What do you think?
Rate this book
It Began in Te Rangi
The housekeeping job at Te Rangi was just what Maggie Sullivan wanted - but the boss, John Dangerfield (so aptly known to everyone as "Danger!") refused to consider anyone who wasn't middle-aged.
But a series of domestic disasters forced him to keep her on - at any rate for the time being.
But a series of domestic disasters forced him to keep her on - at any rate for the time being.
- GenresHarlequin Romance
191 pages, Unknown Binding
First published November 1, 1971
About the author
Gloria Bevan
51 books4 followersGloria Isabel Bevan
aka Fiona Murray, Gloria Bevan
Gloria Isabel was born on 20 July 1911 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia, the daughter of a mining engineer. At three, her family moved to New Zealand, and considers herself a New Zealander. She lived in Auckland, from 1926 to 1936. On 1937, she married Thomas Henry Bevan, a building inspector, and they had three daughters.
After leaving school she worked as a typist, but she had been writing stories for as long as she could remember and feel "there's a certain magic about writing even when the characters refuse to act the way I want them to." She not begin to publishing until she was well into her fifties, first detective novels as Fiona Murray in 1965, She started corresponding with fellow New Zealand writer, Essie Summers who introduced her to publisher Alan Boon and under her married name, Gloria Bevan, she wrote 25 contemporary romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1992, many of which are set in her beloved New Zealand. When not writing, she explored the many and varied exotic locations within reach of her suburban Auckland home. Her obvious love of her country and her particular talent for weaving interesting background information into her novels made her a popular romance writer of her era.
Gloria Bevan was interviewed by New Zealand author Rachel McAlpine in 1992 for The Passionate Pen. This was published in 1998. In The Passionate Pen's Introduction, McAlpine mentions that Gloria Bevan had moved into a rest home. According to New Zealand's National Library website, Mrs Bevan died in 1998
aka Fiona Murray, Gloria Bevan
Gloria Isabel was born on 20 July 1911 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia, the daughter of a mining engineer. At three, her family moved to New Zealand, and considers herself a New Zealander. She lived in Auckland, from 1926 to 1936. On 1937, she married Thomas Henry Bevan, a building inspector, and they had three daughters.
After leaving school she worked as a typist, but she had been writing stories for as long as she could remember and feel "there's a certain magic about writing even when the characters refuse to act the way I want them to." She not begin to publishing until she was well into her fifties, first detective novels as Fiona Murray in 1965, She started corresponding with fellow New Zealand writer, Essie Summers who introduced her to publisher Alan Boon and under her married name, Gloria Bevan, she wrote 25 contemporary romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1992, many of which are set in her beloved New Zealand. When not writing, she explored the many and varied exotic locations within reach of her suburban Auckland home. Her obvious love of her country and her particular talent for weaving interesting background information into her novels made her a popular romance writer of her era.
Gloria Bevan was interviewed by New Zealand author Rachel McAlpine in 1992 for The Passionate Pen. This was published in 1998. In The Passionate Pen's Introduction, McAlpine mentions that Gloria Bevan had moved into a rest home. According to New Zealand's National Library website, Mrs Bevan died in 1998
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2018
More time was spent on toheroa fritters than on romance. I did find it amusing how incredibly unappealing both of the OM were. Only the H could ever imagine them to be threats.
May 29, 2018
Randomly picked up the book without knowing about the author, plot and setting.
A 1972 story set in Hamilton, New Zealand, the heroine was frantic when she found out her ex fiancé was going to be the new junior partner in the law firm where she worked! Collin the Cad had fallen for her so-called best friend/ flat mate Andrea, and the two finally broke the news to Maggie before moving back to Andrea's hometown in Australia to get married. Now why the hell would they move back, Maggie did NOT want to know! She knew she was running away, but being able to forgive and move on was very different from having to see them regularly and socially! She knew them well enough to know at least Collin would want to be "friends"! So Maggie quit and took on the first job that caught her attention in the remotest corner of NZ she could go.
