Once they were Outback bad boys. Now they're rich, powerful men . . . At sixteen, Ric Donato wanted Lara Seymour - but they were worlds apart, and frustration pushed Ric into rebellion. Years later he's a city tycoon and he can have anything he wants . . . Or can he? When Lara comes back into Ric's life she's more desirable than ever - and just as far out of his reach. Living a glamorous life with another man, Lara seems to have it all. But she's living a lie, and Ric knows it. He's determined to save Lara and he'll do whatever it takes - kidnap her . . . marry her!
Emma Darcy is the pseudonym created by the married writing team of Wendy (1940-2020) and Frank Brennan (1936-1995). Their life journey has taken as many twists and turns as the characters in their stories, whose international popularity has resulted in over sixty-million book sales. With more than a hundred titles, Emma Darcy appeared regularly on the Waldenbooks bestseller lists in the U.S.A. and in the Nielson BookScan Top 100 chart in the U.K.
Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia. Her sister was the novelist Maureen Mary (Miranda Lee). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. She obtained an Honours degree in Latin and initially worked as a high school English/French teacher. She married Frank Brennan, an Australian businessman born in 1936. She changed careers to computer programming before marriage and motherhood settled her into a community life. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.
As voracious readers, the step to writing their own books seemed a natural progression and the challenge of creating exciting stories was soon highly addictive. They were published since 1983. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrotes books on her own. She lived in a beachside property on the central coast of New South Wales, and liked to travel extensively to research settings and increase her experience of places and people.
Wendy Brennan passed away on December 21, 2020. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sister, writer Miranda Lee.
I’m sorry but heroine was a coward! I didn’t like her actions...at all. When I started the book I loved the preview and was looking forward to it. I loved heroine too but then she messed up everything. She got so confused that even I got confused along with her! Hero ..now he was a sweetheart. I loved his honor, loyalty and determination. When he heared about heroine’s predictions he left everything to go to her even though it’s been 16 years since he last saw her. He helped her without any selfishness. Epilogue was cute and satisfactory. Recommended.
The way this one began I thought it was going to be a 4 or 5 starrer ! But the author veered off the sensible plot line and brought in a bizarre conflict into the story.
A woman not being sure about who the father of her child is, now that's an idea I find unpalatable under any circumstances.
Rich girl, poor boy, child hood sweethearts. Get separated. She gets married to a scoundrel. He gets convicted of stealing and goes to serve a sentence in the remote Australian outback.
Cut to 18 years later. He is rich by now, happens to catch a photo of the girl with evidence of physical abuse. Goes and rescues her right away. Their reunion after the bittersweet loss of an innocent past is poignant.
But from here the story takes a weird turn. Instead of rebuilding her life and restoring her relationship with the hero, she gets pregnant on Day 1 and keeps fretting over who the father might be. She also manages to push the hero out of her life and hurt him after all that he has done for her.
In the end, they decide it doesn't matter whether the father is the scoundrel dead husband or the hero. Love is beyond all that trivia.
Hmm. Only if you can stomach a h who spends the first half of the book married to the OM and the second half of the book wondering if the baby daddy is her ddh or the H. Give me a vengeful, alpha hole H seeking revenge against the misunderstood or mistaken identity h (preferably via a MOC plot). When I realized where this was going, I started skimming so maybe I missed the explanation that made it less icky for a Harly H to have good reason to demand a DNA test.
PS ddh = dearly departed husband
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Ric Donato rela melakukan apa saja demi meniadakan perbedaan derajat sosial antara dirinya dan Lara Seymour. Termasuk ketika Ric mencuri Porsche untuk Lara. Sayangnya Ric tertangkap, dan dia dihukum harus menjalani hukuman di Outback (peternakan domba) di Gundamurra. Sejak saat itu dia tidak lagi bertemu dengan Lara.
Puluhan tahun berselang, Ric telah menjadi seorang pebisnis di bidang fotografi. Dia mengumpulkan foto-foto selebriti dari paparazzi dan menjualnya kembali ke media. Saat itulah dia melihat foto Lara dan Gary, suaminya. Sayangnya foto itu memperlihatkan ketidakharmonisan antara Lara dan Gary. Ada bekas memar di sudut mata Lara. Kali ini Ric merasa perlu untuk menolong Lara.
