A good, clean romance. I enjoyed Max and Maggie' story. Will certainly look into more by Kelly Hunter.

Maggie’s Run by Kelly Hunter
Series: Outback Brides #1
Subgenre: contemporary romance
Release date: 19 Jun 2018
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Format: ebook
Length: 192 pages
RRP: A$4.99
A girl. A boy. A long-time love.
Margaret, or Maggie, Walker has come back to the town of Wirralong. She has inherited the property from Carmel, the second-last Walker. Wirra Station has become neglected and Maggie doesn’t know what she will do with it, but she has to do something, and soon. There are too many memories here; in addition, Maggie still has nightmares about the accident that killed her parents. Routine is her comfort.
Maxwell O’Connor made his early life about rescuing Maggie from all types of events, such as a snake, heat stroke and the ultimate—a car accident, the one that killed her parents. He has gone on to become a great breeder of sheep and fine wool. He wants Wirra Station to graze more sheep. So, he offers marriage to Maggie.
Maggie refuses and then sets to work to put the homestead and all its buildings into shape so that she can build a wedding destination business. There are many aspects to the decision and having Max buy land from her will give her the funds to build this dream. As Maggie renovates, she finds lots of unknown memories from Carmel; some amaze her and some will have an impact on the future.
Max tries to help Maggie to get on her feet, but he also runs his own business, as he continues to express his feelings for her by assisting her with her plans. He obviously doesn’t want to lose her again. Together they work through the business plan but it also brings them together, forever.
This is a nice story about a town, and a couple, fighting for their future. I liked reading how Maggie has lived with the trauma but has showed remarkable resilience despite what life has thrown at her. I also liked that Maggie had Max looking out for her. This is a well-suited couple.
Although this is part of a series it can be read as a standalone.
Reviewed by Heather

Get ready to be swept to outback setting of Wirra Station as Maggie inherits the home place but takes a dare to live there for a while with the assistance of neighbor Max, Excellent setting and characters.

Ebook from netgalley and publishers with thanks . Opinions are entirely my own.

This book was super adorable and I really enjoyed the setting and the large cast of fun characters. I look forward to following the others in this series.

Great story, and wonderful beginning to a new series. Maggie´s Run by Kelly Hunter is book one in the "Outback Brides" series. It´s a good way to start a new series. You get the background and foundation for the whole series and learn about the characters, the town and the setting. Love everything about it. Great story.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Tule Publishing Group LLC for the partnership.

I was immediately attracted by the cover, we see the beautiful Maggie holding something white behind his back.

Orphaned since childhood, having been in boarding school and working. When her great aunt dies, Maggie inherits everything that belongs to her. She comes to tidying up when she meets Max who will dissuade her from leaving the premises before the sale.

A contemporary romance that I loved read in one go. A captivating, moving and addictive story. Eager to read what follows.

Maggie’s Run is the first book in new multi-author Outback Brides series.

Welcome to the town of Wirralong, filled with fun-loving people with some wonderful stories.

In this book we have the Story of Maggie Walker. Maggie has returned home to Wirra Station after the death of her great Aunt Carmel. She has not been home in a long time, as she still struggles with the tragic death of her parents in a car accident when she was eleven years old. She has inherited Wirra Station and has come home to tidy up and to sell it, but place in disrepair.

Max O’Connor is the cowboy-next-door and back on the day of the family tragedy he was the one to save Maggie from the accident that took her parents lives. He is a successful sheep farmer and want Maggie to return Wirra to it’s former glory and also be able to use Wirra land for his sheep. He gets Maggie to agree to stay for 3 months and repair the homestead.

Maggie and Max’s story is so heart-warming and enjoyable. It is a beautiful story, with a touch of romance, dealing with the past and making new friends and wonderful memories.

The detailed descriptions will make you feel as if you are there at Wirralong with all the characters. Kelly has really created some great characters and the story has a realistic feeling to it. There are lots of twist and turns in this book that will have the reader not wanting to put it down until the final page is turned.

This book and the others in this series could be read as standalone.

I would highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to continuing reading in this series.

A life full of nothing but heartache and no love has a profound affect on a woman. He wants to over come the past so that they can have a future. An emotional story of how a past can influence your future and it's up to you to change. Kelly Hunter's story of love and how it helps to heal.

