Bronwyn James’ Synopsis

Outback Royalty: Rugged, Rich & Ruthless

(alternative title: PRINCES OF THE OUTBACK)

proposed as a three-book series for Silhouette Desire

Series Overview

SERIES SUMMARY:

Following the death of their father and as dictated by the terms of his will, three Australian half-brothers — dubbed “Princes of the Outback” by the tabloid press — enter into a one-in all-in pact to father a baby within twelve months.

SERIES BACKSTORY:

Maura Keane grew up in strife-torn Dublin in the ’50s but her wild Irish beauty provided a ticket out of poverty. As a successful model and sometime actress, she gathered fame, notoriety and lovers, but neither career nor lifestyle provided true satisfaction. Maura’s only joy came from two sons born of different lovers, unnamed by Maura but claimed by the tabloid press to be everyone from a Spanish prince to a Russian mafia godfather. And then a forthright Australian businessman bulldozed his way into her heart.

Charles Carlisle was known as “King of the Outback”, but his extensive business and property portfolio extended far beyond cattle and the harsh interior. When he married Maura and moved his new family into a castle-like mansion, Sydney society columnists fell over themselves with glee. Maura bore a third son and life was wonderful until their baby daughter died of SIDS. Photographers scavenging for pictures of the grieving mother did not aid her recovery, and a desperate Charles moved his whole family to the remote outback station where he had grown up.

The temporary move became permanent when Maura fell in love with the harsh beauty of her new home and with the freedom afforded by its isolation. Her marriage suffered but never her mothering. She raised her boys into strong men, each a unique blend of their privileged upbringing and the rugged outback environment. And each — if you asked the women they date — too independent and self-sufficient.

In life Charles Carlisle knows he didn’t make his beloved wife happy. In death he aims to remedy that by proving he loved and valued each of her sons equally. . . and by ensuring

Maura is lured from her physical and emotional isolation by the pitter-patter of little feet. Each son is willed sole control of his preferred part of the company, provided their mother becomes a grandmother within twelve months.

Although they despise being dictated to from beyond the grave, the brothers make a one-in all-in pact to make this happen … not only to win their inheritance, but to honor their father’s last request and because they share his concern over their mother’s happiness.

What else but a grandchild will restore the smile to her sad eyes?

SETTING: Australia — the Outback and Sydney

TIME-FRAME: 3 books over 5 months, their time-frames overlapping

BOOK ONE: THE RUGGED LONER

Youngest brother Tomas is torn by the will’s terms. The rugged rancher lost his wife in tragic circumstances. If he loses the Carlisle Cattle Company and his home at Kameruka Downs, what will he have left? Can he fulfil the terms of his father’s will by making a baby with family friend Angelina Mori…without putting his damaged heart in jeopardy?

BOOK TWO: THE RICH STRANGER

Playboy hotelier Rafe treats his part in the pact as just another game, until he meets a woman who doesn’t fall for his killer looks and charm. Straight-shooting rancher Cat McConnell does need his money, however, and their business-deal marriage quickly turns into a game of seduction, a game with few rules and the highest of stakes: love.

BOOK THREE: THE RUTHLESS GROOM

After alpha CEO Alex is left at the altar by his carefully chosen Ideal Wife, he and bridesmaid, Zara Lovett, set out to find the runaway bride. Alex and Zara are stranded by a storm and afterwards must face the consequences of their one explosive night of passion: Zara is pregnant but adamantly opposed to the marriage-of-duty Alex demands. With ruthless determination he sets out to change her mind.