What do you think?
Rate this book
Boomerang Bride
Their seperation had solved nothing. Vivki's husband, Wade, had thrown her out four years earlier and told her never to return. But now he'd turned up again — and he wanted her and their little son, Graham, back on his Australian cattle station. Wade had married her only to spite his grandfather, so Vivki was suspicious of his present motives. And Wade himself was as remoted and unforgiving as ever. Vivki hadn't the strength or resources to fight him, nor the courage to endure a loveless marriage a second time. She was trapped...
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 12, 1979
4 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Pargeter
104 books73 followersMargaret Pargeter was a popular writer of 50 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1975 to 1986.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
March 30, 2017
OMG, could this hero be more of an asshole?!
I don't think so, but you be the judge here...
I really hated the way he treated her. She should have ran away when he told her to go on the pill because he may rape her one night!
Wtf?Is that normal?
Then, after he does rape her he gets pissed that she did not go on the pill. After all, he did warn her?
And the best was that after that he kicks her out. A teenage bride while she is pregnant with his child as it was all her fault!!!
How dare she ask him to rape her like that!
I could not believe the bullshit I was reading and then he comes into her place with the granddad from hell to take her son away! After she has a kid on her own and was doing her best to survive.
And the granddad asked her here How could she run away from them like that!? <
Hellll noooo! He did not just say that!?
Did he not realize that his son kick her pregnant ass out??
No, of course not because that would cause him to be accused of being a total bastard and I completely worthless husband and father!
Please don't read this book!
It hurts that guys can be this much of a dick and live to tell the tale!!!
Someone should have shot him long ago.
Feel free to read this book if you really want the ticket to crazy town and pissed off ville!
I don't think so, but you be the judge here...
I really hated the way he treated her. She should have ran away when he told her to go on the pill because he may rape her one night!
Wtf?Is that normal?
Then, after he does rape her he gets pissed that she did not go on the pill. After all, he did warn her?
And the best was that after that he kicks her out. A teenage bride while she is pregnant with his child as it was all her fault!!!
How dare she ask him to rape her like that!
I could not believe the bullshit I was reading and then he comes into her place with the granddad from hell to take her son away! After she has a kid on her own and was doing her best to survive.
And the granddad asked her here How could she run away from them like that!? <
Hellll noooo! He did not just say that!?
Did he not realize that his son kick her pregnant ass out??
No, of course not because that would cause him to be accused of being a total bastard and I completely worthless husband and father!
Please don't read this book!
It hurts that guys can be this much of a dick and live to tell the tale!!!
Someone should have shot him long ago.
Feel free to read this book if you really want the ticket to crazy town and pissed off ville!
April 2, 2017
Wade married Vicki to get back at his grandfather who kept flinging women at him. Vicki inadvertently got preggers and Wade threw her out.
Four years on, Vicki is ill and has a son and Wade and his grandfather finally track her down. They force her to come back to their cattle station and Wade proceeds to be the biggest ass in the whole Australian outback but Vicki loves him anyway.
After fights, house cleaning, sneaky kisses from Wade on her head when she is sleeping and potential OW stirring the pot, we finally get Wade confessing undying love and almost five years of fidelity surprisingly, for a nice HEA.
Wade is just such a jerk, I am mesmerized every time I read this book.
Four years on, Vicki is ill and has a son and Wade and his grandfather finally track her down. They force her to come back to their cattle station and Wade proceeds to be the biggest ass in the whole Australian outback but Vicki loves him anyway.
After fights, house cleaning, sneaky kisses from Wade on her head when she is sleeping and potential OW stirring the pot, we finally get Wade confessing undying love and almost five years of fidelity surprisingly, for a nice HEA.
Wade is just such a jerk, I am mesmerized every time I read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2025
One of my favorite by this author. Mean hero. Wimpy heroine who grows up during their four year separation by giving birth and raising their son alone.
I really enjoyed this on the re-read because I knew the hero's explanation for why he was so mean to the heroine when they first married and then after their reconciliation. I could see how smitten he was (and how he didn't want to be smitten) but the poor heroine is left in the dark until the end of the story.
An outback setting and a poor put upon heroine - lots to be outraged about (in a good way if you want to be outraged).
I really enjoyed this on the re-read because I knew the hero's explanation for why he was so mean to the heroine when they first married and then after their reconciliation. I could see how smitten he was (and how he didn't want to be smitten) but the poor heroine is left in the dark until the end of the story.
An outback setting and a poor put upon heroine - lots to be outraged about (in a good way if you want to be outraged).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2018
I realise you need to be in the right frame of mind to read vintage romances and I remember going on a Pargeter streak last year. Must have been something bad going on in my life then.
If you don't already know, Pargeter's heros rarely grovel enough for the damage they do to their heroines so if you need that type of reassurance before you get vested, forget it. But if you're like me, feminist in real life but shamelessly indulgent of macho, brooding, cruel heros in romance la-la land then go for it, you're unlikely to be disappointed. Just be warned that Pargeter's heroines are sweethearts that verge on doormat/ emotional masochistic tendences so it can get irritating sometimes.
It starts off with a promise of good angst, where she's lying sick and impoverished with her young son. Worst way to have a reunion with her estranged husband and his overbearing grandfather. Turns out he only married her to piss off his grandfather as she was the antithesis of what he would want for his grandson. She ended up pregnant and ran away because in a moment of insane anger the H actually told her to, mad that they had ended up giving his grandfather what he wanted, a heir.
They take her and her son back to the outback where they start afresh. Well start afresh Pargeter-style which means he continues to be cold and harsh but gives off enough hints of his love so that suckers like her (and me) continue to lap it up.
I love Pargeter's descriptions of outback life. Yeah, it's weird but I kind of like the location details in her books.
But I hate that she lets the nanny and hero steamroll her in childcare decisions. Vintage romance or not, when it comes to babies, I like my heroines to be mama bears ready to maul anyone who question their methods. So that ruined it for me in an otherwise good escapism to old school romance.
If you don't already know, Pargeter's heros rarely grovel enough for the damage they do to their heroines so if you need that type of reassurance before you get vested, forget it. But if you're like me, feminist in real life but shamelessly indulgent of macho, brooding, cruel heros in romance la-la land then go for it, you're unlikely to be disappointed. Just be warned that Pargeter's heroines are sweethearts that verge on doormat/ emotional masochistic tendences so it can get irritating sometimes.
It starts off with a promise of good angst, where she's lying sick and impoverished with her young son. Worst way to have a reunion with her estranged husband and his overbearing grandfather. Turns out he only married her to piss off his grandfather as she was the antithesis of what he would want for his grandson. She ended up pregnant and ran away because in a moment of insane anger the H actually told her to, mad that they had ended up giving his grandfather what he wanted, a heir.
They take her and her son back to the outback where they start afresh. Well start afresh Pargeter-style which means he continues to be cold and harsh but gives off enough hints of his love so that suckers like her (and me) continue to lap it up.
I love Pargeter's descriptions of outback life. Yeah, it's weird but I kind of like the location details in her books.
But I hate that she lets the nanny and hero steamroll her in childcare decisions. Vintage romance or not, when it comes to babies, I like my heroines to be mama bears ready to maul anyone who question their methods. So that ruined it for me in an otherwise good escapism to old school romance.
November 1, 2014
Lol I hate double standards and wrong reviews. It was the heroine who slapped the hero twice, hero slapped her once. And why women are ok with women being physically abusive but get all angry when men are physically abusive? Violence is wrong no matter who is the abuser male or female! The end!
ignore
July 2, 2012Cannot Rate this one,disliked the book very much, H was cruel nasty mean selfish pig throughout the story and h was a lousy whinny self pity doormat i think she does not even have a spine or any bone in her body at all,the worst thing was H did not apologize for any of his actions,what really boiled my blood was H slapped h twice did not even regret his slapping and he was very cold towards his own child,these things i cannot forgive along with many other actions of his.I did not buy the HEA in the end,would have been better if she had left with the child cause she was given that opportunity but she did not do it cause "I Love him so much"just wanted to smack her.
I am still so so angry all i says is AVOID IT.
Do Not Recommend.
I am still so so angry all i says is AVOID IT.
Do Not Recommend.
July 12, 2016
Not as good as the other Pargeter books I've read - the hero was a bit too much (yes, even for me!), especially Which is just the way I like it.
Great Pargeter book (not quite her best), but I like MP. I'm so glad you guys introduced me to her.
Great Pargeter book (not quite her best), but I like MP. I'm so glad you guys introduced me to her.
October 13, 2014
I'm taking a strong liking to Pargeter's undernourished, plain heroines and cold, cruel Hero's, who step all over them....I feel really concerned about myself!
Pargeter always creates good sexual tension between her characters. U know that the Hero wants to bang the heroine often and hard, but can't for one reason or the other, then resorts to bullying and possessiveness. This Hero was really stupid, lacked emotional intelligence and carried some scars inflicted by grandpa, but he had the hots for Vickie from the start, regretted what he said and hunted her down. Pargeter's heroines never have any self respect or backbone and this one is no different. Be warned!
Pargeter always creates good sexual tension between her characters. U know that the Hero wants to bang the heroine often and hard, but can't for one reason or the other, then resorts to bullying and possessiveness. This Hero was really stupid, lacked emotional intelligence and carried some scars inflicted by grandpa, but he had the hots for Vickie from the start, regretted what he said and hunted her down. Pargeter's heroines never have any self respect or backbone and this one is no different. Be warned!
April 10, 2012
Wade told Vicki to leave when he discovered that his MOC wife was pregnant w/ their child. He never wanted a child. He wasn’t even going to consummate their marriage, but of course he couldn’t help himself. Vicki of course did as her hubby instructed and went off on her own. She has no one to turn to as her parents are both gone and she must take care of herself and he knows this too! She manages to do so for several years, but now Wade as his manipulative grandfather have located the very sick Vicki, and have decided that her child and okay her too will be returning to the ranch.
I donned my rose colored glasses and sat back to enjoy this story. Only I found that they were not dark enough to hide the cold/hardness of this H. Yeah I get that he was probably set up to be just like the land he worked. . . hard! Wade wanted this MOC to get his grandfather to stop trying to get him to marry handpicked girl to continue the line. Wade ran hot and cold ALL the time and then he wonders why Vicki doesn’t give in to him. She was a bit on the annoying side as well. This guy said no they weren’t going to have a real marriage and then he tried to have a real marriage; then he condemns her for not being a wife in more than name and then if she tries to initiate anything he is pulling back again! He gives her this dumpy “closet room” and expected her to just make a move on him in the nicer room. Seriously? After the way he told her to leave when he discovered she was pregnant years ago? I could NOT get a bead on this man. . . EVER!! He tells her to stay out of his room, out of his life in everything that matters and yet he thinks she will want to crawl in bed w/ him? What am I missing here?
There are potential others for each in this story to stir up some drama and jealousy, but really all it did was show that there was a better H for the h and yet she seemed to like the hard man more! Oh well too each their own. His whole attitude towards the child was just as cold, but we are to believe that he really spent time w/ the boy (off book btw) because even though his words are harsh his actions are not.
He tells Vicki that he may even hate her, but there is some magnetism there. He is nasty to her and then expects her to just forget about it, I couldn’t forget about it though because he was NEVER really that nice to her. He says he may bring a woman back w/ him on one of his trips and he DOES! Oh but then he has this dumpy excuse for that, and . . . well I think those glasses cracked! Wade pushed and pulled so much that it was understandable that Vicki felt very unsure and insecure in her position as well as any other aspects of her life w/ him. I did like her inadvertent statement to the other man in front of Wade though. At one point, Wade asks if she ever listens to a thing he tells her. Obviously she does or she wouldn’t be so confused by him so much. I could NOT believe that she was so willing to walk away from her child and leave him w/ those two cold hearted men either. This annoyed me as well, but it shows Wade that she loves him so much so of course he can now say he feels the same.