Maggie has inherited the family sheep station from her great aunt. She doesn't know if she wants to keep it because of all the memories. She's the only surviving family member. She grew up their from the age of 12 when her parents died in a car crash. Max was the one who pulled her out of the car. He's always had feelings for Maggie and has been protective of her. They meet again when she goes to town with a question for the local feed store. They go to lunch and Max offers to buy her place if she'll stay for an allotted time. He wants to get past their shared past but doesn't think Maggie does. Maggie and friends come up with an idea to turn the place into an event center. Selling her family home to pay for the renovations. She also includes the community in her planning. Max takes over fixing up the station for sheep. Max helps Maggie with her self-esteem. She works on her problems. They go out on a date and Maggie tries to put Max at a distance by revealing her secrets. After making love and the nightmare that follows, Max backs off. Maggie gets a visit from his mother about her great aunt and the secret that will be revealed if she stays. She's making friends in the area. Max comes to see Maggie and they discuss their issues. He moves in, only after making love Maggie leaves because of the nightmares. Maggie finds out that Max won't be at her opening ball. She invites her best friend to come and offers her a job. Max's mother makes another visit and helps with the ball. She also reveals the secret Maggie's great aunt had. Maggie decides to tackle the problem. The ball is a success and Maggie get a surprise along with a proposal. the first event at the station is Max and Maggie's wedding with a surprise guest. Maggie receives an invitation.

The Outback Brides series follows the lives of Maggie and her friends as they work together in her event business. It brings together a community and shows a woman that she can be happy and have love even when you've hardly had any and that you can over come your past if you work at it. I look forward to reading the next book in the series as well as the others.

I've read the whole Outback Brides Series and I loved them. The four parts are written by different authors, but the stories interact and use the same characters. All the stories take place in Wirralong, so the town and the inhabitants will grow on you!

The story starts with Maggie reluctantly returning home to Wirra Station. After having survived the car crash in which her parents have died, she went to boarding school to avoid all the memories of how her parents died and she didn't. Now, her great aunt has left her Wirra Station and she has to clean it up in order to be able to sell the place. Max O'Conner never forgot the night, when he pulled Maggie from the burning car wreck and saved her. At eleven years old, he wasn't able to save her parents as well. And ever since that fateful night, Maggie has been avoiding him.

So when Maggie finally sets foot into Wirralong, he wants her to stay. Because the friendship they had and the feelings he still has for her, are only growing every day. But dark memories still haunt Maggie. So will she be able to fight her demons and live in Wirralong? Or will she move out forever?

Find out for yourselves in this wonderful, moving story of memories and ghosts from the past. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Tule authors have done it again! They’ve created a community - Wirralong - populated it with great characters and have written entertaining romances based there, each by a different author and involving different main characters but sharing many of the secondary ones and events. Each story can be read as a standalone but this is a superb series and I highly recommend reading them all, I’ve loved escaping into this Australian Outback town, getting to know the characters, places and events whilst reading all four books. I hope there will be more books based in this small town in future.

The first story is Maggie’s Run by Kelly Turner and features Maggie Walker who is returning to Wirra Station, the home of her great aunt who had custody of her after being orphaned, though she spent most of her time at boarding school. Maggie is returning to sort everything out before selling up but Max O’Connor is the cowboy-next-door who actually saved her from the wreck in which her parents died and he challenges her to live there for three months . . . and she can’t resist the challenge - or is it just him she can’t resist? This is a story of reexamining the past, coming to terms with memories, making discoveries and being willing to work together for their future. It has plenty of twists to keep things interesting and is a great start to this series.

I requested and was given a copy of this book, via NetGalley. This is my honest review of the book after choosing to read it.

Cute
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Outback Brides
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

Maggie’s Run is the first book in the series. I love the Australia setting. I have read several books by Kelly Hunter and love them all. She captures the emotions of a young lady returning home where the memories aren’t all good. I enjoyed the secondary characters in the book and hope to read more of their stories.

Maggie’s Run is the first book in the Outback Brides series and is a great start to four terrific books. This engaging book tells the story of Maggie and of her return to Wirralong, AUS and to all the hard memories of being raised by her unloving aunt Carmel. It also brings back together, Maggie and Max, the person who rescued her from her parent’s fiery car crash.
The struggles of Maggie and Max are wrought with memories of their past with a strong undercurrent of something close to love-love yet to be uncovered and discovered.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I found the book a little slow at the beginning but then I got into the story and enjoyed it. This is the story of Maggie Walker who has returned to her family home in Wirra Station after the death of her great aunt. We learn about her parents being killed in a car accident when she was 12. She was with them and was rescued by Max O’Connor, a boy her age. Maggie has been working and living in the city, in Melbourne. Maggie has inherited the home and Max wants to buy the land for farming. Maggie has come up with a plan to own the land jointly with Max: him farming it and her opening a bed and breakfast and a wedding venue business. Maggie and Max begin a relationship and fall in love. Some added plot twists toward the end make it very exciting. I will definitely read the next book in the series.

A great new author and series of books based in the Australian Outback I started reading because of ARC through NetGalley. They are short but easy and quick to read but written with great depth and emotion that grabs you and connects you to each character. I am really looking forward to reading the whole series.

