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Bridegroom Boss #1

Outback Boss, City Bride

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Meredith West
Likes : coffee shops, nice shoes, London
Dislikes : spiders, the Outback, Hal Granger!

Hal Granger
Dislikes : cool, unflappable, distracting city girls
Likes : one city girl in particular—

Meredith's been forced to take a job on a remotecattle station, with a boss she can't stand! It should beeasy to keep things professional—except their office isunder the blistering Outback sun, and Hal's work attireis a bare chest and thigh-hugging jeans! Although they'reworlds apart, it's getting harder to keep things strictlybusiness.…

Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

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109 people want to read

About the author

Jessica Hart

485 books137 followers
After a haphazard career spent working and travelling around the world, I stumbled into romance writing as a way to fund a PhD. My first book, A Sweeter Prejudice, came out in 1991, and since then I've written a further 59 books, some of which have won awards in the US and the UK.
I live in York, a historic city in the north of England, and waste the best part of my days planning trips away or on Facebook and Twitter, both of which mean that I end up writing late into the night. As well as romance, I write 'time slips' as Pamela Hartshorne, and am a freelance project editor and occasional writing tutor.

In May 2013 I will publishing the Jessica Hart Vintage Collection of five of my early books from the 90s.
For news of forthcoming books and exclusive offers, do sign up for my newsletter: email jessica@jessicahart.co.uk or come and find me on Facebook.

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5 stars
19 (18%)
4 stars
33 (32%)
3 stars
39 (38%)
2 stars
9 (8%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for StMargarets.
3,231 reviews636 followers
May 16, 2019
Heroine is the city girl who learns to love cooking three square meals plus smoko for all the men. Hero is the taciturn owner of a dusty, faded elegance mansion and an Outback cattle station. He has trust issues because his city girl mother abandoned the family when he was 12.

Have we read this scenario before? We have.

But there is something comforting in knowing how this one is going to turn out. They have nothing in common, but they get together once the heroine cleans the house, sorts out the paperwork, takes care of the hero’s niece and nephew and watches a few dazzling sunsets with the hero.

The reason the heroine is at the hero’s station is what breaks them up for the black moment.

Heroine’s sister’s ex-boyfriend (and the man heroine thought she was in love with) is in a coma and hearing the sister’s voice might bring him around. Heroine will do anything for her sister’s ex, including flying from London to the Outback and taking her sister’s place as the hero’s housekeeper.

Once the boyfriend wakes up, he starts asking for the heroine. Hero thinks he should let her go. Heroine returns to London for a month and then decides she loves the hero enough to live in the Outback the rest of her life for an HEA.

Yes, the carbon footprint is enormous.
Profile Image for Kay.
1,937 reviews123 followers
February 21, 2012
4 1/2 Stars! ~~~ This cover is exactly how I pictured Meredith and Hal; right down to the adorable dimples in Hal's cheeks when he smiles!

Meredith West had taken on more than she bargained for when she traveled to the Australian Outback to find her sister. She'd thought it would be a simple matter; find Lucy and the two of them would head home to England where their friend Richard lay in a coma. Richard had been pining for Lucy, and his family was positive that just hearing Lucy's voice would bring him around. But Meredith hadn't expected Lucy's employer's insistence that she complete her six-month contract. So for Richard's sake Meredith offers to take her sister's place as the rancher's cook, housekeeper and nanny to his young nephew and niece. Hal Granger doesn't know what to make of the infuriatingly bossy brunette, but he has to have someone to take care of his sister's kids while he goes about the business of ranching. Meredith is a city girl, and he's sure she won't last long; he just hopes it's long enough for Lucy to attend to what she must and comes back. Meredith surprises him with the way she rolls up her sleeves and gets on with it, and he soon finds he has a lot to like about the sexy brunette in the high heels and skirts. He shocks Meredith when he proposes a temporary fling, and sees that she is struggling with the temptation.

