!
Torn between the clash of their wills and the sweet dark rush of desire, they rose time and again to rapture. But Reeve's fierce hunger for the Yankee beauty was not yet love, and Maggie would have the pleasure of his passion and the full surrender of his heart -- or nothing at all!
This was a fun historical romance set in 1887 Australia. Maggie Chamberlain has arrived in Australia as an emigrant thinking that she was engaged to be married and that she would be playing the lead role in the play The Taming of the Shrew. To her dismay she finds that her fiance did not think she would actual come to Australia and he has no plans to marry her. He also has no authority to give her a role in the play. This means that Maggie must work as a servant for 3 years unless she can find someone to marry her. Enter 2 men both of whom want to marry her. Both are wealthy landowners, Kirk Duncan from America and the Reeve McKenna from Ireland. The 2 men have a history and dislike each other which adds an element of suspense to the story. Both want to control Maggie who has been an orphan for 12 years and is use to caring for herself. She is fiesty and is determined to make her own way even though Reeve buys her "papers" so she does not have to work as a servant. She does work as a nanny for Kirk's 2 sons but after a confrontation over what Maggie views as a too sexual advance she flees to Reeve who she has fallen in love with. Reeve has no interest in falling in love or getting married, he is too busy trying to find his brother Jamie. By accident Maggie encounters Jamie who makes her promise that she will never tell Reeve. The banter between Reeve and Maggie is great and shows how strong Maggie really is even though she is in not so good a situation. After Reeve suffers a great mental trauma and has what today we call PTSD, Maggie cares for him and he realizes that he loves her and wants to marry her. The book has a happy ever after ending but leaves wide open the continuation of Reeve's story as he continues his 20 year search for Jamie.
Great Book
from back cover
an american beauty stranded by a shattered promise on AusrrLIA'S VAST SHORES.............
aGOOD FUN READ ABOUT LOVE, HONOR & aUSTRALIA BEAUTY ALL AROUND.
an american beauty stranded by a shattered promise on AusrrLIA'S VAST SHORES.............
aGOOD FUN READ ABOUT LOVE, HONOR & aUSTRALIA BEAUTY ALL AROUND.
Great book - goes with her book "Angelfire".
Stranded by a shattered promise on Australia's vast shores, Maggie Chamberlin vowed to shape a new Iife for herself in Sydney. Then she encountered arrogant, wealty Reeve Mckenna, a man as ruggedly splendid as the Australian wilderness. Though he thrilled Maggie'ssenses and held her proud, untried heart captive, Reeve could not be hers alone. For he was obsessed by a lifelong hope -- to find his beloved brother James, lost two decades before.
Torn between the clash of their wills and the sweetdark rush of desire, they rose time and again to rapture. But Reeve's fierce hunger for the Yankee beauty was not yet love, and Maggie would have the pleasure of his passion and the full surrender of his heart -- or nothing at all!
Torn between the clash of their wills and the sweetdark rush of desire, they rose time and again to rapture. But Reeve's fierce hunger for the Yankee beauty was not yet love, and Maggie would have the pleasure of his passion and the full surrender of his heart -- or nothing at all!
