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Australian Brides #1

Farmer Needs a Wife

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Though his small outback town is having a wife-finding competition to bolster its population, Jeff Houston wants no part of it — until Billie Holden’s car breaks down on her way through Casey Plains, and Jeff starts looking for ways to convince her to stay… First in a series!

Billie Holden thought she had the perfect life, until she caught her boyfriend with another woman. Betrayed and hurting, she leaves Sydney for a new life in the tropical north. To help soothe her broken heart, she takes the inland route so she can see the outback. She’s never been there before and just as luck would have it, she breaks down smack in the middle of the smallest town she’s ever seen.

Jeff Houston didn’t want to join the wife hunting competition but he owed Beth big time, and can’t refuse her request to bolster the numbers. His luck changes when he meets Billie, the perfect candidate for a wife. Pity he isn’t looking for one, and the last thing she wants is to get into a relationship again. She only needs his mechanical skills.

They get on better than either of them imagined and Jeff decides he really wants to get to know her more. But keeping Billie in Casey Plains with lies wasn’t the best choice he could have made, and she finds out before he can come clean.

Once again, she’s on the run with a broken heart.

Is there anything this country man can do to tempt her to try again?

198 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 2021

799 people are currently reading
237 people want to read

About the author

Ann B. Harrison

71 books277 followers
I swear I was born with a book in my hand and that is how I spent most of my childhood. That was fine until I got older and the voices in my head demanded to be heard and I started to write.
The voices are no quieter but there are less of them.

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5 stars
374 (46%)
4 stars
241 (30%)
3 stars
132 (16%)
2 stars
33 (4%)
1 star
16 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
Profile Image for Helen.
2,919 reviews65 followers
February 28, 2021
This is a sweet and thoroughly enjoyable romance, set in the small Australian outback town of Casey Plains it is a small town that needs new people to move there, as the towns populations it is dwindling. When freelance journalist Billie Holden’s car breaks down on her way to a new life in Cairns, this could be the start of a new life for the town as well as herself.

Billie has just been burnt badly by her fiancé and it is time to move on, a sea change perhaps in Cairns, but she decides to take the inland road through the outback, when her car breaks down and she is desperately trying to find the mechanic she is directed to the pub and it is not long before she finds herself in a contest, for farmers to find a wife, this was not going to happen but when she meets Jeff the mechanic and a deal is made, Billie is finding that Casey Plains and its people are maybe what she needs.

Jeff Houston is living on the family farm and loving it now, but there were times that things were different and when the local mayor and pub owner Beth starts a contest to help bring more people to town he cannot let her down. Meeting Billie opens up a lot of feelings for Jeff and the deal they make see them spending two weeks together, which leads to more and the more time they are together the he wants to be with Billie, could this be his future bride?

This story is beautifully written and takes in the heart of the town and the problems that they are having, there are so many awesome characters living here and I do hope we get to know them even more in other books in the series. Billie is just the person the town needs to boost it, she has a heart of gold and is strong and caring but trust isn’t easy for her, and Jeff has issues from the past that play a part in their relationship, but when cupid’s arrow strikes it strikes and their journey to a HEA is wonderful. This is a story that I highly recommend lots of emotion and very moving.
Profile Image for Kait.
1,401 reviews229 followers
February 11, 2023
What did I just read?

Not even sure where to start with this.. The timeline is so questionable and confusing.

So Billie ends up stranded in a small town and finds herself at a matchmaking event that she can’t get out of. Then she moves into a complete strangers house while he fixes her car.. which she never asks about. She agrees to fake date him even though she just caught her ex-fiancé cheating and doesn’t want a relationship.

She and Jeff don’t seem remotely interested in each other but end up in bed together and all of a sudden are so happy together. And then he’s asking her to marry him on live television, which came out of nowhere.