It really, really, really IRKED me that he continuously says that she ran away – he told her to leave: He said, “When I come back I want you gone, out of my sight, and I don’t want to see you again.” Now he rewrites everything and she doesn’t always question him on things or point them out to him.
Poor Wade had given up all hope of making her love him – (making – notice that word there) well I never even saw an attempt on his behalf unless he is just a sicko. He also tells her, “I’m afraid I didn’t love you all the time, either. Often I felt torn by hate because of the torture I’d suffered when you left me.” Dipstick told her to LEAVE!! I know I can’t get past that. He continues to act like she just got up one morning and walked away from him when that isn’t what happened at all. I think Vicki was willing to accept what Wade had to offer and she was content w/ their HEA! Bleh
Maybe this title fits the story then huh? He tossed her away and she returned! LOL!
I donned my rose colored glasses and sat back to enjoy this story. Only I found that they were not dark enough to hide the cold/hardness of this H. Yeah I get that he was probably set up to be just like the land he worked. . . hard! Wade wanted this MOC to get his grandfather to stop trying to get him to marry handpicked girl to continue the line. Wade ran hot and cold ALL the time and then he wonders why Vicki doesn’t give in to him. She was a bit on the annoying side as well. This guy said no they weren’t going to have a real marriage and then he tried to have a real marriage; then he condemns her for not being a wife in more than name and then if she tries to initiate anything he is pulling back again! He gives her this dumpy “closet room” and expected her to just make a move on him in the nicer room. Seriously? After the way he told her to leave when he discovered she was pregnant years ago? I could NOT get a bead on this man. . . EVER!! He tells her to stay out of his room, out of his life in everything that matters and yet he thinks she will want to crawl in bed w/ him? What am I missing here?
There are potential others for each in this story to stir up some drama and jealousy, but really all it did was show that there was a better H for the h and yet she seemed to like the hard man more! Oh well too each their own. His whole attitude towards the child was just as cold, but we are to believe that he really spent time w/ the boy (off book btw) because even though his words are harsh his actions are not.
He tells Vicki that he may even hate her, but there is some magnetism there. He is nasty to her and then expects her to just forget about it, I couldn’t forget about it though because he was NEVER really that nice to her. He says he may bring a woman back w/ him on one of his trips and he DOES! Oh but then he has this dumpy excuse for that, and . . . well I think those glasses cracked! Wade pushed and pulled so much that it was understandable that Vicki felt very unsure and insecure in her position as well as any other aspects of her life w/ him. I did like her inadvertent statement to the other man in front of Wade though. At one point, Wade asks if she ever listens to a thing he tells her. Obviously she does or she wouldn’t be so confused by him so much. I could NOT believe that she was so willing to walk away from her child and leave him w/ those two cold hearted men either. This annoyed me as well, but it shows Wade that she loves him so much so of course he can now say he feels the same.
It really, really, really IRKED me that he continuously says that she ran away – he told her to leave: He said, “When I come back I want you gone, out of my sight, and I don’t want to see you again.” Now he rewrites everything and she doesn’t always question him on things or point them out to him.
Poor Wade had given up all hope of making her love him – (making – notice that word there) well I never even saw an attempt on his behalf unless he is just a sicko. He also tells her, “I’m afraid I didn’t love you all the time, either. Often I felt torn by hate because of the torture I’d suffered when you left me.” Dipstick told her to LEAVE!! I know I can’t get past that. He continues to act like she just got up one morning and walked away from him when that isn’t what happened at all. I think Vicki was willing to accept what Wade had to offer and she was content w/ their HEA! Bleh
Maybe this title fits the story then huh? He tossed her away and she returned! LOL!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2016
Set in the Australian Outback. Guy was an ahole from start to finish. One of the few I've read where the father didn't want the son, and for a lame a** excuse.
Hired girl marries hero to protect him from his grandfather's schemes to marry him off and have him produce offspring. Hero's dad was pressured much the same and died in a plane crash, thus the hero's deep seeded anger and hatred towards grampa. Heroine gets knocked up after one accidental night and gets run off by the hero. Gramps finds her four years later living in squalor. They drag her home with four year old son who no longer needs mommy and the hatefest continues. High in wtfery value.
Hired girl marries hero to protect him from his grandfather's schemes to marry him off and have him produce offspring. Hero's dad was pressured much the same and died in a plane crash, thus the hero's deep seeded anger and hatred towards grampa. Heroine gets knocked up after one accidental night and gets run off by the hero. Gramps finds her four years later living in squalor. They drag her home with four year old son who no longer needs mommy and the hatefest continues. High in wtfery value.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2023
First, yes, he did rape her when they were first married- none of this "dubious consent" or "forced seduction". The angst level was way over the top throughout the whole book, and I could not understand how Vicki could possibly have fallen in love with Wade as horribly as he treated her, both before she escaped & after she came back.
That said, the 10-page grovel/ explanation went a long way to smoothing things out for me. Others have gone back & re-read this with the ending in mind and can see glimpses of that unspoken /un-demonstrated love, but I felt that the author could have shown through the H's thoughts or actions that Wade wasn't as horrible as he appeared.
That said, the 10-page grovel/ explanation went a long way to smoothing things out for me. Others have gone back & re-read this with the ending in mind and can see glimpses of that unspoken /un-demonstrated love, but I felt that the author could have shown through the H's thoughts or actions that Wade wasn't as horrible as he appeared.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2021
Well I'm a little confused about this book.
There are many inconsistencies, or maybe the hero has many inconsistencies in his head.
-The hero married the 18 yo heroine who was a nanny in his house to spite his grandfather.
The old man wanted the hero married to a suitable woman of his choice. The H's father died because gf wanted to force him to a marriage of convenience, so the H is resentful and doesn't want to marry of have children, ever.
So he asks the h to marry, telling her the truth. The joung and naive and stupid h, a little in love with much older and charming H, accepts.
