The Stockman's Secret by Mandy Magro is another hit read from the author with a strong story, and fabulous country setting. Dynamite stole the show, and the intro made me lose my breath a time or two. Joel had his heart on his sleeve, and displayed such integrity, making his character just shine. Juliette is such a tormented character, you cannot help but be affected by her plight. Ms Magro depicts some other secondary characters that are downright despicable, however, the good characters more than bring enough sunshine to bring some smiles. Another fab story from author Mandy Magro.
Review copy received from Harlequin Austrlaia via Netgalley

The Stockman’s Secret by Mandy Magro

Secrets can unite, and they can divide. Will he be able to make things right between them?

This is a story about childhood sweethearts Jules (Juliette) and Joel keeping details of nasty event to themselves so Juliette can protect her own family secrets, in doing so this drives a wedge between herself and Joel, as well as between Joel and his own father, resulting in Joel leaving the small town of Little Heart to find work as a jackaroo at Rosalee Station.

A decade later he returns to mend bridges and put things right, though in the time he was away things seem to have become even more complicated for Juliette.

I had a love hate relationship with Juliette’s character, I struggled to understand her at first, and I guess at times found her to be frustrating, but when all her own secrets that burdened her were revealed things did click into place a bit better. I did however really love the character of Zoe, Joel’s younger sister and Juliette’s close friend. I really liked the way she was written. I would happily read a novel based around her in the future!

I found parts of the story to be a tad repetitive, and I struggled just a little through the last part of the book. But I did enjoy the fact I was able to be drawn into the landscape and through Mandy’s descriptions I was able to easily picture it.

I rate this a 3.5 out of 5.

Thank you to Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for gifting me this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

MS Magro has written a story that is filled with emotions, this one had the blood boiling with them as we get to know Jules and Joel in a story that starts when they are teenagers, sees them torn apart and reunited eleven years later, I have to say if you love a romance with lots of emotion, emotions that will have you yelling, cheering and tearing up and smiling then this is a book you should pick up, I loved it.

Joel Hunter lives on the farmstead in Little Heart in Northern Queensland he comes from a religious family that is filled with love and happiness, but there is a family in town who are bullies and do their best to cause a lot of trouble for Joel, as the years go by he and local girl Juliette Kern fall for each other and they have all the plans for the future, marriage living on the farm, but bullies and life have other plans and they are torn apart in the most sad and terrible way, and this and a promise to keep a secret will see Joel take off for eleven years.

After the incident that changed her life and her, she moves on with her life becomes a teacher and with pressure from her step-father the town Pastor and her mother she marries Lachlan Davies and looks forward to a family life with children and puts the past and the secret well behind her, but life is not what she had thought it would be and when after elven long years the man she had never forgotten arrives back in town, determined to right the wrong that was done before he left, this will mean a lot of feelings that Jules has pushed to a corner of her mind will need to be bought out.

This is a story that is so well written, beautifully told and pulled me in, I loved Joel so much a true gentleman cowboy, he had been through so much at the hands of others and learnt a lot while away for all those years but he never forgot Jules and Jules what can I say what this woman has been through in her life was so hard and to see her come through as such a beautiful loving and caring woman had me cheering her on. They had a lot to get through but with love and passion they did to the best HEA, this is another winner from MS Magro, a must read one that I highly recommend, thank you so much MS Magro.

Mandy Magro knows far North Queensland so well and it shines through in her writing. The Stockman’s Secretis set on the Atherton Tablelands just west of Kuranda in the small rural town of Little Heart. One of the highlights of this book for me was the detailed setting, the combination of lush tropical plantations of fruit trees, beautiful tropical gardens filled with bougainvilleas and other gorgeous flowers and the open cattle country.
Both heroine Juliette Kern and hero Joel Hunter have grown up in deeply religious families, though that is where the similarities end. Joel’s father is strict in his faith and in his expectations of his son but this family is filled with love. Juliette, on the other hand, lives in fear of her stepfather, the local pastor, who is a bully behind the closed doors of his family home, treating both his wife and his stepdaughter to beltings and more when they fail to adhere to his strict rules.
Against this background Joel and Juliette have come together once again after eleven years apart, caused by an incident that forced Joel to leave home and become a stockman while Juliette enters into a marriage which turns out to be less than optimum. With many hurts to heal, Joel has an uphill battle to reconcile with his father, re-establish his relationship with Juliette and set past events to rights.
This story is an emotional journey for both protagonists, but one that kept me interested throughout. I loved Joel—he’s a fine and upstanding man who any parent would be proud to call their son. It took me longer to warm to Juliette, probably because like Joel I had no idea what burdens she was carrying and couldn’t understand where she was coming from at times. When I eventually understood what she was facing it all fell into place and from there on I was hoping and praying that these two would get through their issues and reach their happy ever after. What a relief that they did!

What a wonderful story this was, set in a small country town of Australia. I could hear the lingo, and despite being a city girl I could feel the characters. The land and animals were given life by this author.
Juliette and Joel were a great couple, split apart years before by circumstances out of their control. Too young to fix the issues at the time. So many feels in this book, you'll want to all to work out and give them their happy ending.