Bargaining for Baby ~ Robyn Grady

Silhouette Desire
May 2010 (USA) / June 2010 (ANZ)

From Brooding Billionaire… to Loving Daddy?
Queensland sheep station owner Jack Prescott wasn’t ready to be a full-time father. He’d do his duty and care for his orphaned nephew, but he had no place in his battered heart for a baby…or for guardian Madison Tyler, the woman hell-bent on disrupting his life.  Yet Jack couldn’t ignore the attraction he felt for Madison. Their affair was fast and furious…and soon fraught with regret.

The city girl’s stay in the Outback was only temporary and Jack had a little boy to care for. How could they even consider bargaining for more time when neither was prepared for forever?

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BEHIND THE BOOK…

Jondaryan 'Snow' and Tabitha

When I was invited to be part of the Australian Outback Billionaires and Babies series, I confess, I was a little worried. Where I live in Australia I’m surrounded by beaches, sailboats and white silica sand. Whenever I thought ‘Outback’ I pictured the red centre of Australia, Ayres Rock, blistering heat, endless miles of lifeless desert. But, in reality, the Outback can mean a whole range of locations and even climates.

The Outback story I had in mind unfolded on a Merino sheep shearing station. Through initial research, I discovered that one of the most successful and largest shearing stations in Australian history was only a few hours drive. Jondaryan initially comprised of over 12800 acres and was purchased for 24000 pounds. Today it is a museum that commemorates the golden ages of the Australian wool industry – days when Australia’s prosperity rode on a sheep’s back.

Jondaryan Homestead

The family and I took a trip to Jondaryan and were immediately pulled into the past. Surrounded by a landscape bleached gold by the sun and buildings centuries old, we spoke at length with the tour guide – Snow – about life on an Outback sheep station – then and now.  We learnt that:

• 

  Jondaryan shearers, turn of last century

  The first ‘clip’ from Jondaryan in Queensland took a gruelling seven months to reach its destination in Newcastle by bullock train.

• That graziers developed their own breeds of dog to herd in our conditions – a leaner, shorter haired variation on the UK Border Collie, as well as the world famous Kelpie.
• In 1840 a sheerer earned two dollars per 100 sheep sheared – backbreaking work but good money for the day!
• The great shearing strikes of the 1880/90s period tore the country in two and almost caused civil war in Australia.
• And life on the land could be hard, rewarding, and also wildly romantic . The men were tough; some would say the women were tougher.

Jondaryan at Sunset

Jondaryan men at work

The wool industry in Australia saw its peak in the early 1950s, but the links to its past are still strong within families. Jack Prescott, my hero in Bargaining for Baby is focused heavily on his heritage, on the past. But when tragedy strikes and he loses what he values more than even his land, he also loses his spirit. What kind of woman could succeed in breathing life back into this rugged, obstinate and thoroughly sexy man?

Businesswoman citygirl, Madison Tyler

outback billionaire bod!

I decided to throw in his path a true city girl who adores sipping lattes at executive meetings and socialising at all the “in” places.  Who abhors the thought of red dust clinging to her new season shoes and the persistent buzz of flies and no air con in the summer.

As I said, I was a little worried about writing this story, but it turned out to be the most rewarding challenge of my Desire career to date. I hope you enjoy Bargaining for Baby. Please drop me a line and let me know!   ~ Robbie.

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