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Cattle Rancher, Secret Son
He's the toast of Australian society…
Cattleman Cal McKendrick is under pressure from his family to produce an heir for the magnificent McKendrick homestead that lies deep in the Outback. Then he discovers he's already a father!
She's the mother of the son he never knew he had
Gina Romano had loved Cal with all her soul. But in her heart she'd known she'd never be good enough for him or his society family—so she'd kept her pregnancy secret. Now that Cal knows the truth, he demands she marry him. But Gina wants Cal's love, not just to be his convenient bride.…
Cattleman Cal McKendrick is under pressure from his family to produce an heir for the magnificent McKendrick homestead that lies deep in the Outback. Then he discovers he's already a father!
She's the mother of the son he never knew he had
Gina Romano had loved Cal with all her soul. But in her heart she'd known she'd never be good enough for him or his society family—so she'd kept her pregnancy secret. Now that Cal knows the truth, he demands she marry him. But Gina wants Cal's love, not just to be his convenient bride.…
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Margaret Way
622 books165 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 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 26, 2017
Underwhelming compared to some of Margaret Way's other romances. Let me tell you, she LOVES Australia. There are parts that read like a travel log and I mean that in the best way.
The story abounds with social and class divide, torn apart lovers, the requisite snobby and manipulative parents, and a secret baby.
The H and h met when his illustrious family was vacationing on the 5 star island resort the h worked at. She leaves abruptly leaving him broken hearted. His aunt tells him that the h left to go back to her solid Italian boyfriend.
Several years later the h is in the paper for saving a little boy's life and more is revealed. Way loves, loves, loves her interfering, overbearing and narcissistic parents especially mothers. They do damage here, but it's phoned in and a little weak. Not a lot of angst with the main romance either.
There is a secondary romance between the ignored daughter of the house and the hunky illegitimate manager that was torpedoed by poor writing decisions.
Read for rhapsodic descriptions of Australia.
The story abounds with social and class divide, torn apart lovers, the requisite snobby and manipulative parents, and a secret baby.
The H and h met when his illustrious family was vacationing on the 5 star island resort the h worked at. She leaves abruptly leaving him broken hearted. His aunt tells him that the h left to go back to her solid Italian boyfriend.
Several years later the h is in the paper for saving a little boy's life and more is revealed. Way loves, loves, loves her interfering, overbearing and narcissistic parents especially mothers. They do damage here, but it's phoned in and a little weak. Not a lot of angst with the main romance either.
There is a secondary romance between the ignored daughter of the house and the hunky illegitimate manager that was torpedoed by poor writing decisions.
Read for rhapsodic descriptions of Australia.
May 10, 2012
Good book. The resumption of their relationship started out very rocky. Cal found out that Gina had kept his son a secret and forced her to return with him. He threatened to take Robbie away from her unless she married him. Gina had run from him because of interference from his family, reinforcing her feeling that she wasn't good enough for him. When they returned to the station, Gina received a warm welcome from everyone except Cal's mother, who was a snob of the worst kind. Cal put his foot down and threatened to leave if she didn't straighten up. Meanwhile, Cal's sister Meredith had fallen in love with the station overseer, the bastard son of another cattle baron. Their father pitched a fit and fired Steven (though Cal simply transferred him to another property). Then Steven's father died and left him the property. So both couples had issues to overcome: Cal and Gina had to learn to trust each other again, and Meredith and Steven had to overcome their own arguments. Overall, a very satisfying story.
November 5, 2023
Annoying.. half the book was not abt the main couple. The hero's sister romance story was way too present for a side character subplot.
November 6, 2017
Review of novel read years ago.
The hero Cal and the beautiful heroine Gina, met and fell in love when Gina was 18. Cal was in his mid to late '20's. Cal's relatives were very snobbish - except for his sister - and his nasty, bitch aunt conspired with his witch of a mother to lie to both lovers, causing them to separate. They are reunited years later and Cal finds out Gina had his son. Fortunately, no DNA test was required because the little boy looks exactly like Cal. He inherited none of Gina's looks. Anyway, both lovers still feel a strong attraction but are bitter because of the lies they were fed by Cal's aunt. Of course Cal's mother hates Gina - even though she grudgingly admits the heroine is very beautiful - because Gina's of Italian heritage and also because she's not part of their elite cattle baron sub culture. The presence of the little boy starts to melt cold hearts because ( as mentioned previously ) the kid looks like a McKendrick. I would have rated this passionate tale higher had it not been for the split focus on the 2 side romances, between Cal's sister and foreman and his uncle and Gina's aunt. But I adored how much Cal loved Gina. He is one of Margaret Way's nicest heroes ever ! And he formed an instant bond with his son too. It was great to see how proud he was of his little 'mini me' son.
The hero Cal and the beautiful heroine Gina, met and fell in love when Gina was 18. Cal was in his mid to late '20's. Cal's relatives were very snobbish - except for his sister - and his nasty, bitch aunt conspired with his witch of a mother to lie to both lovers, causing them to separate. They are reunited years later and Cal finds out Gina had his son. Fortunately, no DNA test was required because the little boy looks exactly like Cal. He inherited none of Gina's looks. Anyway, both lovers still feel a strong attraction but are bitter because of the lies they were fed by Cal's aunt. Of course Cal's mother hates Gina - even though she grudgingly admits the heroine is very beautiful - because Gina's of Italian heritage and also because she's not part of their elite cattle baron sub culture. The presence of the little boy starts to melt cold hearts because ( as mentioned previously ) the kid looks like a McKendrick. I would have rated this passionate tale higher had it not been for the split focus on the 2 side romances, between Cal's sister and foreman and his uncle and Gina's aunt. But I adored how much Cal loved Gina. He is one of Margaret Way's nicest heroes ever ! And he formed an instant bond with his son too. It was great to see how proud he was of his little 'mini me' son.