These are wonderful characters. And although this book is written primarily from Meredith's point of view, there are some brilliantly written scenes from Hal's that give us the essence of who he is and all that he struggles with internally. Ms. Hart has a unique voice and makes this story refreshing and one that is quite charming. I love her descriptions of Meredith's racing heart, those internal acrobats; and Hal's consternation for how much he likes her, even though she is exasperating, intriguing, seductive and often infuriating. This is a true gem of a love story
Profile Image for Aleid.
269 reviews6 followers
April 18, 2024
2.5 | I blindly picked this book from a box at a small second hand bookshop in Cape Town for 50 cents. I went in with zero expectations and just wanted to read something other than mainstream books. I think that was the most fun part, the book itself was very mediocre, but I had a fun afternoon reading.
Profile Image for Christy Stewart.
Author 12 books324 followers
February 9, 2012
I wanted to read a Harlequin novel and so I picked this one at random...It was so random that had I read the title I wouldn't have touched it because I hate cowboys and western (even in Australia) stories but by the time I figured that out I had already started reading and was really enjoying it.

The plot is a very melodramatic one: One woman falls in love with a man who is in love with her sister and when the sister finds out she runs off and the man is so upset he gets in an accident and ends up in a coma so the woman runs off to find the sister believing she is the only one to wake him with the power of their love but the sister has fallen for a new guy in the place she's hiding out in but is willing to go back for her sister so they trade places...

It's all very soap opera and I fucking love that shit.

Also, Hart did a great job of creating complex characters that retained believability while still pulling off character development in a limited amount of pages.

And she made the leading lady and man unattractive which is never ever done and is one of my automatic 5 star qualifiers.

The only thing that I have fault with is that after the leading lady and man had sex she was suddenly over all her insecurities. It was like that Lifetime spoof they did on Family Guy where the dude goes "Over the next hour I'll show you how all your problems can be solved with my penis."

Still, I'll give it 5 stars for the ugly people and the tricking me into reading a cowboy story.
Profile Image for Lsy.
20 reviews5 followers
October 30, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the love story of Hal and Meredith. I didnt mind that the plot may seem not particularly original (opposites attract, boss-housekeeper, love triangle gone wrong, etc). The character build-up made by Ms Hart for Hal and Meredith made it a very engaging read. Both Hal and Meredith have strong personalities and we had glimpses of their childhood memories which explains their respective take on love and life. In this story, we are also shown H and h that are very real, flaws and all, and despite their internal struggles, find their way to loving each other. I enjoyed the exchange of banters between Hal and Meredith, as well as the moments when they find a common ground and start opening up to each other about their thoughts and their past.
Profile Image for Esra.
Author 50 books86 followers
June 21, 2013
Kitaptaki erkek karakterin adı Hal, okuyorum okuyorum yok böyle biri diyorum :D Sonra dank etti, bizimkiler türkçe kelimelerle aynı olan isimleri değiştiriyordu :D Sevimli bir hikayeydi ;)
Profile Image for Pam.
2,215 reviews33 followers
March 14, 2008
03/14/08
TITLE/AUTHOR: OUTBACK BOSS, CITY BRIDE by Jessica Hart
RATING: 4/B
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Romance, 2007, 186 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: #1 of Bridegroom Boss duo
TIME/PLACE: Present, Whyman's Creek, Australia
CHARACTERS: Hal Granger/Rancher Meredith West/British free-lance editor
FIRST LINES: That's the man you want.

COMMENTS: Sweet romance set in the Outback. Meredith travels from the UK to take over for her sister Lucy as cook/housekeeper on a cattle ranch. Lucy goes home to help a sick friend. Meredith thinks she's in love w/ Richard in the UK but thinks he loves Lucy. Hal, her boss, is wary of love since his mother left his father for life in the city & then his fiance also decided she could not live in the Outback.
Profile Image for Natalija.
1,157 reviews
February 17, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. Both characters come off as normal people: strong, independent and attractive, without being stunningly beautiful or supermodels. As far as secondary characters go, I was a bit confused on who loves whom & who are friends only. Despite this minor comment, I found this book to be a great read about going after what you want and learning to trust and love again.
Profile Image for Jacqueline.
349 reviews
March 30, 2015
Great story 2 people find love when 1 of them goes to the outback to fetch her sister back to the city some things don't always work as planned.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

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