A big thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Presents for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This one was a bit surprising. How tragic...I can't imagine how he must have felt, no one is that noble. Overall, I really liked this book. Although I must say I really dislike the name Birdie..wow ugh poor girl. I enjoyed the flawed characters because it makes it more real for me. No one is perfect. The characters are lucky to have strength, family, and were lucky enough to find job. Not everyone does. 4 stars A quick worthwhile read.

As a teenager I loved the stories set in the Australian Outback with all those sheep stations and tall, dark and handsome billionaires who owned them. This one took me back to those teenage years. Jonah Black is however not the typical rich urban socialite; he's come home after spending 7 years in jail serving a sentence for a crime he did not commit. While in jail, he lost his parents and has changed in myriad ways, but one thing seems to be constant. He still has feelings for Bridie Starr the daughter of his neighboring station.
Deciding to plunge right into the deep end from the get-go, he throws a ball to gauge his reception and without a by your leave announces his engagement to Bridie.
Bridie is no longer the timid young woman whom he had saved. She's become a photojournalist and can well hold her own against Judah. He's definitely going to need to work hard to win her over. In return she understands him and what he's going through and helps him with the anxiety and transition from institutional living into the luxury he's now entitled too.
I really enjoyed this visit into my past and also Judah and Bridie's romance.

Billionaire Judah is reclaiming his life after spending time in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He wants to buy back his family's land from Bridie, the woman he went to prison to protect. To convince her, he publicly announces that the two of them are engaged. She agrees to go along with the lie for a month, until they can gracefully disentangle themselves. Will their fake relationship turn real?

I enjoyed seeing Bridie's strength after the ordeal she suffered in the past. She's got a delicacy about her, yet she knows what she wants. It's good to see her standing up to Judah instead of letting him treat her as the fragile girl she used to be.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for access to this arc.

I will be honest and admit that I debated reading this book because I’m not usually one for the Presents line. Asshat gazillionaires and doormat heroines don’t thrill me. But then I thought, it’s a Kelly Hunter book. Yeah, gotta read it.

Judah Blake and Tom Starr saved Bridie Starr from an obsessed stalker (against whom Bridie had an AVO [US= restraining order] but the price – seven years in prison for Judah, PTSD for everyone, guilt and shame – was high and a secret remains. Can everyone work out the mental and emotional fallout and see to their futures?

Well let’s just work through the issues.

Angst – Judah’s about what happened to Bridie and about lying regarding who pulled the trigger. Don’t worry, this is revealed early in the book. He’s also sad, mad, and angsty about the losses he suffered by doing the right thing and saving Bridie leading to seven years in jail during which his father turned to addiction, his mother died, and then his father died, leaving Judah’s younger brother to carry the load of the station until Judah was released. Also, he doesn’t want to risk losing control if things get physical with Bridie because … seven years behind bars and away from women.

PTSD – yep, Judah’s got that too understandably and not just in a “I don’t want to be within four walls with a door but would rather sleep outside under the stars” way which is a bit cliched but still true. No, we see in subtle ways like Judah eyeing all the many things in the kitchen that could be turned into shivs and obsessively eyeing and counting the knives to be sure none are missing, or having trouble going through an open door, or getting used to eating what he wants, when he wants it. Iron control kept him alive in prison and it’s oh, so hard for him to let it go.

Bridie’s got some lingering PTSD issues such as being in closed, dark spaces that might remind her of the trunk of the car she was in during the kidnapping. For seven years she felt paralyzing fear and barely left the station, had to initially work her courage up to getting past her own verandah, and only finally did so by taking the pictures of the Outback that she sent to Judah which helped keep him whole. As she tells him, the thought of him in prison for saving her acted as a cattle prod to get her a bit past her fears but she is still leery of strangers.

Other family members feel their own guilt over what happened – Bridie’s father and her aunt. I wish there had been more discussion on page of why her aunt felt guilty and more on page resolution of this. Something that’s gone on for seven years needs a little airing before being put away.

Bridie knows that Judah is feeling some sexual attraction to her and she has to balance her own sexual response to that with her past knowledge that some men can’t control themselves. So when Judah backs away from an inferno kiss, Bridie is conflicted as well as also wanting more from him. The scene where she gets over this is a little bit of bondage (and not of whom readers might think) and a lot of her taking charge. Go, Bridie. She also owns her sexuality and freely informs Judah that she enjoyed it and definitely wouldn’t mind a lot more.

Bridie’s thoroughness was killing him. Slowly, surely, as inevitable as sunset, she built a fire in him that threatened to become an inferno. She finished undoing the buttons of his shirt, and the brush of her fingers and knuckles almost had him coming out of his skin. She pressed a kiss to his chest as she slid the shirt to the floor, and then tilted her head up towards his.

‘How am I doing?’ Her voice only wobbled a little bit.

‘Not bad.’

‘Let me just strike “gives effusive praise” off your list of strengths.’ But her hands kept exploring and her eyes shone with gentle humour and encouragement.

‘Pretty good,’ he offered in an effort to redeem himself.

‘Funny man. May I kiss you?’

This is a Presents book so it’s got a lot of the standard stuff from that line. Obscenely wealthy Aussie 1% with gigantic cattle stations, private planes (with sleeping quarters), and helicopters. A darkly brooding hero, a somewhat (initially) fragile heroine, a past between them, and a forced proximity relationship. And yet this is all done in ways that don’t make me roll my eyes. Bridie is fragile because of an obsessed madman who abducted her when she was sixteen after slowly taking control of her life, Judah went to prison because of what happened when he and her father saved her, and his determination to regain control of what he lost, including some land his father sold to Bridie, while locked away combined with making snap decisions overtook him in public and led to the “fake engagement” trope.

And even though they’re richer than sin, Bridie, Judah, and his brother want to set up an eco business and conservation trust with some of their cattle station lands – so not acting as privileged as they could be. And a couple who might sell land to add to this, loves the idea of selling it to Bridie and Judah so there’s another reason for them to go through with staying together for a while. Oh yeah, and Judah’s seven years of never backing down or showing any signs of weakness means that he needs to not have Bridie back out of the engagement and make him potentially look weak in front of business rivals/associates. It all actually makes sense!

They are both aware that they need to be cautious about how they see the other. Bridie isn’t quite the fragile young teen she was then while he’s not the total hero she built up in her mind. I admit that I was concerned about this part and appreciated that both Bridie and Judah are given enough time and space to work out being honest and that they do see the “real” other person before finally committing to the relationship. Whew!

There is one thing that could make people pause and that’s the resolution about how the not really spoilery knowledge that I mentioned earlier is handled. I had to think about it a bit. On the one hand, I’m glad that there are no secrets between Bridie and Judah before they marry.


But I really liked the way that Bridie and Judah worked on their communication – which had sticky periods. Bridie stands up for what she wants but also notices and addresses the fact that Judah has fears and issues he has to work through. There is no magic conversation or sex that solves or heals all. The dry humor had me laughing and "Even if he wasn’t one for fancy words. She could be the fancy-word provider. Not a problem."

I do feel that they’re right for each other and headed towards healing. Plus they got a wedding ceremony that they can dine off of for years.

Ugh, I hate writing negative reviews but this Harlequin was so boring. It took forever to get why Judah was in prison and why he was so mad. He made a choice to take the fall for a crime he didn't commit and the writing was more telling than showing so I did a lot of skimming to try and get through it. A little disappointed because I like a good Harlequin Presents but this billionaire didn't have that alphaness I have come to expect in an HP.

Judah and Bridie are an appealing h/h is this enjoyable Outback romance. Hunter does a good job presenting an optimistic future for the couple despite Bridie's traumatic past.

Oh, my this one is a got to me. It was so heartfelt and emotional. Plus throw in some sexual tension and humor, and you have a major winner. I LOVED this HP. It's been a while since one tugged at me and even brought me to tear. This one is a winner.

This takes place in the Australian outback, which is a little out of the norm for HP. Kelly Hunter does a beautiful job in bringing it to life in this romance. I swear I felt like I was right there and could envision everything of the landscape. She made me fall in love with the outback.

The two main characters are wonderful. I loved them both equally. Talk about love, sacrifice, honor and courage, these two exemplified it in this story. This is what I call romance and I sure wish I could read more of this kind of writing.

Judah Blake, recently released from prison for a crime he didn't commit. He's not trying adjust to being out in society and normal life. We open with him hosting a grand party at his home. People from all over are flying/driving in (very remote ranch, thousands of acres) for a glimpse of Judah Blake. And Judah cannot wait till Bridie arrives, he's been on pins and needles for her appearance. You see Judah went to prison to protect Bridie and for seven years she's all he thought about.

Bridie, was a model for a small stretch when she was sixteen. Her agent became obsessed with her and kidnapped her. It was her father and Judah that rescued her. And because of what unfolded Judah went to prison. But Bridie always had a little bit of a infatuation for Judah, but after his rescue he became her hero.

This story starts out kind of vague on the back history, but as we progress into the story we slowly learn what transpired between the two. We get little teasers, the author dangles little bit's and pieces of what happened and how each dealt with their trauma. Make no mistake each had some eccentric tendencies from what transpired and some insecurities/issues that they are healing from.

But I can say emphatically that the way these two communicate and develop their relationship is absolutely beautiful. I can't remember reading a romance with such open and honest dialogue, so much honesty, love and emotion communicated between the two. Judah tries so hard to be closed off but he just can't do it with Bridie, not possible. And oh the lengths that Bridie goes to show Judah what a good man he is, just beautiful.

The emotion, the humor the sexual tension in this story is just beautiful (have I said that enough yet? 😂). And their first sex scene is hot and full of heart. The ending had me in tears, yep it's been a while since that's happened for me. I loved, loved their story.

Well I've probably hyped up this story to the ninth degree and raised expectation way up, but I really think this is one of the best presents I've read in a long while.

HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend.