Maggie's Run

Kelly Hunter

Jun 2018 · Outback Brides Book 1 · Tule Publishing

About this ebook

 Maggie Walker has never called Wirra Station home. Orphaned as a child, she spent more time at boarding school, and then working in the city, than she ever spent on the edge of the outback. But when her great aunt dies, Maggie inherits everything and reluctantly returns to tidy the place up before selling. 

Ambitious cowboy-next-door Max O’Connor has the means and the desire to buy Wirra Station outright and return it to its former glory. But first, he wants elusive Maggie Walker to know what she’s giving up. He challenges her to live at Wirra Station for three months—with him as farm manager. Just one season–and if she still doesn’t love the place, he’ll gladly pay up and she can be cashed-up and careless, with no ties to anything or anyone.

Three months. Two hearts. One Summer. Roll on.

Ratings and reviews

Maggie's Run is the first book in a new multi author series from Tule Publishing and so far I am really enjoying what I've read. The series is set in the Australian Outback and this author's writing style brought the setting to life for me. The story had a nice easy flow, that along with some great characters made it a wonderful relaxing read. I enjoyed the banter between Maggie and Max and their nice slow build romance. Max really challenges Maggie and the time they spend together has her learning to love the crazy little town of Wirra Station as well as Max. I would definitely recommend this one.

Maggie Walker returns to Wirra Station after her great aunt's death. An orphan who nearly died in the car accident that killed both her parents, Maggie has had a chequered history with her great aunt and the boy next door Max O'Connor. She intends to sell the property but Max convinces her to spend three months, learning about how to manage the farm and come to peace with the past before she sells up and moves back to the city for good. I hate to have to say this because I have enjoyed several of Kelly Hunter's other novels but this was just a bit meh. Maggie has had a difficult childhood and Max has been front and centre for much of her worst moments. He sort of hates her for leaving him, but not really. There's a mild sub-plot about trying to divide the ownership of Wirra Station so that Max gets the land for farming and Maggie has a smaller area around the house to run a wedding planning business. Even worse, it was all a bit fade to black. If my review seems vague it's because nothing really stuck. There was nothing wrong with the novel, but it also didn't have any grit, it was all a bit greige for me the reader. I saw that the second book in this series is available for request on NetGalley but I won't be requesting it. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

First off let me say WOW the book cover is stunning! I was drawn to this book and in fact this 4 book series because i wanted to read about a place I would love to visit but knew i would never be able to go to. This book took me there and more. I was amazed at how vivid the descriptions were in the book and i felt like I was actually on the Wirra Station with Maggie and Max. I could see the change in Maggie and the relationship with her and Max. As I read this book it touched my heart as it was so close to how my life was with my mom (her great Aunt Carmel was cold like my mom). This book has it all friendships, romance and yes even a bit of mystery. I loved the story and look forward to more in this series.

About the author

Kelly Hunter is a romance writer who was born and raised in Newcastle Australia. She earned an honours degree in Rural Science and afterwards worked within the university system as a research fellow in biochemistry. From there I went to the cotton fields as an agronomist, then the Department of Primary Industries, then Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO. She began writing romance stories while she was home-schooling her children. She soon joined the Romance Writers of Australia and became registrar, secretary, vice president and then president before stepping back in 2010. She then completed a two year stint as executive editor for Tule Publishing Group's Holiday imprint which gave her a chance to help shape a new contemporary romance line and work with favourite authors across the globe. Her awards include Favourite Short Category Romance for the years 2011-2013, from the Australian Romance Readers Association and Romantic Novella of the Year nominee 2013 from the Romance Writers of Australia. In 2015 she was named a finalist for the Australian Romance Readers Awards. She won the 2017 Australian Romance Readers Awards, Favourite short or category romance, with her story, Casey.