Due to errors like losing the first two lines of the job ad, and miscommunication like bad telephone lines, when Maggie arrived in the remote sheep station, she was roundly rejected. Turned out the Mrs Barrington she thought she was working for, was herself an employee who had thrown in the towel before Maggie arrived. As the ad had stipulated that the person they wanted to hire as housekeeper/mother's help was to be middle aged, and could drive, Maggie failed to meet both requirements. Maggie and Danger's meet cute would explain why she hadn't seem a good driver haha! And yes Danger turned out to be her employer, the sheep station owner!
His sister had gone on an expedition with her husband, so her three kids and Mrs Barry were staying with Danger for the next three months while the kids finished out the school year by correspondence. Interestingly, they have radio broadcasts as lessons, to educate the young living in the remote parts of the country. How amazing!
Anyway Maggie was going to leave the next day when it's safer to drive, when an earthquake hit! It wasn't a strong one, but a heavy pan had hit Maggie on the head and she had no choice but to stay and recuperate upon doctor's orders. It angered Maggie further that the stubborn Danger refused to hire her despite obviously needing help. The kids and house were filthy! Luckily Mrs Wahonga came in to cook dinner so Maggie managed the rest of the time. Oh both the doc and Mrs Wahonga told Maggie that Danger had resisted Maggie because she looked like his lost love, the actress Cathy who came here, fell in love with Danger, and left one day without an explanation.
Thus began an uncomfortable relationship between Maggie and Danger. Silly girl was so hurt in her pride, she toyed with the idea of making Danger fall just a bit for her so that she could snub him. But thank goodness she's not that stupid because she was hurt enough in love, she knew the cost would be high if the plan backfired. Then she was cursing him wishing the kids would get measles and see how he'd cope without help!
The joke was on her, because just as she was to leave, the youngest child Mark did get measles! By then it's a no brainer, Maggie had to stay and look after the kids.
Danger seemed to mock Maggie that a city girl like her would not be able to live in such a remote location for long, and be ignorant of Maori culture. She proved him wrong! But he never knew she had grown up in a sheep station herself! Her parents had sold out and retired when she was 20, and only then did she move to town to get an office job. By the way Danger was not a dumb sheep farmer all brawns and no brains; he was a Rhodes scholar!
When Maggie fell for Danger, she became a ninny. All the angst, but she's just so silly. Other than the Cathy of the past, Maggie thought Danger and his neighbour Ann had a thing going on. Ann's bro Tony, architect wannabe, was keen on Maggie and made his intentions known. It's quite annoying and Maggie was unable to just not lead him on...worse was when Collin turned up like a bad penny.
Sidetrack: much ado was made about harvesting troheroas, a shellfish. The book was set in 1972, already there were restrictions on harvesting them due to largely declining populations. From Wikipedia, I found out that by 1982 harvesting/picking troheroas was totally banned. In 2018, the ban is still in place. Wow!
To be honest there's really no romance between Danger and Maggie. They never talked or spent much time alone because Danger seemed to be avoiding her...but he'd betray his deepening feelings for her in his kisses and random sweet things he told her. Poor Maggie was fixated on him and Ann...the ending and love declaration came on suddenly...as though the author met her word count!
I love the beautiful description of the setting and life on the sheep station and going to he horse show. The romance was flat.
A 1972 story set in Hamilton, New Zealand, the heroine was frantic when she found out her ex fiancé was going to be the new junior partner in the law firm where she worked! Collin the Cad had fallen for her so-called best friend/ flat mate Andrea, and the two finally broke the news to Maggie before moving back to Andrea's hometown in Australia to get married. Now why the hell would they move back, Maggie did NOT want to know! She knew she was running away, but being able to forgive and move on was very different from having to see them regularly and socially! She knew them well enough to know at least Collin would want to be "friends"! So Maggie quit and took on the first job that caught her attention in the remotest corner of NZ she could go.