Ric mendatangi Lara dan mengajakknya kabur, tentu saja atas pilihan Lara sendiri. Meski dipenuhi rasa takut, Lara akhirnya kabur bersama Ric. Ric menyusun rencana untuk membawanya ke Gundamurra. Jika ada tempat aman yang bisa menerima Lara, Gundamurra tempatnya. Lara bisa tinggal di sana sambil menunggu proses perceraiannya dengan Gary.
This book is surprisingly awesome. Seandainya saja bagian suspensenya lebih digali, saya akan memberikan rating lebih tinggi. Tapi tentu saja di novel ini lebih fokus kepada hubungan antara hero/heroine-nya. Meski hanya sedikit sekali kontak fisik antara Ric dan Lara di dalam novel ini, tapi kisahnya cukup menguras emosi. Kegalauan Lara berusaha melepaskan diri dari suaminya, dan bagaimana Ric menahan diri demi cintanya pada Lara menjadi kekuatan utama dalam novel ini.
Meski mengambil judul outback, saya merasa bagian outback itu tidak mendapatkan porsi yang cukup di novel pembuka dari series Outback Knights ini. Padahal saya penasaran bagaimana kehidupan yang dijalani oleh Ric muda saat di outback, yang menempanya hingga menjadi pria yang dewasa. Mungkin harus membaca buku kedua dan ketiga ya. Lagipula kisah Mitch dan Kathryn juga membuat saya penasaran.
Ric dan Lara muda terpisah karena perbedaan 'kasta' diantara mereka. 18 tahun kemudian, Ric tidak sengaja melihat foto yang ditangkap paparazi berisi Lara yang diseret suaminya Gary agar tidak kabur darinya. Ric kemudian memutuskan untuk memperjuangkan kembali cinta pertamanya...
Ketika gw baca buku ini hanya satu yang muncul dibenak gue, "Its too sweet but not real in reality," Ya Kali! Mana ada lelaki jaman sekarang dengan beraninya datang menghampiri rumah Istri korban KDRT kemudian diajak kabur? Tapi tidak berhenti disitu, ketika Lara berhasil dibawa kabur Ric ke Outback akhirnya mereka terlibat hubungan semalam sehingga Lara hamil. Masalahnya semalam sebelumnya Lara juga berhubungan dengan Gary. Nah disini tarik ulur hubungan Ric dan Lara terasa datar sekali.. Ric yang diawal begitu menggebu mengejar Lara kenapa disini justru berbeda 180° menjadi dingin begitu saja? Kesannya tidak konsisten sama sekali.. Well tetap saja bagi gw ini cerita yang keren tapi tidak masuk akal..
Some 'huh and wtf' moment for a battered wife. And the plot just went awol after the first 1/4. Started off really well tho. The h was just really weak and whiny right thru, which given the battered spouse syndrome is understandable, but she never actually improves. She just keeps pouting and stumbling along until he pretty much swallows his pride and sorts her mess out and straightens her life out.
Ric, Mitch, and Johnny all were sent to the Australian Outback sheep station called Gundamurra rather than face time in juvenile jail. Ric was 16 and had stolen a Porsche in order to impress a 15 yr old wealthy girl, Lara. She was lost to him now after having been removed from the city. 18 years later, Ric was the owner of a worldwide media group who had access to numerous photographs of celebrities. Mitch was a barrister and Ric was one of his clients. Johnny was a famous country singer who traveled the world. They had each made a success of their lives though none of them were married. On this particular day, his assistant brought him a picture of Lara. He had Kathyrn purchase the copyright immediately after he noticed that she appeared to have been beaten. He then dropped everything and went to see her. He showed her the photo to her and she became frightened. She was wearing sunglasses because she had a black eye. Ric asked her if she would be willing to get a bag and leave with him immediately. She agreed. She admitted that the picture had been taken when she had tried to run away from her husband and he had caught her and brought her back. Ric flew her on Johnny's plane to Gundamurra. The night they spent there, Lara asked Ric to stay with her and he couldn't say no. They had sex but Lara told him that she was on the pill. Ric was gone before she woke up. They were apart for 3 months and Lara had written him nearly every day. Towards the end of that time, Lara's emails began to taper off in length. Ric wanted to see her and called Mitch, who was Lara's divorce attorney. She told Ric that she didn't want to see him and Mitch agreed that he probably