Snowy River man

by Valerie Parv

The High Country spelled dangerGemma Tate hired Robb Wetherill as her guide into the wild Australian bush.Despite the hardship he warned her to expect, she was determined to tackle the odds. Her search for a certain plane wreck was not only for her employer, Outback magazine. The real purpose was very personal -- and one that, if he knew it, would make her proud and rugged guide loathe her.As Robb watched Gemma suffer the arduous trek, he began to become suspicious-and more dangerous than the land .. . .

Genres: Romance

190 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 1988

About the author

Valerie Christine Parv was a popular Australian writer of over 70 romance novels, with more than 34 million sales. She published her novels in Mills & Boon's since 1982.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a three star read until the ending. Heroine is a journalist who is looking for a plane wreck in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. Hero is the guide who can help her find it.

Seems the pilot was carrying a bag of cash collected by a charity to help the station owners who had been burned out by a terrible wildfire. After the plane was never found, the locals decided the pilot had stolen the money, so they ran the pilot's family out of town. The heroine is the pilot's daughter and she is writing the article to clear his name. She decided she needed to this after her politician ex-fiance wouldn't marry her because of her father's bad reputation.

The wrinkle is that the guide who can take her into the mountains is the son of the man who lost his station because the cash never appeared. The hero's father also looked for the plane unsuccessfully when it first went down.

Most of the story is an interesting road trip through the bush - first on horses and then on foot. There is the growing attraction between the H/h - the moment when the hero realizes who the heroine really is - the heroine's mishaps - falling over a cliff, being thrown off of a horse, being slapped during a moment of hysteria, etc . . .

It's all interesting and enjoyable until they find the plane:



They also find the heroine's father who has amnesia and has been living with a mountain man for the past five years. He's convinced he's robbed a bank, which is why he's been hiding out. Hero also finds the list of recipients who were supposed to get the money. His father's name is not on the list because he gambled the station away. Hero realizes his father used the pilot's misadventures to cover his own bad behavior and did nothing to stop the town's persecution of the pilot's family. (And probably lied about not finding the plane.)

Great - that's fine. I like some hero guilt and angst. However, hero is just as low-down as his father. He asks the heroine to not write the story because it would make him look bad.

Yes, that's right. The truth will not set you free in this story. And *headdesk* The heroine agrees! And she plans not only to cover up the truth, but she's so in love that she's going to give up her job in the big city because our entitled hero had not one, but two, women leave him for the bright lights. Hero hears all this and only then does he propose. HEA unless you think cover-ups and secrets are a way to start a marriage.





I once read a review that described an unsatisfying ending with a "diminished heroine." I think that phrase fits here. Not only has the heroine failed in her quest to clear her father's name she's also given up a part of herself to live the hero's life. Not my idea of a HEA.

[Deane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma Tate hired Robb Wetherill as her guide into the wild Australian bush. She was working for a magazine who wanted to find a certain downed aircraft.

They did find the plane for her employer magazine but Robb was very suspicious of Emma and they were both very careful what they said to each other.

Eventually everything worked out okay with the couple.

[SBONGILE · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has mysterious ways to elaborate what's happening in story... sometimes it leaves with question marks and smiles also