Of course there's lot of attraction between them, (even if I found it quite spooky since the h was only 18 goint to 12 because of her slight frame and tomboysh looks...) so the H insists that she sees the family doctor for the pill.
The h doesn't think it will be necessary so she doesn't take any pill and they have sex once. Forced seduction would be better.
After that, the hero rejects her more than once, because not interested.
Of course the h is pregnant and the H in furious. He throws her out of his house and the heroine disappears- quite literally.
Three years later unfortunately the H and his Gf finds her and the child, and takes them back to their house.
Of I forgot to mention that they are very rich and powerful people, while she's destitute, so she has not a chance to refuse to go with them.
The hero is nasty with their child and nasty with her.
THe tells her that he doesn't want them to stay there after his gf's death, and we have the second part of the book, with a lot of unnecessary abuses from his part. I don't even know where to begin, if you want to read the book, help yourself but remember that I warned you.
Only one example: when the heroine arrives to H's place, a big and confortable house, she's still recovering from a nasty bug that sent her to hospital for several days and the sob H forces her to sleep in his dressing room, a small, dirty and dusty room with a small bed and no confort.
This is the man.
But of course, since she's a HP heroine, she falls in love with him and they have sex, more than once.
This two are both equally awful, she's still a child and he's simply nasty.
He threatens her to keep his son and to send her away.
He tells her he will have sex with ow.
I don't know what else.
Eventually he accidentally hears her telling his gf that she loves him and he declares that he always loved her, even when he sent her away the first time.
Yeah right
I really couldn't understand why he hated his gf so much, the man was a snob but eventually he accepted the heroine and was happy to have a grandson.
The H's intention never to get married or have children was really a case of cutting his nose to spite his face.
His behaviour to the heroine was weird.
He sent her away, but he told her that two hours later he was back and she was already gone.
He told her he loved her and that he would have never let her go away, but he threatened to sent her away without her son.
And why, if he regretted his behaviour when he found out she was pregnant, he treated his own son like he didn't want him?
He also referred to him as the heroine's son, as if he didn't want him.
A man who is cruel to his own son is something that I can't accept and doesn't fit in my idea of alpha hero.
Alpha men defend and protect their children, by definition, since continuation of species is one of the aims of every living being.
What about the heroine?
-Suffers from TBS.
-Loves the hero even if he's nasty.
Her lowest point is when she tells gf she is willing to leave her son with his father if he wants to send her away. What? After the way he behaved with his son? With all his hang-ups? What kind of father can he be? No, sorry, you're not only without a backbone, you're not even a good mother.
So many inconsistencies left me puzzled and I couldn't really enjoy the book.
There are many inconsistencies, or maybe the hero has many inconsistencies in his head.
-The hero married the 18 yo heroine who was a nanny in his house to spite his grandfather.
The old man wanted the hero married to a suitable woman of his choice. The H's father died because gf wanted to force him to a marriage of convenience, so the H is resentful and doesn't want to marry of have children, ever.
So he asks the h to marry, telling her the truth. The joung and naive and stupid h, a little in love with much older and charming H, accepts.
Of course there's lot of attraction between them, (even if I found it quite spooky since the h was only 18 goint to 12 because of her slight frame and tomboysh looks...) so the H insists that she sees the family doctor for the pill.
The h doesn't think it will be necessary so she doesn't take any pill and they have sex once. Forced seduction would be better.
After that, the hero rejects her more than once, because not interested.
Of course the h is pregnant and the H in furious. He throws her out of his house and the heroine disappears- quite literally.
Three years later unfortunately the H and his Gf finds her and the child, and takes them back to their house.
Of I forgot to mention that they are very rich and powerful people, while she's destitute, so she has not a chance to refuse to go with them.
The hero is nasty with their child and nasty with her.
THe tells her that he doesn't want them to stay there after his gf's death, and we have the second part of the book, with a lot of unnecessary abuses from his part. I don't even know where to begin, if you want to read the book, help yourself but remember that I warned you.
Only one example: when the heroine arrives to H's place, a big and confortable house, she's still recovering from a nasty bug that sent her to hospital for several days and the sob H forces her to sleep in his dressing room, a small, dirty and dusty room with a small bed and no confort.
This is the man.
But of course, since she's a HP heroine, she falls in love with him and they have sex, more than once.
This two are both equally awful, she's still a child and he's simply nasty.
He threatens her to keep his son and to send her away.
He tells her he will have sex with ow.
I don't know what else.
Eventually he accidentally hears her telling his gf that she loves him and he declares that he always loved her, even when he sent her away the first time.
Yeah right
I really couldn't understand why he hated his gf so much, the man was a snob but eventually he accepted the heroine and was happy to have a grandson.
The H's intention never to get married or have children was really a case of cutting his nose to spite his face.
His behaviour to the heroine was weird.
He sent her away, but he told her that two hours later he was back and she was already gone.
He told her he loved her and that he would have never let her go away, but he threatened to sent her away without her son.
And why, if he regretted his behaviour when he found out she was pregnant, he treated his own son like he didn't want him?
He also referred to him as the heroine's son, as if he didn't want him.
A man who is cruel to his own son is something that I can't accept and doesn't fit in my idea of alpha hero.
Alpha men defend and protect their children, by definition, since continuation of species is one of the aims of every living being.
What about the heroine?
-Suffers from TBS.
-Loves the hero even if he's nasty.
Her lowest point is when she tells gf she is willing to leave her son with his father if he wants to send her away. What? After the way he behaved with his son? With all his hang-ups? What kind of father can he be? No, sorry, you're not only without a backbone, you're not even a good mother.
So many inconsistencies left me puzzled and I couldn't really enjoy the book.
June 29, 2020
I dont know why i bother with this author. I think its a remnant of my teenage years reading these books.
She writes such arrogant mean and cruel Heroes, and this one is no different. How can any man throw out his 18year old pregnant wife with no money, he knew she had no relatives and no where to go?
He never explained adequately why he told her to leave. Okay he was mad because she got pregnant when he specifically told her not to, but she was 18! He had forced her to marry him.
When he finds her and his son, he is still a mean cruel a**shat! Constantly threatening to divorce her. He never shows any affection for the boy who is his son, which is especially hurtful to the heroine.
In the end we are supposed to believe that he loved her all along. He regretted telling her to leave but when he returned home, she had already left. He spent years looking for her and was tormented by the thought she may have died. Ok this was the only good part of the book. Still doesn’t adequately explain his continued meanness to her when he found her. 🙄
She writes such arrogant mean and cruel Heroes, and this one is no different. How can any man throw out his 18year old pregnant wife with no money, he knew she had no relatives and no where to go?
He never explained adequately why he told her to leave. Okay he was mad because she got pregnant when he specifically told her not to, but she was 18! He had forced her to marry him.
When he finds her and his son, he is still a mean cruel a**shat! Constantly threatening to divorce her. He never shows any affection for the boy who is his son, which is especially hurtful to the heroine.
In the end we are supposed to believe that he loved her all along. He regretted telling her to leave but when he returned home, she had already left. He spent years looking for her and was tormented by the thought she may have died. Ok this was the only good part of the book. Still doesn’t adequately explain his continued meanness to her when he found her. 🙄
June 9, 2021
Their seperation had solved nothing.
Vicki's husband, Wade, had thrown her out four years earlier and told her never to return. But now he'd turned up again -- and he wanted her and their little son, Graham, back on his Australian cattle station.
Wade had married her only to spite his grandfather, so Vicki was suspicious of his present motives. And Wade himself was as remoted and unforgiving as ever.
Vicki hadn't the strength or resources to fight him, nor the courage to endure a loveless marriage a second time. She was trapped.
Vicki's husband, Wade, had thrown her out four years earlier and told her never to return. But now he'd turned up again -- and he wanted her and their little son, Graham, back on his Australian cattle station.
Wade had married her only to spite his grandfather, so Vicki was suspicious of his present motives. And Wade himself was as remoted and unforgiving as ever.
Vicki hadn't the strength or resources to fight him, nor the courage to endure a loveless marriage a second time. She was trapped.
December 7, 2016
Star Rating: ★½☆☆☆
January 6, 2015
Another angsty, cruel hero story, but fairly compelling. I enjoyed the mini-physical transformation of the heroine in the beginning, that's always fun. Kind of hard to buy the hero's love in the end, either for the heroine or their son, given how cruel he was to both along the way. Also I liked when she asked him why he had created this whole fiction of planning to kick her out once his dad died, and he was basically like, "I don't know." Great plot wrap-up, MP. ;-) So, if you're in the mood for a mean hero and angsty story, go to it!
August 21, 2018
So silly H & h but i love the angyst.
April 12, 2025
"Boomerang Bride" is the story of Vicky and Wade.
Was it a bad book? No.
Was it problematic? Yes.
Im just going to recount the things that were objectionable.
-The hero and his grandfather kidnap the heroine's son and isolate her from him
-Not one kiss or sexual encounter is consensual
-Calling the servants "colored girls"
-The slappathon
-Asking the heroine to be in the kitchen "where she belongs"
-Her being a doormat
-Him being a terrible father
-Him bruising her with his kisses
Does the end confession make up for all the bullshiz? No. It really was a problematic book. If you remove ALL of this the plot was not bad but it was just soo poorly executed.
Meh
Safe
1.5/5
Was it a bad book? No.
Was it problematic? Yes.
Im just going to recount the things that were objectionable.
-The hero and his grandfather kidnap the heroine's son and isolate her from him
-Not one kiss or sexual encounter is consensual
-Calling the servants "colored girls"
-The slappathon
-Asking the heroine to be in the kitchen "where she belongs"
-Her being a doormat
-Him being a terrible father
-Him bruising her with his kisses
Does the end confession make up for all the bullshiz? No. It really was a problematic book. If you remove ALL of this the plot was not bad but it was just soo poorly executed.
Meh
Safe
1.5/5
June 26, 2025
None of this makes any sense. And I don’t buy the HEA at all, he’s a cold, abusive asshole for 95% of the book and all the sudden he loves her and always has? Complete and utter bullshit.
Two stars because I find MP’s writing compulsively readable, even though I end up hating her plots and characters. Yeah yeah, I’m a book masochist.
Two stars because I find MP’s writing compulsively readable, even though I end up hating her plots and characters. Yeah yeah, I’m a book masochist.
August 12, 2018
Dated, but solid 3.5 star book for me.
April 3, 2023
The H’s reactions just didn’t make any sense to me but I couldn’t put it down till the end so it has to merit 3 stars?
August 3, 2021
What did you think? This is the question at the beginning of each review one does on Goodreads. So, what do I think? I have lots of thinks in regards to this story but not an overwhelming passion for it.
I want the story to invoke a strong feeling of happiness or hate. I mean I even gave Carl and The Odds Against 4 stars because the hate was so strong for that hero.
The best thing about this story was the ending(no, lol, I don’t mean that in a snarky so glad the book ended way). The ending, imo, had more heart and feelings in it then most of the story. I actually was able to forgive the hero somewhat after all that was revealed. I wish I had felt more of this during the rest of the book.
Heroine: (Vicki, not Vivki)She was barely 18(now 22) when she went to the remote cattle station run by a bitter grandfather and his equally embittered grandson, aka the hero. She enters a MOC with the hero as he is sick of his granddad pawning off available girls in the hopes to score an heir. He has pretty much vowed not to give his grandfather an heir(Bridgerton comes to mind). He keeps his distance from the heroine for most of their short marriage, but insists she go on birth control just in case he gets overwhelmed with passion. She doesn’t. He gets overwhelmed. She gets pregnant. He tells her to pack and leave. (Yeah, he’s a nice guy!)
Hero: Wade, 37,- Basically, Wade was a cold-ass jerk for most of the story. IF you want to know his sins click on the spoiler, if not then just trust he was a jerk and move on.
Sins of our hero:
Grandpa: If my uncle were still alive, he would have referred to the grandpa as “one mean SOB”. He does change in the very end.
OW#1- The nurse: She isn’t much of an ow, and she ends up being respected and friended by the h. She is closer to the H’s age and being in her 30’s she may have had a dreamy idea that she could be Mrs. Mcloud #2. Our H however, makes sure that she knows he is sleeping with his wife when he has her bring tea to the bedroom. That took care of any fancy notions!
OW #2-Friend of the family. Hardly worth mentioning. Primarily used as jealousy device.
OM- Jeff the foreman….he has always had a thing for the h, even when she was considered plain. He is not an aggressive om, so there aren’t any huge confrontations etc. But he is there in the background and incites Jealousy in the Hero
Plot Moppet-Graham- I don’t like how he was written….at all!
Seriously, I gave this story a demerit because of him. He is barely 4 and the only person who has been there for him through all these years is his mom. He slept in a cot next to her. She did have a job, but I hardly doubt she was an absentee mom. Yet, when he is taken by a crotchety grandpa, and given over to the custody of unknown nurse, and a disgruntled couldn’t care less father, he has no issue with it. He likes the cattle station and likes the excitement around him. When the mom is reunited with him after her hospital visit his response was lukewarm at best. At one point he is listening to the H and h talk about her eventual leaving with child in tow, and the child is like “I’m not leaving, Bye Felicia!”
My quote on the child: “ Sometimes, the person you’d take a bullet for ends up being the one behind the gun.”(Tupac) or to borrow from Shakespeares Julius Caeser, “Et tu Brute?”I mean this child has no loyalty.
MP is able to earn back a star with her ending. She was able to get me to believe in the HEA and reform some of my opinions on the hero. We were able to see some of his good traits Plus there is mention of future children, and I really hope the h gets a good one this time.
I want the story to invoke a strong feeling of happiness or hate. I mean I even gave Carl and The Odds Against 4 stars because the hate was so strong for that hero.
The best thing about this story was the ending(no, lol, I don’t mean that in a snarky so glad the book ended way). The ending, imo, had more heart and feelings in it then most of the story. I actually was able to forgive the hero somewhat after all that was revealed. I wish I had felt more of this during the rest of the book.
Heroine: (Vicki, not Vivki)She was barely 18(now 22) when she went to the remote cattle station run by a bitter grandfather and his equally embittered grandson, aka the hero. She enters a MOC with the hero as he is sick of his granddad pawning off available girls in the hopes to score an heir. He has pretty much vowed not to give his grandfather an heir(Bridgerton comes to mind). He keeps his distance from the heroine for most of their short marriage, but insists she go on birth control just in case he gets overwhelmed with passion. She doesn’t. He gets overwhelmed. She gets pregnant. He tells her to pack and leave. (Yeah, he’s a nice guy!)
Hero: Wade, 37,- Basically, Wade was a cold-ass jerk for most of the story. IF you want to know his sins click on the spoiler, if not then just trust he was a jerk and move on.
Sins of our hero:
Grandpa: If my uncle were still alive, he would have referred to the grandpa as “one mean SOB”. He does change in the very end.
OW#1- The nurse: She isn’t much of an ow, and she ends up being respected and friended by the h. She is closer to the H’s age and being in her 30’s she may have had a dreamy idea that she could be Mrs. Mcloud #2. Our H however, makes sure that she knows he is sleeping with his wife when he has her bring tea to the bedroom. That took care of any fancy notions!
OW #2-Friend of the family. Hardly worth mentioning. Primarily used as jealousy device.
OM- Jeff the foreman….he has always had a thing for the h, even when she was considered plain. He is not an aggressive om, so there aren’t any huge confrontations etc. But he is there in the background and incites Jealousy in the Hero
Plot Moppet-Graham- I don’t like how he was written….at all!
Seriously, I gave this story a demerit because of him. He is barely 4 and the only person who has been there for him through all these years is his mom. He slept in a cot next to her. She did have a job, but I hardly doubt she was an absentee mom. Yet, when he is taken by a crotchety grandpa, and given over to the custody of unknown nurse, and a disgruntled couldn’t care less father, he has no issue with it. He likes the cattle station and likes the excitement around him. When the mom is reunited with him after her hospital visit his response was lukewarm at best. At one point he is listening to the H and h talk about her eventual leaving with child in tow, and the child is like “I’m not leaving, Bye Felicia!”
My quote on the child: “ Sometimes, the person you’d take a bullet for ends up being the one behind the gun.”(Tupac) or to borrow from Shakespeares Julius Caeser, “Et tu Brute?”I mean this child has no loyalty.
MP is able to earn back a star with her ending. She was able to get me to believe in the HEA and reform some of my opinions on the hero. We were able to see some of his good traits Plus there is mention of future children, and I really hope the h gets a good one this time.
January 7, 2017
hero was truly awful .....couldn't redeem himself even with the apology at the end
November 28, 2023
Well, this was not an easy read, as it had me wondering half the time if the H was a human being or some form of AI made from ice! If the Titanic had run into him, it would have sunk in five seconds! The h was a sweet person, who had more than her share of tough breaks, and seemed to be a Mary Sue type, but later shows some backbone, as well as anger, like when she slaps the H. (He also slapped her, though not hard.)
Vicki and Wade seemed too mismatched to ever have a HEA. When they meet, she's 18 and he's in his mid-30's, she's all alone in the world, while he has money, power, social status and a grandfather he's in a perpetual contest of wills with. In fact, he married Vicki to spite him! (She wasn't one of the socialite beauties he had in mind for his grandson.) For some crazy reason, considering the way he treated her, Vicki falls for Wade, and hoped it would turn out well, but Wade's determined it'll be a name only marriage to spite the Old Man's hopes of a great-grandchild! (There's some family history that accounts for some of the anger and stubbornness between them, but it's not enough to explain everything.)
