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Outback Fire
Woman in a man's world...
Tempestuous Storm McFarlane had declared open war on her rival, Luke Branagan, her father's adopted son. Luke was the one being groomed to handle the vast family cattle empire and this had ultimately driven Storm away from Winding River. She would find recognition and a new life in the city.
Still, she longed for her life in the Outback. So when Luke insisted she visit her ailing father, she agreed to go - only to discover that her powerful feelings for this commanding usurper had subtly shifted from hurt anger to intense desire....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
11 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Way
611 books162 followersMargaret 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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 16, 2019
Story opens with a prologue of the hero saving the heroine’s father’s life when he was 14. It’s an exciting scene with a charging wild camel and the hero shooting it in the nick of time. The bond with the soon-to-be-orphaned hero and heroine’s father is established and it creates sympathy for the father’s position of protecting the heroine by excluding her from such dangers.
Fast forward 15 or so years. Hero is worried that heroine’s father is dying, and he thinks heroine should come home from her glamorous jewelry designer life in Sydney. This is a common trope in Margaret Way’s stories. H/h are at odds. Heroine has exiled herself to the city. Hero is all judgment and thunder when he interrupts her frivolous life.
What’s different about this opening is that we get the hero’s point of view and why he says what he says and does what he does. He is in love with the beautiful, resentful heroine. He despairs of ever changing her mind. He’s tired of his crazy OW who is pestering him to settle down. He knows the OW is crazy, but enjoys the sex.
This must be the establishing mindset of most of MW’s strong, silent, disapproving heroes! The code is cracked.
We also get the point of view of the OW before the heroine. The OW knows she’s obsessed with the hero. She hates the heroine and knows she mustn’t show it. And she acknowledges that love has made her crazy. LOL – yet another code cracked.
The rest of the story is bog-standard MW. Heroine is jealous/in love with the H and continues to ruminate on her daddy issues, until daddy dies.
H/h have glorious sex the night of the father’s funeral. It seems they are going to acknowledge their strong feelings until the will is read and the father has left half the station to the hero and the other half to the heroine.
They both feel manipulated and turn against each other. Then heroine sprains her ankle while looking for gemstones and spends time with a poisonous snake - until it slinks away and hero rescues her. H/h are at peace again – until the OW shows up to “help.”
Hero knows she’s there to cause trouble but lets her stay for awhile. OW cooks and flirts and is such an OW (with the hero not buying any of it). It was hilarious.
Finally, the OW manages to overhear the heroine tell the loyal housekeeper the terms of the will. She lies to the heroine that the hero told her and is making plans to buy her out. When heroine confronts the hero, he denies it. Then he orders the OW away and tells the h is fed up with not being trusted and storms off.
It’s a bad ten days of separation until the hero’s plane goes down in the desert. Hero realizes he might die, and he has to let go of his anger. The H is rescued, and H/h declare their love.
I really thought the OW had sabotaged the H’s plane – thinking that if she couldn’t have him, no one could. But alas, MW doesn’t spell that out. I wish there had been an OW comeuppance of some sort, but the H/h agreed to ignore her and be happy.
What’s interesting about this story is that no one really changed. The heroine had to decide to change her attitude about her father and childhood since that’s all she really had control over. Hero had to do that to a smaller degree when he was trapped in the desert. He had to decide to forgive the heroine for being taken in by the OW.
The writing in this one was better than usual for MW – she kept the action up and the prose the palest of lavender (rather than the deep purple of her more tedious stories).
This is a good intro to the delights of MW if you happen across it.
FYI for those who need to know these things:
Heroine is not a virgin. She had two fiances. She is not with anyone when the hero barges in on her life.
Hero is not with the OW at anytime in this story. He had broken it off months before.
Outback checklist:
Wealthy Pioneer family with gracious mansion
Small plane and helicopter flying OW, hero, and heroine
Deferential aboriginal stockmen
Snakes
Wild camels
Wear a hat
Community gathering (this time it was the funeral)
Fast forward 15 or so years. Hero is worried that heroine’s father is dying, and he thinks heroine should come home from her glamorous jewelry designer life in Sydney. This is a common trope in Margaret Way’s stories. H/h are at odds. Heroine has exiled herself to the city. Hero is all judgment and thunder when he interrupts her frivolous life.