2⭐️ is generous in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kathy.
1,111 reviews4 followers
November 3, 2022
A delightful view of the Outback

Interesting premise and delightful story. Really colorful characters make for a great start to what should be an excellent series.
1,582 reviews7 followers
November 24, 2024
nope

I’m not interested in reading books that include the F bomb, and this one does very early into the musings of the female lead character. Not for me.
Profile Image for Sandi Ramirez.
1,864 reviews17 followers
March 24, 2021
The Farmer Takes A Wife by author Ann B Harrison is a fun adventure to Australia for me. It was a smooth clean read that had me laughing in spots and looking to my own past in others. Like so many small towns all over Casey Plains is in the. So outback of Australia there are only so many women to go around for the men. So they have decided to hold a "Farmer Needs A Wife" speed dating night then you have to speed 2 weeks getting to know your winning date. LOL, the funny thing is Billie is one of the candidates. She is she had no idea she was signing up for speed dating. She thought she was there to find someone to fix her car that broke down as she ran away from her old life. Well, we all know life throws out stumbling blocks and well these two made them into stepping stones. What a wonderful read!
5 reviews
August 9, 2021
A book to take a chance on

I love the author and I’ve read some of her other books. I had not heard of this series so I was a bit hesitant. I am glad I read it tho. I couldn’t put it down! Such a great storyline and great characters. You will get pulled in. You will laugh and show emotions for these characters. Yes there is long description parts but that’s what book ones of a series is mostly in many series. You will sit through the description parts and introduction parts and enjoy this book!
117 reviews
March 2, 2021
Wonderful book

I loved the characters the p!of is great. The book holds your interest. A lot of emotion in the book. You won't be disappointed if you read it. Looking forward to reading more of her books.
8 reviews
April 9, 2021
Reality life.

I love the idea of the reality show presented here. So much better than the rich and famous that we usually see. Some of the problems presented here are not so different than rural America too.
57 reviews
March 21, 2021
Great read

Loved learning more about the outback in Australia. Good romantic plot. I'm looking forward to Pearl's story. It's a great beginning!
Profile Image for Cindy Pearson.
930 reviews
May 16, 2021
I love Ann’s books. She definitely didn’t disappoint with Billie and Jeff’s story.
Profile Image for Aracelis Melendez.
121 reviews
June 17, 2023
Entertainment.
Casey Plains is a town with colorful folk and a strange practice of how to find a spouse.

Yes, the town is slowly dying, the younger people are migrants to the big cities, and only remind the ones who loved to work the land and there are singles. So they have a strange dating competition to find their other half, even if the person is just passing through their town.

Baillie, car broke down and needs a mechanic fast, but to talk to the mechanic she needs to sign a paper (a secret contract😮) and thinks gets complicated by the minute, special since she isn't looking for any kind of relationship.

Jeff, the mechanic ends up dating Baillie (find out how) and he is determined to make Baillie stay forever in Casey Plains and married her, but everything goes wrong.

Colorful folk, dating competition, closed-door intimacy, romance, some drama, and a realistic point of view regarding the struggles of farmers' lifestyles and small towns.

Good story.
I like the eye-opening regarding the farmer's life and how much important is to support and help them to maintain a good quantity of life no matter what, our life depends on them. 👌❤️
Profile Image for Annette.
1,768 reviews10 followers
August 16, 2023
I enjoyed learning about the outback. Lots of similarity to the Western part of the US. And I loved getting to see characters who had a love of rural life.

Billie is leaving Sydney in order to start her life over. She was dumped by her boyfriend and it broke her heart. When her car dies, she is in a very small town. She finds herself taking part in a dating experience when all she wants is a mechanic.

Jeff is the town mechanic. He is really a farmer and he is in the dating contest to try to find a wife. Billie appeals to him right off the bat.

From there the reader gets to know Billie, Jeff and the people in town.

I liked the characters a great deal. Billie and Jeff are good together. And the secondary characters
are wonderfully interesting.

The story has some slow spots. I would have liked a little more development.

I got the feeling of Australia…..at least I think I did. I got the feeling for small towns where the population is dwindling and that causes problems. Interesting topic for a story.

In short, I liked the book.
677 reviews2 followers
September 4, 2024
city girl finding her place in small town in the outback

Finding her fiancé cheating on her Billie decides to leave Sydney and start over somewhere far away. Taking the inland route instead of the coast road leaves her stuck in small town Casey Plains when her car breaks down. Having to sign up for Date Night at the local pub to be able to see the mechanic doesn’t make her night any better. Jeff sees Billie when she comes in and is determined to be the one who gets to date her. I found this whole concept unique and interesting. While waiting for parts for her car Jeff lets her stay with him and his ranch hand. Since she is a journalist it seems natural for her to write some articles about life in this town. This is like a snowball rolling downhill, Jeff and the town begin to grow on her.
Jeff makes a mistake because he is trying to get her to stay that nearly ends the relationship they have built.

