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IT WAS A PROPOSITION SHE COULDN'T REFUSE.
What could have possessed Darryn to accept Eyre Madison's outrageous proposal? She was to pose as Eyre's fiancee in return for the opportunity to photograph his ranch in the Australian outback. Darryn soon realized that Eyre's challenge was more than she'd bargained for.
The hard, handsome man had kept his part of the deal, and Darryn's photographs would establish her already promising career. But there was another reason that drove Darryn to risk her heart under the magical skies of Moon Mountain--something that could destroy the very real passion that was growing between them. . .
What could have possessed Darryn to accept Eyre Madison's outrageous proposal? She was to pose as Eyre's fiancee in return for the opportunity to photograph his ranch in the Australian outback. Darryn soon realized that Eyre's challenge was more than she'd bargained for.
The hard, handsome man had kept his part of the deal, and Darryn's photographs would establish her already promising career. But there was another reason that drove Darryn to risk her heart under the magical skies of Moon Mountain--something that could destroy the very real passion that was growing between them. . .
- GenresAustralia
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First published August 1, 1983
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About the author
Dorothy Cork
73 books21 followersAs an author for Mills and Boon and later for Harlequin Romance, Dorothy Cork wrote 38 romance novels. She was born in 1918 and is still alive. Her first book was published in 1965 and the last in 1985.
Quite a number of her books have been translated into a diversity of languages: Japanese, Greek, Italian, French and so on.
She also wrote a number of short stories - about half of which were published in various Australian magazines.
Quite a number of her books have been translated into a diversity of languages: Japanese, Greek, Italian, French and so on.
She also wrote a number of short stories - about half of which were published in various Australian magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2020
This is a love story that I 100% believed in. Despite the improbable circumstances of a fake engagement and the discovery of a long-lost father, the author managed to write a realistic, convincing tale.
The heroine is a 20 year old, budding, professional photographer from Sydney, where she lives with her mom and step dad. She has never met her bio dad, who was a stockman in the Outback when her mom met him and married him in haste, only to repent at leisure. She has always dreamed of one day returning to Moon Mountain station, the place where she was conceived, and maybe find her father.
So she sets off to the Outback on a temporary work assignment and lo and behold, she meets the current owner of Moon Mountain, a very Alpha specimen who she immediately butts heads with. He doesn't like his picture taken and chides her very rudely. She thinks he is just trying to cover up his affair with a merry-widow-to-be.
But after a bumpy beginning, they have an amiable date during which she drops so many hints about being interested in taking photos of Moon Mountain that he finally invites her to stay there. His offer has strings though: in exchange for having full freedom to explore and photograph his station, she must pretend to be his fiancee because he is sick and tired of fighting the matrimonial match making efforts of his grandmother and aunt.
Off we go to the homestead where the matriarchs try to freeze off this unwanted guest. The grandma in particular was hilarious, telling her bluntly that she is not the right breeding cow for her stud bull grandson LOL. Heroine doesn't let anything faze her. She is too polite to retort in the same vein as her nemesis but she also doesn't let these bitches ride roughshod over her either, eventually winning the grudging respect of the grandma from hell. Heroine's inner monologue of what she really WANTED to say to tell off hero, OW, and various nasty characters, was delightful. Anyways, she is there to stay, particularly as she has discovered her bio dad is still working there as the head stockman.
The hero gets jealous of her spending so much time with his stockman whom he describes ironically as being old enough to be her father. The heroine doesn't tell him the truth, not because she is ashamed of having a stockman as a dad, but because her father is recalcitrant at having a relationship with her.
Before you brandish your pitchforks at him for being worst father of the year, I have to say that the author wrote this man very plausibly as a taciturn loner who made a choice to let his daughter live a happy life with doting mother and stepfather far away in the city, rather than tearing her apart and shuffling her back and forth between two families, two settings, and two loyalties. And at this point in his life, he was simply an old dog that can't be taught new tricks. The heroine understood what he was going through and she also gained a new appreciation for the stepfather who had doted on her.
