by Margaret Way
Fate leads to double the romance in
Australian cattle country
Margaret Way's Cattle Rancher,
Secret Son is a tender romance with class conflicts that
separate the hero and heroine. Cattle
Rancher, Secret Son is actually a double romance with both
romances equally well developed rather than one main and one short
glance at a secondary romance. The double structure gives a rich
expansiveness to this romance because the reader sees some of the
conflicts in more detail as they affect both couples. This depth makes Cattle Rancher, Secret Son an
absorbing romance read. Margaret Way makes the life of the Australian
cattle stations and rural high society come alive.
Cattleman Calvin McKendrick is not just a rancher. He is the son of a
renowned Australian cattle baron! His father has very definite old
school ideas and Cal's mother and aunt will stop at nothing to make
sure that their family is the toast of society. When Cal sees a
newspaper article featuring Gina Romano as a hero, his past obsession
is reawakened. He had finally learned to put away the hatred he felt
after her betrayal years ago but can he put away his anger and find his
love for Gina again? Gina met Cal while working as a maid in a vacation
resort. When she found out she was pregnant, she knew she could never
tell Cal with his family so set in their society ways. Instead, she
kept Robbie a secret. Now that Cal has come to her door, can she
protect her son and her heart? Can their convenient agreement stand
against the historic power of the McKendrick family and lead to
something beyond shared parenthood? The second romance Cal's sister
Meredith McKendrick, a strong forceful woman who breaks against the
family society tradition. In love with Steve, the illegitimate son of
another cattle baron, can she also stand up for love? Can Steve
Lancaster come to terms with his family heritage and his love of
Meredith especially when a tragedy strikes and everything he has known
changes the stakes?
Margaret Way's prologue casts Cattle
Rancher, Secret Son as a story of fated or destined romance. The
prologue itself reads a bit differently than the rest of the romance.
The sentences are longer with images drawn together with connections
that do not flow as smoothly as the author's writing in the main
romance. Nevertheless, I find the content of the prologue quite
intriguing and delightfully unusual. The prologue gives the entire
romance a rich context of fate that Margaret Way develops through both
events and theme. At the same time, a fast-paced action scene leads
straight into the romance. Margaret Way writes an epilogue just as
intriguing as the prologue, giving the reader a new insight from a
humorous and delightfully unique perspective.
The double romance in Cattle
Rancher, Secret Son gives this romance a delightful depth as the
reader's vision expands to the entire McKendrick family and the
conflicts that the traditional high society family brings to their
children. Not only does the reader see the pressure on the dominant
favored oldest son and heir and his search for true love but also the
toll on the daughter who as a woman within the family must stand up
against her family for equality. She must also stand up for herself
when love is at stake. Margaret Way creates a dual conflict that
reinforces the image of love. Love is not just a match of the heart
between a man and a woman against or in despite of others' values. Love
is also an inner change that happens within an individual's heart that
changes the individual and brings him or her to a more authentic whole
as an individual. In Margaret Way's Cattle
Rancher, Secret Son, fate may bring people together but even in
the case of fated love, romance is something born in the heart that
moves the heart to new heights. A wonderfully rich romance!
Publisher: Harlequin
Romance (February 2008)