I loved reading the Maggie’s Run by Kelly Hunter, book one in the Outback Brides series, a wonderful friends to lovers story. Maggie returned to Wirra Station after the death of her great aunt. She has inherited everything and decides to get it ready to sell as it holds only bad and sad memories for her. Her next door neighbor Max wants to buy it, use the land for the sheep they both raise and restore the house to its former glory. However, he wants Maggie to know what exactly she would be giving up. He challenges her to live there for three months while he manages the farm. If she still doesn’t love the place then he’d happily pay her and she can be off, carefree with no ties to anything or anyone.

I loved the changes in Maggie as she spent time at Wirra Station and returning the estate to its former beauty. As she cleaned and remodeled the house to be an event center she uncovered a lot of history as well as secrets. She became a stronger and more confident person. Meanwhile, while Max spends time teaching Maggie how to run the ranch he is also courting her. Maggie was the only survivor of a car crash after Max pulled her from the burning car. Left to be raised by an unhappy and cold great aunt, this shy, scarred girl struggled to make friends and believe in herself. As they spend time together Maggie opens up to Max and allows herself to respond to his charisma and charm because there is a definite attraction and shared chemistry between them. The nightmares Maggie still has, reliving the crash and changing the outcome worry Max making him fear that she resents his saving her. Max needs Maggie to work through this issue before she can commit to a future together.

This was a fun book to read and easy to visualize the story as it occurred. I totally loved these characters and didn’t want to put this book down. Ms. Hunter did a fantastic job creating her characters, making them realistic, keeping the story interesting, making me forget the world around me and not letting me go until I turned the last page, wanting more. I highly recommend this book to other readers and look forward to the next book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

I absolutely heart this story :D Maggie and Max are fabulous characters who draw you into the story with their boundless emotions. I like the story, the setting and the secondary characters who were a hoot to read as well. Maggie's Run by author Kelly Hunter is an all round fantastic read that I could go back and read again.
Review copy received from Tule Publishing via Netgalley

Maggie Walker returns to Wirra Station after her great aunt's death. An orphan who nearly died in the car accident that killed both her parents, Maggie has had a chequered history with her great aunt and the boy next door Max O'Connor. She intends to sell the property but Max convinces her to spend three months, learning about how to manage the farm and come to peace with the past before she sells up and moves back to the city for good.

I hate to have to say this because I have enjoyed several of Kelly Hunter's other novels but this was just a bit meh. Maggie has had a difficult childhood and Max has been front and centre for much of her worst moments. He sort of hates her for leaving him, but not really. There's a mild sub-plot about trying to divide the ownership of Wirra Station so that Max gets the land for farming and Maggie has a smaller area around the house to run a wedding planning business. Even worse, it was all a bit fade to black.

If my review seems vague it's because nothing really stuck. There was nothing wrong with the novel, but it also didn't have any grit, it was all a bit greige for me the reader. I saw that the second book in this series is available for request on NetGalley but I won't be requesting it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Maggie’s Run sets off the multi-author series Outback Brides with a powerful, emotional punch. Returning to the home where she once was happy, Maggie is faced with memories, a worn down station, life changing decisions… and Max. The boy has grown into quite the man who still takes her breath away, yet there are still things left unsaid between them, things they’ll have to resolve or get beyond to find a happy ending.

I’m not from Australia, yet Kelly Hunter makes me feel as if I’ve stepped into this at times harsh, always beautiful land. I love small towns, they’re pretty universal no matter what country they’re placed in. We definitely get the feel of a small, close knit community – one ready to welcome Maggie back if she’ll only let them. Maggie is a combination of strong, determined woman and vulnerable, at times self-doubting young woman. It was a joy to watch her come into her own and fully grab hold of her future. Max has become a successful businessman with a down home touch that’s never left him. He loves the land, and wants to bring Wirra Station back to tis original beauty. He’d rather do it with Maggie at his side, but one way or another he has his goals set in mind. This is a couple that is realistic, easy to believe and so right for each other. The story itself might be short but there is a whole lot of emotions, feelings, beauty of the land… and the perfect set up for the rest of the series in this opener, Maggie’s Run. I had a blast and if you love Contemporary Romance I believe you will as well.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Enjoyable short read.
The first book in the Outback Brides series.
Maggie is back in town after inheriting the ranch from her great aunt. She is only there to tidy the place up before selling it. But neighbour Max has other ideas - even though he would just like to buy the land he can't help trying to get Maggie to stay in town. They know each other from childhood - but this brings back nothing but bad memories for both of them, and as you read the book you find out more about the past and what happened.

Great book and great characters.