Her Outback Man

by Margaret Way

Logan Dangerfield, head of one of Australia's most affluent families, doubted that Dana's relationship with his stepbrother, Tyler, had been purely platonic. To his mind, she was a scheming opportunist and, since Tyler's tragic death, the rumors had only intensified.

Dana Barry knew she had her work cut out trying to prove that Logan was wrong about her. If it hadn't been for wanting to offer comfort to Tyler's bereft young daughter, Dana wouldn't have gone near Logan's cattle station. But the longer she stayed the harder it was to hide the fact that Logan was the only Outback man she had ever loved.

Genres: Romance

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Margaret Way was born and educated in the river city of Brisbane, Australia. Before her marriage she was a well-known pianist, teacher, vocal coach and accompanist, but her hectic musical career came to a halt when her son was born and the demands of motherhood dictated a change of pace.

On a fortuitous impulse she decided to try her hand at romance writing and was thrilled when Mills & Boon accepted her first effort, Time of the Jacaranda, which they published less than a year later in 1970; a feat that brought tears to her father's eyes. Some seventy odd books have followed resulting in a loyal readership whose letters provide a source of support and encouragement. A driving force in all her writing has been the promotion of her much loved country, Australia. She delights in bringing it alive for her readers; its people, way of life, environment, flora and fauna. Her efforts so far have not excited official recognition, but she expects one day she will be awarded the "Order of Australia."

Her interests remain with the arts. She still plays the piano seriously, but her "top Cs" have gone. She is still addicted to collecting antiques and paintings and browsing through galleries. She now lives within sight and sound of beautiful Moreton Bay and its islands, inspiration for some of her books. Her house is full of books, spectacular plants, Chinese screens and pots. She is devoted to her garden and spends much time "directing the design and digging and providing cold drinks and chocolates."

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 2 out of 5]

Notice there is no heroine on the cover. Why?

Angels don't photograph?

Yes, our heroine is a Mary Sue with every character but the hero thinking she is the most wonderful creature to walk the earth. The troubled little girl on the cover (hero's niece) thinks that light is all around her when heroine walks into a room. *hurl*

Hero is in lust with the heroine and he hates himself for it because he has lumped the h in with her she-devil cousin who trapped his younger half-brother into marriage. The heroine has always stood up for her cousin in the most passive-aggressive way, gently pointing out her cousin's flaws but declaring her love for her unconditionally.

This is beyond annoying. Cousin is evil. Heroine knows she's evil, but won't say it because it makes her look intolerant and less than saintly - so she does this mealy mouthed song and dance that is hypocritical BS. Same with the hero's outback royalty family. They "try" to support the cousin after her husband wraps his car around a tree (I guess he found one of the few in the Outback) but they are just as passive aggressive in showing their dislike behind their manners and gracious ways.

Margaret Way has always excelled at world-building and here the world building is of a dynastic family who actually believe they are better than most and only a few will come up to their high standards. The cheating, alcoholic younger half-brother was only that way because of the evil cousin - not because of his own character flaws.

Hero thinks the heroine had an affair with his half-brother because the evil cousin told him so. That's it. That's the entire conflict. Heroine has to prove a negative - I did not have sex with your brother - for the hero to offer marriage.

The hero has sex with the heroine (the first time during a storm when they're caught in a cave) but he can't marry her because she can't prove a negative or divide by zero. Heroine doesn't have her v-card, either.

This flimsy conflict makes the hero look even more ridiculous because literally every other character thinks the heroine is wonderful (even the wannabe OW).

There is nothing else to their relationship/romance, so MW fills the pages with the psychology of the neglected niece and the heroine's ability to charm her into normalcy.

Finally the evil cousin returns to extort some money and laugh at the hero for believing her lies. Hero now has his "proof" heroine is worthy of him. HEA *hurl again*

There are some twisted philosophical underpinnings to this story - the perfection, the hypocrisy, the intolerance. I didn't want to be in this world very long. MW should stick to landscape descriptions. Her views of human nature and what makes someone worthy of love and happiness are really . . . odd.

Heroine is perfect. Not only is she beautiful with a warm personality, she has a celebrated career as a photographer. However, she not perfect *enough* for the hero. The men in the story are the judge and jury of women, while no one is judging *them.* The women in the story all strive to live up to the man's standards - the stepmother was second best to the hero's father, the OW cheated on the hero while they were engaged is now trying to get back with him. Every woman is fallen in some way - except for the falsely accused heroine. Gross.

Outback checklist:
Private planes lined up for an Outback gathering
Horseback rides
Hero rides a stallion
Aboriginal house servants
Cave with drawings
Fierce rainstorms
Outback children are welcoming and adjusted
Gracious homestead
Swimming hole

[Margo · Rating 2 out of 5]

StMargaret's review hits it on the nose: the h is unbelievably perfect, but if you read it with some cynicism, you can view her as a highly manipulative, passive-aggressive schemester.

[MissKitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I like Margaret Way when not many others do. I didn't like this one. The h, Dana was too perfect. Exquisitely beautiful, intelligent, talented and so unbelievably sweet and good to everyone. Naturally she is a martyr as well. It starts at the death of her cousin's husband Apparently, before dying, he confesses to the H, Logan, that he loves the h. This causes a misunderstanding, fuelled by the bitch cousin who insinuates that Dana had an affair w her husband. The H and h are attracted to each other and sleep together a few times but, as is usually the case in HP land, mistrust continues to keep them apart despite the H declaring his love with still a full 1/4 of the book to go. Logan is supposed to be an alpha male, head of a gigantic consortium, but of course he chooses to believe the word of his bitch sister In law, who he never liked and who He knew to be a liar, against that of the h is so unbelievable in itself! Plus the whole feel of the book was so overwrought and dramatic. Not one of her better ones.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay-ish. It was a nice love story at parts, but the constant mis-trust and fighting was more agitating than exciting.

[Bea Tea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Logan is an emotionally constipated asshole. He cannot lower himself to trust the heroine, but he can lower himself to fuck her. At the end of the book his finally deigns to trust her, not because he actually learned to trust her but because he was finally given proof of her fidelity. How romantic.

This guy is riddled with issues, and he treats the heroine like an emotional punch bag. Throw him in the bin Dana, he is TRASH.

[Virginie Dauphin · Rating 3 out of 5]

roman pour l'été

[Noemail]

Might have 2 copies

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this story almost every character is tortured in one way or another. In the end it was I that felt put through the ringer.