Ironically, the first time they kissed (before they got married) resulted from Vicki thinking he'd slept with the OW, and then their marriage is consummated (one of those forced seductions) because Wade thought Vicki had slept with the OM. Considering the type of young woman she was (a complete innocent) and that the OM was a friend/employee, as well as the nice guy type, he should have known how ridiculous he was being! Afterward, his apology was pretty lame, to say the least.
When Wade finds out Vicky's pregnant, he's furious and blames her for not using birth control, since he had mentioned before that there was always a chance lust could overrule logic and they should be prepared. (I guess it never occurred to him to stock up on condoms?) He actually tells her he doesn't want the baby and doesn't want her anymore, to get out of his life for good!
Then he resents it when she does what he wanted!
When the book starts, Vicki's ill in her one room place, and little four-year-old Graham is sleeping restlessly, when Wade and his grandfather barge in, having found her after more than four years! (I've never understood how all these H's with plenty of money and connections can never seem to find the missing h's, who usually don't have a dime to their names, or anyone to turn to!) It seems the grandfather has a heart condition and probably won't last another year, and he wants his great-grandson on the family ranch in the Outback, and will take him there, no matter what! And he does, since Vicki was so ill, she ended up in the hospital. Soon after that, she's headed back to Baccaroo (the family estate), where Wade tells her she and Graham will stay until his grandfather dies, then they can both leave, as he has no interest in either her or their son! (What a charming man! No wonder Vicki loves him! Pardon me, while I throw up!)
Half the time, Wade acts more like a cold machine than a person, and makes so many crummy comments to Vicki, it's a wonder she only slapped him twice! Every time he shows a bit of warmth and kindness, he seems to instantly regret it, yet he's apparently so handsome and sexy Vicki can't help wanting him, and she went from Plain Jane to Eye Candy, so he can't stop wanting her!
As for love: in truth, the OM seemed more her type, and the OW more his, but you know the saying, about the heart wanting what it wants?
When Wade FINALLY explains the reasons for his less-than-stellar behavior, it again comes off very lame, and I think Vicki deserved better, but what the heck? Anything goes in La La Land!
Vicki and Wade seemed too mismatched to ever have a HEA. When they meet, she's 18 and he's in his mid-30's, she's all alone in the world, while he has money, power, social status and a grandfather he's in a perpetual contest of wills with. In fact, he married Vicki to spite him! (She wasn't one of the socialite beauties he had in mind for his grandson.) For some crazy reason, considering the way he treated her, Vicki falls for Wade, and hoped it would turn out well, but Wade's determined it'll be a name only marriage to spite the Old Man's hopes of a great-grandchild! (There's some family history that accounts for some of the anger and stubbornness between them, but it's not enough to explain everything.)
Ironically, the first time they kissed (before they got married) resulted from Vicki thinking he'd slept with the OW, and then their marriage is consummated (one of those forced seductions) because Wade thought Vicki had slept with the OM. Considering the type of young woman she was (a complete innocent) and that the OM was a friend/employee, as well as the nice guy type, he should have known how ridiculous he was being! Afterward, his apology was pretty lame, to say the least.
When Wade finds out Vicky's pregnant, he's furious and blames her for not using birth control, since he had mentioned before that there was always a chance lust could overrule logic and they should be prepared. (I guess it never occurred to him to stock up on condoms?) He actually tells her he doesn't want the baby and doesn't want her anymore, to get out of his life for good!
Then he resents it when she does what he wanted!
When the book starts, Vicki's ill in her one room place, and little four-year-old Graham is sleeping restlessly, when Wade and his grandfather barge in, having found her after more than four years! (I've never understood how all these H's with plenty of money and connections can never seem to find the missing h's, who usually don't have a dime to their names, or anyone to turn to!) It seems the grandfather has a heart condition and probably won't last another year, and he wants his great-grandson on the family ranch in the Outback, and will take him there, no matter what! And he does, since Vicki was so ill, she ended up in the hospital. Soon after that, she's headed back to Baccaroo (the family estate), where Wade tells her she and Graham will stay until his grandfather dies, then they can both leave, as he has no interest in either her or their son! (What a charming man! No wonder Vicki loves him! Pardon me, while I throw up!)
Half the time, Wade acts more like a cold machine than a person, and makes so many crummy comments to Vicki, it's a wonder she only slapped him twice! Every time he shows a bit of warmth and kindness, he seems to instantly regret it, yet he's apparently so handsome and sexy Vicki can't help wanting him, and she went from Plain Jane to Eye Candy, so he can't stop wanting her!
As for love: in truth, the OM seemed more her type, and the OW more his, but you know the saying, about the heart wanting what it wants?
When Wade FINALLY explains the reasons for his less-than-stellar behavior, it again comes off very lame, and I think Vicki deserved better, but what the heck? Anything goes in La La Land!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2023
What a world we used to live in!
Grumpy and isolationist H stalks the earth (well the part of it that is his vast Australian ranch) dealing out minor (and occasionally major) cruelties to the poor, wide-eyed h. Like all good old heroines with a Vintage Romland passport she can do nothing but love it and follow the trail of red flags and bruising kisses to Happy Ever After Land.
She is the epitome of virtue, household and moral. Scrubs her spartan room when sick, withstands the bruising kisses and jibes, tolerates bitchy comments and put downs from all sides and can do nothing but fall crazily in love with her tormentor. We know he is smitten as a) he is in the book and b) he is sneaking around being occasionally fond but never in public, oh the torment he suffers poor testosterone fuelled lamb that he is.
I re-read old Harlequin/Mills and Boon with fond memories of reading them as a teenager. At the time I absorbed two or three a day, setting my sense of what it meant to be grown up. I’m still fond of these emotionally stunted loons, but wish there had been a Rom-land debriefing with an ‘how that could have played out in a healthily real world relationship with gender equality and consent’.
Free to read on online archive: https://archive.org/details/boomerang...
Grumpy and isolationist H stalks the earth (well the part of it that is his vast Australian ranch) dealing out minor (and occasionally major) cruelties to the poor, wide-eyed h. Like all good old heroines with a Vintage Romland passport she can do nothing but love it and follow the trail of red flags and bruising kisses to Happy Ever After Land.