I love all the happenings in the outback. The town seems like a place that would be welcoming and the people are certainly entertaining. I love this and I hope you will too.
Profile Image for Venise.
513 reviews5 followers
September 8, 2023
𝙱𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙾𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚢𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚎����𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝙱𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙱𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙-- 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛.
Profile Image for Alejandra Guerrero.
1,718 reviews5 followers
December 24, 2023
This is probably the most tepid romance I have ever read. There's absolutely no chemistry between the characters, and it should have ended when they got engaged, maybe one wedding chapter or a prologue. But that happened around the 70% mark. The rest is very boring info-dumping about the problems of the town in detail, which we should have gotten way before this point, if they were relevant for the plot (they're not).
4 reviews
February 20, 2024
Delicious!

La historia de amor entre Billie, una reportera de Sydney y Jack un granjero del Outback australiano, a partir de su encuentro fortuito en una rueda de cita, se entrelaza con los sueños y angustia de los habitantes de una población abandonada a su suerte por los habitantes de las grandes ciudades y sus gobernantes. Excelente relato con muy buen timing. Sin duda alguna leeré otras obras de esta autora.
396 reviews2 followers
May 20, 2023
An enjoyable read

A small dying farming/ranching community located in the Australian Outback. Like small towns in America the youth are moving to the big cities as soon as the graduate high school and some never return except maybe to visit family.
A fictionalized story sort of based on the tv show, the lives of the community are being changed for the good.
316 reviews3 followers
August 24, 2024
Odd, but interesting

Not your everyday story, but there is a lot of interesting things that happen. It's about people who didn't want their town to die. The mayor came up with an unique way to make it grow. An outsider got caught in this scene and she got the ball rolling. Now there is hope in finding spouses for all the farmers!
Profile Image for Judi.
1,923 reviews15 followers
October 9, 2022
Cute falling in love story…

Billie and Jeff may have been brought together by chance but fate had a hand in it. Though it drags a bit the storyline is heartfelt and the characters witty.
Profile Image for Deb Shank.
493 reviews2 followers
October 9, 2022
Good read

Good read. Clean read. Fun getting to know the town's people. City living a lot different then country living. Guess it would be hard meeting new people when you're living country.
Profile Image for Black Butterfly.
2,642 reviews39 followers
October 12, 2022
SWEET CLEAN ROMANCE A THREE BOOK SERIES WITH A CLIFFHANGER ENDING. IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE H/h I GUESS THEY FINISH IT UP IN BK#2 THEN START ON THE NEXT BROTHER (there are 3). CHUCKLE. ;D
Profile Image for Mary.
946 reviews8 followers
October 25, 2022
Outback Romance

Billie was pressed to join a show of Farmer Needs a Wife. All she really wanted was to find a mechanic to repair her broken down car. Jeff had his heart broken and didn't really want a wife.
Profile Image for Natalie.
252 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2023
1. Wtf is happening?
2. Ummm what. Meet. Stranger and then move into his house from a speed date??? Serial killers anyone?
3. Nope don’t like it, if it didn’t fit my challenge prompt I would’ve dnf’d it. Don’t think I’m going to read the rest of the series
80 reviews1 follower
March 5, 2023
Date Night

Hard to believe that this arrangement can be found anywhere. Stranger still that it actually works. Love can find it's way into a life under odd circumstances. Reading this story was great.
Profile Image for Katheryn Bargas.
320 reviews
Read
April 12, 2023
Loved this book!

I couldn't put it down and read it to the end!
Ann keeps the story flowing and the excitement high.
You feel like you know the characters in real life, as you know your friends.
9 reviews
June 9, 2023
Great Book to get you going

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I couldn't wait to find out what's happening next! It kept my attention t
Throughout the entire book! I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
850 reviews
August 5, 2024
Jeff and Billie

It's the outback dating time. Jeff's doing it because he owes the mayor a favor big time. Billie walks in because her car has broken down outside of town and she needs a mechanic and that's Jeff. Crazy mix up but the story and the romance can't be beat enjoy.
218 reviews1 follower
November 6, 2021
she moves from Sydney after finding her fiance cheating on her her car breaks down and gets a lift to a small country town where she finds herself signed up at the annual speed dating
2,656 reviews10 followers
October 8, 2022
Wild

The most gutsy and dramatic book I have read! To save a community, A way of life these people pulled out all the stops. I just fell for the adventure.
506 reviews
October 10, 2022
Wonderfully different story. Great to read about the Outback. Well written with good language. I found it difficult to put down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews

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