Due to errors like losing the first two lines of the job ad, and miscommunication like bad telephone lines, when Maggie arrived in the remote sheep station, she was roundly rejected. Turned out the Mrs Barrington she thought she was working for, was herself an employee who had thrown in the towel before Maggie arrived. As the ad had stipulated that the person they wanted to hire as housekeeper/mother's help was to be middle aged, and could drive, Maggie failed to meet both requirements. Maggie and Danger's meet cute would explain why she hadn't seem a good driver haha! And yes Danger turned out to be her employer, the sheep station owner!
His sister had gone on an expedition with her husband, so her three kids and Mrs Barry were staying with Danger for the next three months while the kids finished out the school year by correspondence. Interestingly, they have radio broadcasts as lessons, to educate the young living in the remote parts of the country. How amazing!
Anyway Maggie was going to leave the next day when it's safer to drive, when an earthquake hit! It wasn't a strong one, but a heavy pan had hit Maggie on the head and she had no choice but to stay and recuperate upon doctor's orders. It angered Maggie further that the stubborn Danger refused to hire her despite obviously needing help. The kids and house were filthy! Luckily Mrs Wahonga came in to cook dinner so Maggie managed the rest of the time. Oh both the doc and Mrs Wahonga told Maggie that Danger had resisted Maggie because she looked like his lost love, the actress Cathy who came here, fell in love with Danger, and left one day without an explanation.
Thus began an uncomfortable relationship between Maggie and Danger. Silly girl was so hurt in her pride, she toyed with the idea of making Danger fall just a bit for her so that she could snub him. But thank goodness she's not that stupid because she was hurt enough in love, she knew the cost would be high if the plan backfired. Then she was cursing him wishing the kids would get measles and see how he'd cope without help!
The joke was on her, because just as she was to leave, the youngest child Mark did get measles! By then it's a no brainer, Maggie had to stay and look after the kids.
Danger seemed to mock Maggie that a city girl like her would not be able to live in such a remote location for long, and be ignorant of Maori culture. She proved him wrong! But he never knew she had grown up in a sheep station herself! Her parents had sold out and retired when she was 20, and only then did she move to town to get an office job. By the way Danger was not a dumb sheep farmer all brawns and no brains; he was a Rhodes scholar!
When Maggie fell for Danger, she became a ninny. All the angst, but she's just so silly. Other than the Cathy of the past, Maggie thought Danger and his neighbour Ann had a thing going on. Ann's bro Tony, architect wannabe, was keen on Maggie and made his intentions known. It's quite annoying and Maggie was unable to just not lead him on...worse was when Collin turned up like a bad penny.
Sidetrack: much ado was made about harvesting troheroas, a shellfish. The book was set in 1972, already there were restrictions on harvesting them due to largely declining populations. From Wikipedia, I found out that by 1982 harvesting/picking troheroas was totally banned. In 2018, the ban is still in place. Wow!
To be honest there's really no romance between Danger and Maggie. They never talked or spent much time alone because Danger seemed to be avoiding her...but he'd betray his deepening feelings for her in his kisses and random sweet things he told her. Poor Maggie was fixated on him and Ann...the ending and love declaration came on suddenly...as though the author met her word count!
I love the beautiful description of the setting and life on the sheep station and going to he horse show. The romance was flat.
February 9, 2021
I think the author forgot to include romance in the story. It would’ve been nice.
July 9, 2023
Hopeloos slecht. Hoofdpersonage heeft geen eigenwaarde, gebeurtenissen en acties slaan als een tang op een varken.
November 26, 2013
Overall it wasn't too bad however there was very little angst or relationship growth IMO.
April 20, 2026
A sweet story with a nice hero, a lovely heroine, a potential OW (but not really) and two of the ugliest OM I have come across (one is round and the other is so skinny a swim knocks him out).
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews