Marriage is their mission!
From bad boys to powerful, passionate protectors! Three tycoons from the Outback rescue their brides-to-beâ¦
Meet Ric, Mitch and Johnnyâonce rebellious teenagers, they survived the Outback to become best friends and formidable tycoons. Now these sexy city slickers must return to the Outback to face a new challenge: claiming their bridesâ¦.
â¢The Outback Marriage Ransom (#2391)
â¢The Outback Wedding Takeover (#2403)
â¢The Outback Bridal Rescue (#2427)
Emma Darcy is the award-winning Australian author of over eighty novels for Harlequin>®. Her intensely emotional stories have gripped readers around the world. Sheâs sold nearly 60 million copies of her books worldwide and has won enthusiastic praise.
âEmma Darcy delivers a spicy love storyâ¦a fiery conflict and a hot sensuality.â
âRomantic Times
Dear Reader,
To me, there has always been something immensely intriguing about bad boys whoâve made good. With every possible disadvantage in their background, what was it that lifted them beyond it, that gave them the driving force to achieve, to soar to the heights of their chosen fields, becoming much more than survivorsâ¦shining stars?
In OUTBACK KNIGHTS, Iâve explored the lives of three city boys who ended up in juvenile court and were sent to an Outback sheep station to work through their sentences. There, at Gundamurra, isolated from the influences that had overwhelmed them in the past, and under the supervision and caring of a shrewd mentor, Patrick Maguire, the boysâ lives become set on different paths as they learn how their individual strengthsâtheir passionsâcan be used constructively instead of destructively.
But the big unanswered need is love. Even at the top itâs lonely.
And it seemed to me beautifully fitting that as these boys had been rescued, so should theyâas menârescue the women who will give them love. I think there are times when all of us want to be rescuedâto be cared for, protected, understood, made to feel safe. Itâs not that we canât manage independently, but oh, for a knight in shining armor who will fight and slay our dragons with a passionate intensity that makes us melt! Here they areâRic Donato, Mitch Tyler and Johnny Ellis: Outback knights! And here, too, are the women who rescue them from loneliness.
With love,
First day at Gundamurra
THE plane was heading down to a red dirt airstrip. Apart from the cluster of buildings that marked the sheep station of Gundamurra, there was no other habitation in sight between here and the horizonâa huge empty landscape dotted with scrubby trees. Ric wished he still had the camera heâd stolen. He could take some unbelievable shots here.
âThe middle of nowhere,â Mitch Tyler muttered. âIâm beginning to think I made the wrong choice.â
âNah,â Johnny Ellis drawled. âAnythingâs better than being locked up. At least we can breathe out here.â
âWhat? Dust?â Mitch mocked.
The plane landed, kicking up a cloud of it.
âWelcome to the great Australian Outback,â the cop escorting them said derisively. âAnd just rememberâ¦if you three city smart-arses want to survive, thereâs nowhere to run.â
All three of them ignored him. They were sixteen. Regardless of what life threw at them, they were going to survive. And Johnny had it right, Ric thought. Six months working on a sheep station, had to be better than a year in a juvenile jail. Ric, for one, couldnât stand overbearing authority. He hoped the guy who ran this place wasnât some kind of tyrant, getting off on having three slaves to do his bidding.
What had the judge said at the sentencing? Something about getting back to ground values. A program that would teach them what real life was about. In other words, you worked to live, not skim off other people. Easy for him to say, sitting behind his bench in a cushy chair, safe with his silver-tailed government income.
There was no security in Ricâs world.
Never had been.
Thieving what you wanted was the only way to get it. And there was a lot Ric wanted. Though stealing the Porsche to impress Lara Seymour had been stupid. Heâd lost her now. That was certain. A girl with her privileged background wouldnât even consider a convicted criminal for a boyfriend.
The plane taxied back to where a guy was waiting beside a four-wheel drive Cherokee. Big guyâbroad-shouldered, barrel-chested, craggy weathered face, iron-grey hair. Had to be over fifty but still looking tough and formidable. Not someone to buck in a hurry, Ric decided, though size didnât automatically command his respect. If the guy laid a hand on himâ¦
âJohn Wayne rides again,â Mitch muttered in the mocking tone he habitually used. Sour on the whole world was Mitch. Could become a real drag, living with him at close quarters.