Anyways, in the middle of all this drama, the girl picked out by hero's relatives to be his suitable broodmare comes to stay at the station and fight for her man. Hilariously, she isn't even a blip on hero's radar for all her pathetic efforts and it was truly enjoyable to watch her unsuccessful attempts to get his attention or to rile the heroine. Neither of them cared as they had their own drama to deal with.
It was very satisfactory to watch the OW lick her wounds at having been so bluntly dismissed by the hero, trying desperately to make it seem like she is the one who is not interested in the country life cause it's all so boring for her. The more she was vehement that she wasn't interested anymore, the more it was obvious she was desperately trying to save face.
Heroine eventually leaves the station despite hero's attempts to keep her there, not because she thinks the pathetic OW has any chance but because she thinks the hero is using her as cover for his affair with the merry widow who had been hanging on to him when she first met him, before coming to the station. Now that the merry widow’s husband is dead, she is sure the hero will marry her.
Hero runs after heroine before she can go back to Sidney and confesses his love. It was a touching scene and very believable that he has never said this to anyone else. He loved her from the start and came up with the crazy scheme of a fake engagement so he could spend time with her and make her fall in love with him. He figured out about the stockman being her dad too and that makes absolutely no difference to him, contrary to popular opinion that pegged his family as big snobs who would never mix with socially inferior people. We leave the two of them happily entwined and with the hope that the heroine and her bio dad can slowly move towards some sort of relationship in the future.
Very nicely done, Ms. Cork!
The heroine is a 20 year old, budding, professional photographer from Sydney, where she lives with her mom and step dad. She has never met her bio dad, who was a stockman in the Outback when her mom met him and married him in haste, only to repent at leisure. She has always dreamed of one day returning to Moon Mountain station, the place where she was conceived, and maybe find her father.
So she sets off to the Outback on a temporary work assignment and lo and behold, she meets the current owner of Moon Mountain, a very Alpha specimen who she immediately butts heads with. He doesn't like his picture taken and chides her very rudely. She thinks he is just trying to cover up his affair with a merry-widow-to-be.
But after a bumpy beginning, they have an amiable date during which she drops so many hints about being interested in taking photos of Moon Mountain that he finally invites her to stay there. His offer has strings though: in exchange for having full freedom to explore and photograph his station, she must pretend to be his fiancee because he is sick and tired of fighting the matrimonial match making efforts of his grandmother and aunt.
Off we go to the homestead where the matriarchs try to freeze off this unwanted guest. The grandma in particular was hilarious, telling her bluntly that she is not the right breeding cow for her stud bull grandson LOL. Heroine doesn't let anything faze her. She is too polite to retort in the same vein as her nemesis but she also doesn't let these bitches ride roughshod over her either, eventually winning the grudging respect of the grandma from hell. Heroine's inner monologue of what she really WANTED to say to tell off hero, OW, and various nasty characters, was delightful. Anyways, she is there to stay, particularly as she has discovered her bio dad is still working there as the head stockman.
The hero gets jealous of her spending so much time with his stockman whom he describes ironically as being old enough to be her father. The heroine doesn't tell him the truth, not because she is ashamed of having a stockman as a dad, but because her father is recalcitrant at having a relationship with her.
Before you brandish your pitchforks at him for being worst father of the year, I have to say that the author wrote this man very plausibly as a taciturn loner who made a choice to let his daughter live a happy life with doting mother and stepfather far away in the city, rather than tearing her apart and shuffling her back and forth between two families, two settings, and two loyalties. And at this point in his life, he was simply an old dog that can't be taught new tricks. The heroine understood what he was going through and she also gained a new appreciation for the stepfather who had doted on her.
Anyways, in the middle of all this drama, the girl picked out by hero's relatives to be his suitable broodmare comes to stay at the station and fight for her man. Hilariously, she isn't even a blip on hero's radar for all her pathetic efforts and it was truly enjoyable to watch her unsuccessful attempts to get his attention or to rile the heroine. Neither of them cared as they had their own drama to deal with.