What’s different about this opening is that we get the hero’s point of view and why he says what he says and does what he does. He is in love with the beautiful, resentful heroine. He despairs of ever changing her mind. He’s tired of his crazy OW who is pestering him to settle down. He knows the OW is crazy, but enjoys the sex.
This must be the establishing mindset of most of MW’s strong, silent, disapproving heroes! The code is cracked.
We also get the point of view of the OW before the heroine. The OW knows she’s obsessed with the hero. She hates the heroine and knows she mustn’t show it. And she acknowledges that love has made her crazy. LOL – yet another code cracked.
The rest of the story is bog-standard MW. Heroine is jealous/in love with the H and continues to ruminate on her daddy issues, until daddy dies.
H/h have glorious sex the night of the father’s funeral. It seems they are going to acknowledge their strong feelings until the will is read and the father has left half the station to the hero and the other half to the heroine.
They both feel manipulated and turn against each other. Then heroine sprains her ankle while looking for gemstones and spends time with a poisonous snake - until it slinks away and hero rescues her. H/h are at peace again – until the OW shows up to “help.”
Hero knows she’s there to cause trouble but lets her stay for awhile. OW cooks and flirts and is such an OW (with the hero not buying any of it). It was hilarious.
Finally, the OW manages to overhear the heroine tell the loyal housekeeper the terms of the will. She lies to the heroine that the hero told her and is making plans to buy her out. When heroine confronts the hero, he denies it. Then he orders the OW away and tells the h is fed up with not being trusted and storms off.
It’s a bad ten days of separation until the hero’s plane goes down in the desert. Hero realizes he might die, and he has to let go of his anger. The H is rescued, and H/h declare their love.
I really thought the OW had sabotaged the H’s plane – thinking that if she couldn’t have him, no one could. But alas, MW doesn’t spell that out. I wish there had been an OW comeuppance of some sort, but the H/h agreed to ignore her and be happy.
What’s interesting about this story is that no one really changed. The heroine had to decide to change her attitude about her father and childhood since that’s all she really had control over. Hero had to do that to a smaller degree when he was trapped in the desert. He had to decide to forgive the heroine for being taken in by the OW.
The writing in this one was better than usual for MW – she kept the action up and the prose the palest of lavender (rather than the deep purple of her more tedious stories).
This is a good intro to the delights of MW if you happen across it.
FYI for those who need to know these things:
Heroine is not a virgin. She had two fiances. She is not with anyone when the hero barges in on her life.
Hero is not with the OW at anytime in this story. He had broken it off months before.
Outback checklist:
Wealthy Pioneer family with gracious mansion
Small plane and helicopter flying OW, hero, and heroine
Deferential aboriginal stockmen
Snakes
Wild camels
Wear a hat
Community gathering (this time it was the funeral)
January 25, 2023
This was so bad, stupid plot, cliched characters and dialogue and written at a fourth grade reading level. I read the prologue and the end. The h is “tempestuous” and named Storm. Really.
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June 18, 2018Woman in a man's world...
Tempestuous Storm McFarlane had declared open war on her rival, Luke Branagan, her father's adopted son. Luke was the one being groomed to handle the vast family cattle empire and this had ultimately driven Storm away from Winding River. She would find recognition and a new life in the city.
Still, she longed for her life in the Outback. So when Luke insisted she visit her ailing father, she agreed to go - only to discover that her powerful feelings for this commanding usurper had subtly shifted from hurt anger to intense desire....
Tempestuous Storm McFarlane had declared open war on her rival, Luke Branagan, her father's adopted son. Luke was the one being groomed to handle the vast family cattle empire and this had ultimately driven Storm away from Winding River. She would find recognition and a new life in the city.
Still, she longed for her life in the Outback. So when Luke insisted she visit her ailing father, she agreed to go - only to discover that her powerful feelings for this commanding usurper had subtly shifted from hurt anger to intense desire....
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews