Set in 1864 in Australia, this is a story of love in a
foreign land, of discovering the world that opens to your heart when you
embrace the things you fear the most. When her employer to whom she served as a
companion dies, Englishwoman Amanda Davenport is suddenly stranded in Port
Adelaide, Australia with no funds. Desperate and running out of money, she
accepts a position as governess to Patrick O’Reilly’s three children in the
isolated wilderness of the Flinders Ranges in the Outback (see picture below).
Her only thought was to work for a year to secure passage home to England.
What happens when you love the man but hate the land he
loves? And when he’s not even free to call you his own? That is the dilemma
faced by Amanda. And the land she hates is harsh: “It was the endless, aching
vistas of a land empty of all pretense, where everything was raw and vast and
awe-inspiringly magnificent. A land as wild and wide open and untamable as a
man’s soul.”
Proctor has once again served up a sweeping saga, a
compelling tale of conflicting emotions, as the hero and heroine are forced to
deal with the ghosts of their past and the failings of others.
Her descriptions of wild Outback Australia are so vivid you
will feel like you’re there. She includes exciting scenes of a horse race that
will have you on the edge of your seat and a massive dust storm that will make
you taste the sand. The secondary characters are wonderful, especially the O’Reilly’s
children.
As lovers of historical romance, we are used to reading
about a man leaving a woman, but in this story, it’s the O’Reilly men who fall
in love with Englishwomen only to have them leave because they hate Australia. And
when a woman comes along who might be different, whose love might compel her to
stay, well…
Let me just say, you will not be disappointed with this one.
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