It was very satisfactory to watch the OW lick her wounds at having been so bluntly dismissed by the hero, trying desperately to make it seem like she is the one who is not interested in the country life cause it's all so boring for her. The more she was vehement that she wasn't interested anymore, the more it was obvious she was desperately trying to save face.
Heroine eventually leaves the station despite hero's attempts to keep her there, not because she thinks the pathetic OW has any chance but because she thinks the hero is using her as cover for his affair with the merry widow who had been hanging on to him when she first met him, before coming to the station. Now that the merry widow’s husband is dead, she is sure the hero will marry her.
Hero runs after heroine before she can go back to Sidney and confesses his love. It was a touching scene and very believable that he has never said this to anyone else. He loved her from the start and came up with the crazy scheme of a fake engagement so he could spend time with her and make her fall in love with him. He figured out about the stockman being her dad too and that makes absolutely no difference to him, contrary to popular opinion that pegged his family as big snobs who would never mix with socially inferior people. We leave the two of them happily entwined and with the hope that the heroine and her bio dad can slowly move towards some sort of relationship in the future.
Very nicely done, Ms. Cork!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2019
Slow-moving story of a photographer heroine who wants to meet her bio dad, the head stockman on the hero's Outback station. Hero needs the heroine to fake a relationship as cover for his matchmaking aunt.
This should be a scenario I would enjoy, but I didn't like the heroine at all. She was irritable, snappish,and just unpleasant to spend time with. Hero was just kind of there.
Naksed and Miss Kitty have more thorough and more positive reviews!
This should be a scenario I would enjoy, but I didn't like the heroine at all. She was irritable, snappish,and just unpleasant to spend time with. Hero was just kind of there.
Naksed and Miss Kitty have more thorough and more positive reviews!
November 26, 2019
Surprisingly good one for Dorothy Cork. Her heroes can sometimes be such douchebags.
This one was pretty decent and it was so obvious that he was into the heroine. She was just laboring under a misunderstanding so she couldn’t see it. She thinks she is a cover up for an affair he is having with a neighbor’s wife, and she is also the shield he uses to discourage his matchmaking aunt and grandmother.
The heroine doesn’t mind being the “decoy” since she wants to go to his cattle station to look up her bio father who she never met. No one knows her real motives. When she does finally meet her dad it’s quite sad but realistic.
There is another woman who has been chosen by the aunt as a suitable wife for the hero. Though he is polite to her, it’s clear that he just treats her as a guest.
This was a delightful story and quite entertaining. The hero does get jealous of the bio dad,since he doesn’t know that is the heroine’s father and she seems to always be seeking him out.
All gets cleared up in the end for them to live happily ever after. The married other woman was just the wife of the friend he was helping out. The hero never had any relationship with her outside a neighborly one.
This one was pretty decent and it was so obvious that he was into the heroine. She was just laboring under a misunderstanding so she couldn’t see it. She thinks she is a cover up for an affair he is having with a neighbor’s wife, and she is also the shield he uses to discourage his matchmaking aunt and grandmother.
The heroine doesn’t mind being the “decoy” since she wants to go to his cattle station to look up her bio father who she never met. No one knows her real motives. When she does finally meet her dad it’s quite sad but realistic.
There is another woman who has been chosen by the aunt as a suitable wife for the hero. Though he is polite to her, it’s clear that he just treats her as a guest.
This was a delightful story and quite entertaining. The hero does get jealous of the bio dad,since he doesn’t know that is the heroine’s father and she seems to always be seeking him out.
All gets cleared up in the end for them to live happily ever after. The married other woman was just the wife of the friend he was helping out. The hero never had any relationship with her outside a neighborly one.
October 25, 2024
I like this one because the heroine (20) says it like it is and has her own mind, without being waspish or turning the book into a bickerfest. The hero is very manly and has lots of women after him, but all explained away nicely at the end. He gets a little snarky (well it is Dorothy Cork after all), but I like that the heroine keeps him at bay (except she REALLY enjoys kissing him). It had a really good feel to it, the scenarios were interesting and there's a nice ending.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews