The Outback Cowboy’s Christmas Baby

Kelly Hunter

Nov 2025 · Outback Christmas Book 3 · Tule Publishing

About this ebook

She’s pregnant. He’s furious. And Christmas is coming. 

Mac Bodie doesn’t do roots, relationships, or Christmas cheer. A former ward of the state, he’s built an empire from forgotten land, turning dust into millions. Now he’s seized a cattle station next to his maybe-brother’s spread, hell-bent on unmasking the family who abandoned him as a baby.

Jess Lean doesn’t mind hard work, single-handedly running the cattle station her ailing father manages for a distant owner. But when Bodie—her unforgettable one-night stand—buys the land and uncovers their struggles, he’s no longer the laughing hero of her dreams. Worse, he spots her pregnancy before she does!

With Christmas closing in, vengeance within reach, and fatherhood looming, Bodie faces a brutal reckoning. Jess, whose passion still haunts him, refuses to marry him unless he dares to leave his past behind. Will he rise to become the man two unexpected families need, forging a legacy of love and forgiveness?

All he must do is take a chance on love and bare his fragile, guarded heart.

Ratings and reviews

A one-night stand leads to an unexpected pregnancy. When Mac arrived in Wirralong, he had no idea his life was about to change in more ways than he expected. His plan was to find his family, if they existed. But then he met Jess and their one night together ended in a pregnancy changing both of their lives in way neither had planned. This is a well written, unforgettable story with great characters. I couldn’t get enough of this book. I wanted it to last longer.

The holiday is always at an unexpected twist to any story. The lead characters are both strong-willed and determined. The mail character has some history of working through some issues that he wants answers to. Just love I like that they are both hard-working and have ranches that they love. There may be a few complications that spring up and they have to deal with that. But it makes for interesting reading. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a revie

A sweet and endearing story of love and of struggles. The pain and fears of the main characters are well written and convey to the reader the depth of emotion they feel. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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.