She is the epitome of virtue, household and moral. Scrubs her spartan room when sick, withstands the bruising kisses and jibes, tolerates bitchy comments and put downs from all sides and can do nothing but fall crazily in love with her tormentor. We know he is smitten as a) he is in the book and b) he is sneaking around being occasionally fond but never in public, oh the torment he suffers poor testosterone fuelled lamb that he is.
I re-read old Harlequin/Mills and Boon with fond memories of reading them as a teenager. At the time I absorbed two or three a day, setting my sense of what it meant to be grown up. I’m still fond of these emotionally stunted loons, but wish there had been a Rom-land debriefing with an ‘how that could have played out in a healthily real world relationship with gender equality and consent’.
Free to read on online archive: https://archive.org/details/boomerang...
October 25, 2018
This book had a huge gap in logic that I bet every reviewer has pointed out - he asked her to leave and yet he kept insisting that she left. That's just nonsense gaslighting. By the end of it, our heroine who had kept correcting him in her brain, even felt that she should not have left.
Besides this is the fact that the hero shows his love by forcing kisses on the heroine, abusing her and making her think that he has no interest in their child. Until later, of course, when he changes tactics and brings another woman home, pretends he wants to divorce the h and keep the child and kick her out to marry the other woman. The plot of the book is that a 30+ year old man and his grandfather take advantage of and emotionally torture an 18-year-old orphan who came to them for work. 2 stars for the heroine whom I liked, -1 for the neglect she showed her child and the child's neglect towards her (he doesn't want his mommy like most 5-year-old boys and -2 for the hero.
Besides this is the fact that the hero shows his love by forcing kisses on the heroine, abusing her and making her think that he has no interest in their child. Until later, of course, when he changes tactics and brings another woman home, pretends he wants to divorce the h and keep the child and kick her out to marry the other woman. The plot of the book is that a 30+ year old man and his grandfather take advantage of and emotionally torture an 18-year-old orphan who came to them for work. 2 stars for the heroine whom I liked, -1 for the neglect she showed her child and the child's neglect towards her (he doesn't want his mommy like most 5-year-old boys and -2 for the hero.
January 31, 2021
I liked the book. The H behaved abominably and I was intrigued about the ending. Even then he waited until he heard the heroine declare her feelings before he put himself on the line. Was it his pride or the fear of being vulnerable? He said he meant to talk to her anyway. It sure took him long with all these mixed signals. The heroine also seemed obtuse near the end but it’s hard to blame her after the H blew hot and cold.
I didn’t like that there was a very nice OM that the author made suffer an unrequited love for the heroine only to make the H jealous. It would be nice if found another love interest.
The ending was emotional but I would like a few more answers. The book certainly wasn’t boring.
I didn’t like that there was a very nice OM that the author made suffer an unrequited love for the heroine only to make the H jealous. It would be nice if found another love interest.
The ending was emotional but I would like a few more answers. The book certainly wasn’t boring.
January 1, 2026
A familiar Margaret Pargeter hero: outwardly cruel and emotionally distant, using that reserve to conceal his true feelings for the heroine. In this particular story, however, his behaviour, especially in the beginning of the book, is more difficult to accept as a child is involved.
The heroine, is very strong and capable but she is exhausted and undernourished, struggling to cope on her own while hiding from her husband. When he eventually finds her, he threatens to take their son away, despite the fact that his earlier negative reaction to the news of her pregnancy was the very reason she left him.
Of course, heroine had to suffer a bit more and after some highly emotional moments and a few misunderstandings with OW, everything is resolved with a dramatic love declaration.
The heroine, is very strong and capable but she is exhausted and undernourished, struggling to cope on her own while hiding from her husband. When he eventually finds her, he threatens to take their son away, despite the fact that his earlier negative reaction to the news of her pregnancy was the very reason she left him.
Of course, heroine had to suffer a bit more and after some highly emotional moments and a few misunderstandings with OW, everything is resolved with a dramatic love declaration.
February 1, 2020
Gahhh the “Hero” needs to die and the heroin needs therapy!
He slaps the h twice and warns her not to hit him again when she hits him (his slaps is not connected to her hitting him) Sooo it is ok for him to hit her but not the other way around?
The h is a spineless doormat and the H a unfeeling ice cube!
The h is so in love with the H she is willing to leave her child with him since she thinks he doesn't love her but that he wants their son.
At no time in the story did I get the feeling the H care for the h, never mind loving her! Not in the flashbacks nor in the present time. And the son didn’t really have a part in the story.
I didn’t believe their HEA
He slaps the h twice and warns her not to hit him again when she hits him (his slaps is not connected to her hitting him) Sooo it is ok for him to hit her but not the other way around?
The h is a spineless doormat and the H a unfeeling ice cube!
The h is so in love with the H she is willing to leave her child with him since she thinks he doesn't love her but that he wants their son.
At no time in the story did I get the feeling the H care for the h, never mind loving her! Not in the flashbacks nor in the present time. And the son didn’t really have a part in the story.
I didn’t believe their HEA
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2017
Some of these romance writers seem to think they write subtle loving heroes. **Cough...hack... cough...****
What I read are hateful men who show NO signs of affection. I guess subtle means nonexistent to some of these writers. I'm as imaginative as the next person but you can't read what isn't between the lines or even ON the lines, or anywhere in the same universe. lol...
It's like being thrown on the space shuttle and given a steering wheel not attached to anything. lol..
ah well, I love a good romance novel and I love trainwrecks too. This. Is. A. TrainWreck.
What I read are hateful men who show NO signs of affection. I guess subtle means nonexistent to some of these writers. I'm as imaginative as the next person but you can't read what isn't between the lines or even ON the lines, or anywhere in the same universe. lol...
It's like being thrown on the space shuttle and given a steering wheel not attached to anything. lol..
ah well, I love a good romance novel and I love trainwrecks too. This. Is. A. TrainWreck.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews