Emma - Outback Brides of Wirralong

Title: Emma - Outback Brides of Wirralong

Author: Kelly Hunter

Publisher: 5th June 2019 by Tule Publishing

Pages: 149 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: romance, womens fiction

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Lady Emmaline Lewellyn Grayson has never felt at home in her stuffy, aristocratic world. She might look the part of a Lady and play it to perfection, but a wilder world has always beckoned. A world where people say what they mean and keep their promises. A world where, if a man says "I love you," the next word isn’t “but…” 

Liam McNair is a rough and tumble cattleman with a station to run and no time to babysit a fragile English rose. But if Lady Em needs a keeper for the short time she’ll be in Australia, it might as well be him. He’ll show her the Outback, keep her out of trouble, maybe have a little fun and at the end of her stay he’ll gladly wave her on her way. 

Three months. Two worlds. One proposal. Decision time.

My Thoughts

The Outback Brides of Wirralong is a series of romance books by a selection of Australian authors.  Together they bring to life a fictional Victorian town through selected stories filled with drama and romance. Each book can be read as a standalone. Having read Barbara Hannay’s contribution (HERE),  I could not pass up the opportunity to read another, as I had so enjoyed the first. 

‘No guarantees of safety here—that wasn’t the way the outback worked. But knowledge and awareness and attentiveness were her tools and she used them to the best of her ability.’

Yet again I was impressed with the writing, a meaningful little story that really packs a punch. Cliched? Of course - but that’s the point!  It guarantees light and entertaining escapism, a series that has truly proved engaging - strong women finding suitable soulmates. This instalment introduces us to Emma, an English heiress and the life lessons she is encountering. Her leading man, Liam, is a real sweetie and I loved both their back stories which brings them to present day where their paths cross. 

“I always thought it would be hard to break away from my father. It’s not.” That was the wonder and in some ways the sadness of it all. “I’m still scared of being alone, don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t hard to finally stand up for myself and let him know I’m done.”

A certain highlight in this story is the location itself. Taking place on a large and remote desert property, one could almost feel the red sand on the skin or the blazing orange of a sunset. You really get a sense of isolation and how it is a labour of love to tend such a property,  a real calling in life, as it was for Liam. 

“As always, be respectful of the land, the people around you and the cattle in our care. Welcome to Country.”

I appreciated the characters, but especially the leads and was quickly hooked into Liam and Emma’s tale, particularly enjoying her chatter and self doubt. This is quite the complete little novella and I congratulate Kelly Hunter on providing such a well rounded tale, a joy to read, in a such a small time frame. Fabulous weekend read.

‘There was loneliness and there was being alone and what she was feeling was the second one and it was truly something.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.