shouldn't. It was tough on him but he stayed away for a little longer. They didn't know it but Mitch's phone was bugged and Greg found out where Lara was. Greg hired a plane to go to Gundamurra and get her. He brought another man with him on the flight. The plane crashed as it was landing and Greg was now dead. Laura went back to her house. Ric called and Lara agreed to meet with him. They met at a restaurant and he was torn up that Lara seemed to be putting him off. She was pregnant and it was early enough to cover it up. She didn't want Ric to find out about the pregnancy and feel tied to her because of the baby. She tried to tell herself that she didn't need or want Ric but she was lying to herself. Ric felt like he had been used. Lara let him believe that she had slept with him to get over being with Greg. Lara had wanted Ric to make love to her because she knew he was leaving and couldn't bear to let him leave with knowing what it was to make love to him. She wanted to get over Greg but it was Ric she wanted and not just anyone. Johnny called after he met Lara in the restaurant and they went their separate ways. Johnny called him that night. He was in town before he headed to Gundamurra. Johnny went to Gundamurra and the housekeeper there told Johnny that Lara was pregnant. Johnny went to confront Lara and demanded that she have a blood test to see if the child was his. He was angry that she hadn't told him and he felt used. He tried to hate her. They met at the doctor's office and had the tests run. It was another week before they received the results. He went to see her with the results, not having opened the envelope. Ric told Lara that he loved her and that he wanted her. He told her that he wanted her and the baby regardless of who the father was. Lara told him that she loved him. Ric asked her to marry him and she agreed. They opened the envelopes and found out that the baby was Ric's and Lara's. Ric and Lara spent their son's first Christmas at Gundamurra with Johnny, Mitch & Kathryn were dating, and Patrick Maguire, who owned the sheep station.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Aku suka buku ini, untuk harlequin ceritanya lumayan tidak terlalu klise mungkin yang kurang adalah latar belakang Ric & Lara, menurutku seharusnya dibuat lebih dalam sehingga perasaan mereka di masa kini lebih terasa. Ric Donato, anak jalanan yang ibunya meninggal akibat kekerasan ayahnya saat dia masih kecil. Lara seymour, anak orang kaya di daerahnya. Saat masih remaja mereka pernah berkencan, untuk mengesankan Lara, Ric mencuri porsche. Karena pencurian inilah ia ditangkap pihak berwajib. Pilihannya ada dua, masuk ke penjara remaja atau bekerja sukarela di lahan pertanian Gundamurra. Dia bersama 2 temannya memilih yg terakhir. Disinilah mereka memperoleh semua pendidikan hidup, hingga bertahun2 setelahnya mereka menjadi orang2 sukses. Ric sang fotografer, Mitch menjadi pengacara & Jonathan adalah penyanyi terkenal.
Dan bertahun2 kemudian Ric & Lara dipertemukan melalui sebuah foto yg masuk ke kantor Ric, foto tsb memperlihatkan Lara spt korban kekerasan dan ingin lari dari suaminya. Ric akhirnya berhasil menemui Lara & melarikan ke Gundamurra. Proses perceraian diajukan oleh Mitch sahabat Ric. Tidak mudah bagi mereka semua. Lara tetap ketakutan akan keberadaan Gary, suaminya. Ia takut Gary akan mencelakai Ric, Mitch atau Kathryn, tangan kanan Ric.
Masalah timbul lagi, saat Lara mengetahui dirinya hamil. Ia tak tahu siapa ayah bayinya, habis.....sebelum Ric kembali ke Sidney, mereka mmg sempat ml sih...karenanya Lara memutuskan menjauhi Ric....Gary akhirnya meninggal dlm kecelakaan pesawat, pesawatnya gagal landing di Gundamura saat ia bermaksud mencari Lara. Nah ini kekurangannya juga, tidak ada konfrontasi secara langsung dengan Gary jadi mau beri 5 star jadi batal deh........
Terharu saat Ric tahu bahwa Lara hamil, dan ia tdk peduli siapa ayah bayi yg dikandung Lara selama itu bayi Lara, Ric akan mencintainya. Padahal awal2nya dia minta tes DNA utk mencari tahu bayi siapa, tapi saat hasil tes keluar baik Lara & Ric tidak ada yg mau membaca hasilnya....Ric melamar Lara tanpa mengetahui hasil tes DNA tsb......hehehehe senangnya jadi Lara dicintai tanpa syarat seperti itu........ happy ending..