tale! of an English girl! who accepts an invitation to visit an Outback station from a friend of her matchmaking greataunt's.
Once her long sea journey with a nice OM ends, she is disconcerted to discover that her golden, glamorous cousin is the one who was invited, not her.
But the hero's matchmaking aunt unbends once she hears cousin is jetting in with greataunt in a month's time.
Heroine makes herself useful by helping the hero with the wool sales and giving the readers a full description of everything wool, the sights of Perth, Australia, and all of the characters who reside there.
It's a vintage travelogue and I loved it,
Trouble shows up when the glamorous cousin arrives on the scene, Heroine is resigned to hero falling in love with her like all men do but he never does.
He even proposes to the heroine in an abrupt almost cruel manner but heroine turns him down,
Glamorous cousin manages to get lost on the Outback but it's the heroine who suffers a badly sprained ankle and time away from the hero.
No worries great aunt has been around since the time of Edward V her words and she knows how to set everything to rights.
She finds an even richer man to dangle in front of the cousin and sets up a party/ball at her hotel for the H/h to finally get together.
It's such a cute scene,
If you don't mind a slowroll plot, lots of descriptions and an abrupt ending, you'll like this one.
A word of warning hero is actually really nice, but isn't on the page all that much, This is really the heroine's story,
For vintage lovers of the Margaret Way ilk without the homicidal OWs or crazy mothers, When Ann Boyd arrives from England to stay with the Franklins in Kalamunda she doesn't realise that there has been a misunderstanding.
They were expecting her glamorous cousin Claire,
From the bestselling author of Australian outback romance, Overmillion books sold worldwide,
Mrs Franklin thinks Claire would make an excellent wife for her nephew, Lang.
So she writes to Claire's Great Aunt Cassie with an invitation to come out to Australia.
Somehow, Cassie accepts on behalf of the wrong great niece,
Lang runs the family's properties and is the most eligible bachelor around, Ann is immediately drawn to him, but senses that he is more interested in his pretty young neighbour, Luie.
Ann's gentle and helpful
nature soon win over the Franklins, including Lang, But then a telegram announces that Claire intends to travel to Australia, Ann fears that, as always, she will be overshadowed by her more sophisticated cousin, And to make matters worse, her own motives in coming to Australia are under suspicion,
Then, one person's foolish actions lead to grave danger, The outcome will force everyone to examine their true feelings,
Lucy Walker's gentle, clean romances give readers a fascinating insight into the landscape, people and customs of the Western Australian outback in the midtwentieth century.
"Reaching for the Star" is a lovely rural romance by Lucy Walker, Ann Boyd wanted to come to Australia when she had the opportunity to go and stay with the Franklins in Kalamunda.
Ann was on the next plane out to Australia, On arrival in Kalamunda, Ann found out they were excepting her cousin Claire, The Franklins and Lang were soon under the spell of Ann Boyd's lovely sweet nature, However, things changed when Claire decided to visit Australia, The readers of "Reaching for the Stars" will continue to follow Ann Boyd to discover what happens,
"Reaching for the Stars" is well written and researched by Lucy Walker, I love Lucy Walker portrayal of the characters and their interaction with each other throughout this book, I like Lucy Walker's description of "Reaching for the Stars" settings, which allows me to imagine being part of the Reaching for the Stars's plot.
The readers of "Reaching for the Stars" will learn about jealousy and rivalry between family members.
Also, the readers will learn about the beautiful Jarrah tree part of the eucalypts family,
I recommend this book, I liked this h a lot and the story surrounding it was entertaining, Lucy Walker did a great job of writing fleshedout secondary characters, Reread this so many times it's falling apart, thank goodness for trusty old rubber bands, What a sweet and quaint story this was, Set in, this little romance gives you an insight into the Australian way of life back then,
Interesting story with a few little funny episodes, several turns, and just good old fashioned romance.
No wham, bam, thank you ma'am in this! Yes, the female interest is very young,years of age, but that was the norm for the era to be married young.
If you were still single atyou were seen as an old maid! Once married women could then not work.
Pfft to that! We do not know if Ann goes on to working after she marries, Well, we KNOW she will marry, that is an unsaid throughout the book,
Lang's character grated on me at times, though learning more of his character as pages went by I started liking this man.
He reminds me of someone i know in real life always watching like a hawk even though you think he has no idea what is going on around him.
That sounds rather creepy, but it is not!
In general I loved Aunt Cassie, did not like Heather, Claire I wanted to smack upside the head, Ann, too at times.
Yet all in all these different characters certainly shaped a story I found rather enjoyable, Not something a lot of younger readers might like yet I think a glimpse into their grandmother's era may be a good thing.
This was such a fun guilty pleasure, Essentially Mills amp Boon from thes with a good dose of romanticising the Aussie landscape and wool industry.
The plot in a nutshell: girl from the mother country comes to Kalamunda and makes good with, wait for it, her awesome typing skills.
The hero is of course a man who every girl wants, thus increasing his appeal, There is another fella, who a friend typecast as Bill Shorten, Makes me laugh. I remember reading Lucy Walker as a teenager and loving it, Can't find them anymore except on ebay, But, if the sexism doesn't put you off, I say worth tracking down, Librarian Note: There is than one author by this name in the Goodreads database, Lucy Walkerwas the most famous of a few pseudonyms used by Dorothy Lucie Sanders née McClemans.
She was born in Boulder, Western Australia, onMay, Her father was of Irish stock, a minister of the Church of England, Her mother was from New Zealand, Dorothy began writing at an early age, despite her fathers scepticism about her ability, A qualified teacher from Perth College, she taught in state schools in Western Australia until, She continued teaching later in London while her husband, a fellow school teacher whom she married in, completed his doctorate in education.
They returned to Perth, Australia inbut Dorot Librarian Note: There is than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Lucy Walkerwas the most famous of a few pseudonyms used by Dorothy Lucie Sanders née McClemans.
She was born in Boulder, Western Australia, onMay, Her father was of Irish stock, a minister of the Church of England, Her mother was from New Zealand, Dorothy began writing at an early age, despite her fathers scepticism about her ability, A qualified teacher from Perth College, she taught in state schools in Western Australia until, She continued teaching later in London while her husband, a fellow school teacher whom she married in, completed his doctorate in education.
They returned to Perth, Australia inbut Dorothy Lucie Sanders only began her writing in, producing articles, short stories, and later novels.
Inher first novel, Fairies on the Doorstep, was published, As Lucy Walker, she wrote aboutromance books:Fairies On the DoorstepWho Leaves the CrowdThe One Who KissesSweet and FarawayCome Home DearHeaven is HereMaster of RansomeKingdom of the heartThe Stranger from the NorthLove in a CloudThe Loving HeartThe MoonshinerWife to OrderThe Distant HillsDown in the ForestThe Call of the PinesFollow Your StarThe Man from OutbackReaching for the StarsA Man Called MastersThe Other GirlThe Ranger in the HillsThe River Is DownHome at SundownThe Gone Away ManShining RiverSix for HeavenJoyday for JodiThe Bell BranchThe Mountain That Went to the SeaRibbons In Her HairPepper Tree BayPool of DreamsGirl AloneMonday in SummerRunaway GirlGamma's GirlSo Much LoveThese romance novels were very successful in Australia and overseas.
The stories were meticulously researched the writer travelled extensively in the Western Australian outback, recording details of scenery, personalities and social customs in her notebooks and diaries.
Other pseudonyms used by this author: Shelley Dean, Dorothy Lucie Sanders, and Lucy Walker, Dorothy Lucie Sanders was widowed inand died the following year, Her daughter and two sons survived her, sitelink.