May 26, 2018
Rich guy, poor girl. Holiday romance gone awry. His snobbish relatives make mischief, leads get separated. Girl is pregnant. Struggles to build her life as a single mother.
She happens to save some child from an accident and gets reported in the papers. The guy's sister who is his only positive support system at home, shows him the news.
Being a cattle baron's only son, he is tied to his status and pedigree. But he goes looking for the girl, spots his kid and brings the girl home against all family odds.
A few more family obstacles follow. A parallel romantic track for the good hearted sister. Even the heroines well meaning aunt gets a HEA !
The story runs more like a summary description, not enough space for the leads to explore their relationship. Too much focus on the other 2 love stories.
Superficial treatment of what could have been a really emotional lost and found love story.
She happens to save some child from an accident and gets reported in the papers. The guy's sister who is his only positive support system at home, shows him the news.
Being a cattle baron's only son, he is tied to his status and pedigree. But he goes looking for the girl, spots his kid and brings the girl home against all family odds.
A few more family obstacles follow. A parallel romantic track for the good hearted sister. Even the heroines well meaning aunt gets a HEA !
The story runs more like a summary description, not enough space for the leads to explore their relationship. Too much focus on the other 2 love stories.
Superficial treatment of what could have been a really emotional lost and found love story.
November 7, 2017
There were two stories going at once in this book. Meredith should've had her own book. The story was lacking a bit of something. I liked the characters but there could've been more.........
Read
September 3, 2022Dnf'ed
January 22, 2015
Fairly typical of the genre. I tend to read these books when I am looking for something light to read, so I don't expect much. I normally enjoy this author's work but I have to admit I was disappointed by this one.
The hero and heroine had met in the past on a holiday island but were separated by his family and their machinations. Lucky chance has them met again...
It had the potential to be a lot more intriguing than it ended up being. I liked the characters but their conflicts were non existent outside a few mentions and did nothing to advance or deepen the plot. It ended up being very boring to read about these two waiting to hear what really happened four years ago but you never find out... Anything about any of the supposed conflicts in the story.
As a story I feel it was missing important mechanics. From the main plot don't even get me started on the side plot...
This book in particular had a side plot with a romance between the Hero's sister and the station overseer. It had the potential to be interesting but with how quickly and abruptly the side plot was wrapped up it was really just annoying to mention these characters at all.
In the end it was an okay book to read if you like safe and boring.
The hero and heroine had met in the past on a holiday island but were separated by his family and their machinations. Lucky chance has them met again...
It had the potential to be a lot more intriguing than it ended up being. I liked the characters but their conflicts were non existent outside a few mentions and did nothing to advance or deepen the plot. It ended up being very boring to read about these two waiting to hear what really happened four years ago but you never find out... Anything about any of the supposed conflicts in the story.
As a story I feel it was missing important mechanics. From the main plot don't even get me started on the side plot...
This book in particular had a side plot with a romance between the Hero's sister and the station overseer. It had the potential to be interesting but with how quickly and abruptly the side plot was wrapped up it was really just annoying to mention these characters at all.
In the end it was an okay book to read if you like safe and boring.
May 31, 2012
i first read this book in 2008, and re-read it again in 2012 when it came as a bonus book with another offered by this author, whom i've read for YEARS! unlike most of Way's heroines, this one succumbed to the hero's advances before marriage, and paid the price--scared off by his meddling relatives, disowned by her father and thrown out of her home, and bearing the secret son of the hero, who finds out about all this 3 years after the fact. he, of course, since this is the big misunderstanding, thinks she left him for another man, while she was told he was to marry another woman, and over the course of the book this is straightened out, with a few bumps along the way.
May 6, 2017
There's something about her writing style or story telling style I don't love... Plus she's constantly trying to tell several stories in one book, which is good cos we don't have random supporting characters but sometimes it feels like having too much going on, not because you can't keep up but just cause, well write another book.
All in all there's something I simultaneously appreciate and dislike about how she writes.
All in all there's something I simultaneously appreciate and dislike about how she writes.
September 18, 2009
I had a hard time with this one... It was a little on the awkward side at times and way too much going on at once. There were 3 couples in the story which could have been really nice, but there just wasn't enough content to fully develop all of the characters.
January 11, 2020
Romantic story.
April 9, 2013
Cal Amazing Lover. We need someone like him.
September 25, 2009
Modern
Read
June 27, 2018He's the toast of Australian society...
Cattleman Cal McKendrick is under pressure from his family to produce an heir for the magnificent McKendrick homestead that lies deep in the Outback. Then he discovers he's already a father!
She's the mother of the son he never knew he had
Gina Romano had loved Cal with all her soul. But in her heart she'd known she'd never be good enough for him or his society family--so she'd kept her pregnancy secret. Now that Cal knows the truth, he demands she marry him. But Gina wants Cal's love, not just to be his convenient bride...
Cattleman Cal McKendrick is under pressure from his family to produce an heir for the magnificent McKendrick homestead that lies deep in the Outback. Then he discovers he's already a father!
She's the mother of the son he never knew he had
Gina Romano had loved Cal with all her soul. But in her heart she'd known she'd never be good enough for him or his society family--so she'd kept her pregnancy secret. Now that Cal knows the truth, he demands she marry him. But Gina wants Cal's love, not just to be his convenient bride...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews