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Manuka Fire
Megan was looking forward to a new life as a teacher in the lovely and peaceful surroundings of O'Kains Bay in New Zealand, far away from the troubles that had beset her recently.
Soon she began to find peace of mind again, helped by the warm welcome and friendliness of the people in the little community. All except one - the arrogant Ritchie Stafford. He just seemed to rub her up the wrong way every time they met.
He was difficult and domineering - even to the extent of questioning her friendship, and it was nothing more than that, with Steve, who had done so much to help Megan in her greatest trouble. Why couldn't Ritchie mind his own business and concentrate on his girl-friend, the lovely Lori Wentworth?
Soon she began to find peace of mind again, helped by the warm welcome and friendliness of the people in the little community. All except one - the arrogant Ritchie Stafford. He just seemed to rub her up the wrong way every time they met.
He was difficult and domineering - even to the extent of questioning her friendship, and it was nothing more than that, with Steve, who had done so much to help Megan in her greatest trouble. Why couldn't Ritchie mind his own business and concentrate on his girl-friend, the lovely Lori Wentworth?
270 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1985
6 people want to read
About the author
Mary Moore
92 books8 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Born 1928 into a farming family. In spite of an education interrupted by a teacher shortage & a stay in hospital, Mary achieved School Certificate and got a government job in Wellington. After three & a half years, her elder sister and her husband took over the family farm, and Mary moved in with her parents in Christchurch.
Her sister introduced her to a herd tester named Ray - they married three and a half months later. They had a small farm in Kokatahi on the West Coast.
Her husband challenged her to write a book after she criticised a book by another author. By this time Mary was the Postmistress in Cronadun. Mary described this as a job that gave her a lot of thinking time. She sent her second book off to Reed's Publishers, who liked the book but said the New Zealand market would be too small and to send it overseas. The third publisher the book was sent to was Mills & Boon who published it after some minor edits were done.
When Mary and Ray left the farm and moved to Christchurch, Mary didn't write for a few years. After attending a writing school, she took six weeks leave from her job to see if she could still write. This was successful and she started writing again.
date of Birth from National Library website, other information from The Passionate Pen by Rachel McAlpine.
Born 1928 into a farming family. In spite of an education interrupted by a teacher shortage & a stay in hospital, Mary achieved School Certificate and got a government job in Wellington. After three & a half years, her elder sister and her husband took over the family farm, and Mary moved in with her parents in Christchurch.
Her sister introduced her to a herd tester named Ray - they married three and a half months later. They had a small farm in Kokatahi on the West Coast.
Her husband challenged her to write a book after she criticised a book by another author. By this time Mary was the Postmistress in Cronadun. Mary described this as a job that gave her a lot of thinking time. She sent her second book off to Reed's Publishers, who liked the book but said the New Zealand market would be too small and to send it overseas. The third publisher the book was sent to was Mills & Boon who published it after some minor edits were done.
When Mary and Ray left the farm and moved to Christchurch, Mary didn't write for a few years. After attending a writing school, she took six weeks leave from her job to see if she could still write. This was successful and she started writing again.
date of Birth from National Library website, other information from The Passionate Pen by Rachel McAlpine.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 20, 2017
The original publisher’s date is 1974 and it shows with the characters’ fascination with “hippies” and the younger characters saying such thing as “dig it.”
But the themes are as old as time. The heroine is a shy school teacher who is brutally rejected by her mother after her younger sister dies. When she ran out into the night after being emotionally abused by her mother, she meets her savior, a long-haired artist who sees her inner beauty and helps her find her equilibrium.
The story opens with the heroine is riding the artist’s motorcycle to a new teaching assignment on the South Island of New Zealand. When she sees the school building, she hops the fence to look inside one of the broken windows. The hero finds her lurking about and hauls her back over the fence. Seems some local “bikies” busted all the windows and he thinks this one is back to survey the damage.
The heroine takes off her helmet and the hero has a good laugh on himself. The heroine does not. She is offended and shy and doesn’t like his free and breezy manner. Unfortunately, she’ll be seeing a lot of him because she is boarding with his sister and family – a magical NZ farm where shyness is forgotten amidst the beauty of nature.
That’s really about it for the story. There’s lots – I mean lots – of NZ history, geology, flora and fauna. The hero takes her to the ballet in Christchurch. There are trips to church and the beach. There is a tennis match with a potential OW who barely speaks.
The long-haired artist returns and tells the heroine his backstory. She urges him to reconcile with his family in Canada – and he does – by phone. The hero is jealous of the long-hair and thinks that heroine is harboring hidden feelings for him.
This is the big misunderstanding that propels the last third of the story. All is well when long-hair, cuts his hair and returns from Canada to NZ with his parents and his new wife. Hero proposes. HEA.
The heroine never makes up with her parents and her shyness mysteriously evaporates. While the descriptions of NZ are interesting – the romance felt phoned in.
It's okay - but nothing more. You dig what I'm saying?
But the themes are as old as time. The heroine is a shy school teacher who is brutally rejected by her mother after her younger sister dies. When she ran out into the night after being emotionally abused by her mother, she meets her savior, a long-haired artist who sees her inner beauty and helps her find her equilibrium.
The story opens with the heroine is riding the artist’s motorcycle to a new teaching assignment on the South Island of New Zealand. When she sees the school building, she hops the fence to look inside one of the broken windows. The hero finds her lurking about and hauls her back over the fence. Seems some local “bikies” busted all the windows and he thinks this one is back to survey the damage.
The heroine takes off her helmet and the hero has a good laugh on himself. The heroine does not. She is offended and shy and doesn’t like his free and breezy manner. Unfortunately, she’ll be seeing a lot of him because she is boarding with his sister and family – a magical NZ farm where shyness is forgotten amidst the beauty of nature.
That’s really about it for the story. There’s lots – I mean lots – of NZ history, geology, flora and fauna. The hero takes her to the ballet in Christchurch. There are trips to church and the beach. There is a tennis match with a potential OW who barely speaks.
The long-haired artist returns and tells the heroine his backstory. She urges him to reconcile with his family in Canada – and he does – by phone. The hero is jealous of the long-hair and thinks that heroine is harboring hidden feelings for him.
This is the big misunderstanding that propels the last third of the story. All is well when long-hair, cuts his hair and returns from Canada to NZ with his parents and his new wife. Hero proposes. HEA.
The heroine never makes up with her parents and her shyness mysteriously evaporates. While the descriptions of NZ are interesting – the romance felt phoned in.
It's okay - but nothing more. You dig what I'm saying?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2025
Sad story of a martyred little waif who is rejected by her own flesh and blood but finds herself a wonderful makeshift family of friends in a northern New Zealand outpost where she found a job as a teacher.
The hero and heroine meet cute when he hauls her down a ladder mistaking her for a member of a biker gang attempting to vandalize the schoolhouse. When she takes off her motorcycle helmet, he is instantly smitten.
The rest of the story, he was obviously besotted with her and did all the running, only to be met by repetitive rebuffs by the heroine because her low self-esteem coupled with a misunderstood conversation she overheard that convinced her he was just asking her out from pity.
There is a lot of travelogue about N.Z. particularly the Maori nation and the early European settlers. It is obvious the author loves her subject.
It was a nice enough story but there was an OM who was a more interesting character than the hero and had more of a connection with the heroine, even though it was supposedly platonic.
And though the heroine is left at the conclusion happy with her newfound family, I wished that her psychotic mother had gotten some comeuppance for the years of emotional abuse she heaped on her daughter. Plus, I felt real iffy that the heroine was saddled with a mother-in-law who seemed to be made from the same mould as Mommy Dearest.
The hero and heroine meet cute when he hauls her down a ladder mistaking her for a member of a biker gang attempting to vandalize the schoolhouse. When she takes off her motorcycle helmet, he is instantly smitten.
The rest of the story, he was obviously besotted with her and did all the running, only to be met by repetitive rebuffs by the heroine because her low self-esteem coupled with a misunderstood conversation she overheard that convinced her he was just asking her out from pity.
There is a lot of travelogue about N.Z. particularly the Maori nation and the early European settlers. It is obvious the author loves her subject.
It was a nice enough story but there was an OM who was a more interesting character than the hero and had more of a connection with the heroine, even though it was supposedly platonic.
And though the heroine is left at the conclusion happy with her newfound family, I wished that her psychotic mother had gotten some comeuppance for the years of emotional abuse she heaped on her daughter. Plus, I felt real iffy that the heroine was saddled with a mother-in-law who seemed to be made from the same mould as Mommy Dearest.
June 28, 2018
You'd have to be made of stone not to feel sorry for this heroine at the outset. Her life is absolutely destroyed -- first by a tragic event, and then by her family's response to it. She sets out to make a new life and slowly gains confidence in herself. She has a best friend, the OM, who is another lost soul but one who is confident in the areas she is not, and together they help each other improve their lives. The H is probably of moderate intelligence, but a nice guy whose interest in the h is quite evident to everyone other than the h. He could have helped himself along if he had simply acknowledged he had no interest in the so-called OW, but he ignored each mention the h made.
Interestingly enough,the loose ends here relate to the h's family, not due to unexplained incidents with the OW.
Interestingly enough,the loose ends here relate to the h's family, not due to unexplained incidents with the OW.
August 17, 2025
This is a hard one to review, because the friendship between the heroine (22) and her best friend is wonderful. He's such a fantastic guy, that when she meets the hero (30s), he's a downgrade. The hero laughs at everything, everyone likes him and he can do - yes, everything. He was an international pilot and has seen the world, but came home to New Zealand to work the farm when his elder brother died. It feels like he only likes the heroine, because this is the only female that is not chasing him. He feels vapid and dim beside the candour and caring of her best friend.
However, the way the poor heroine is welcomed into the hero's family is heart-warming - as is the happy ending for the brilliant best friend. It's very moving.
It's just that there is no chemistry between the main characters and I don't think they are suited to each other.
However, the way the poor heroine is welcomed into the hero's family is heart-warming - as is the happy ending for the brilliant best friend. It's very moving.
It's just that there is no chemistry between the main characters and I don't think they are suited to each other.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews