Walkabout Wife

From the BACK COVER: "Why not answer this ad for a wife?" Edie's apartment mate had been joking when she mentioned the advertisement in the paper. But somehow, the idea appealed. Edie was tired of men who never thought of marriage. And wasn't it true that arranged marriages often worked out well? Anyway, there was no harm answering. Drew Sutton, the advertiser, turned out to be the handsomest man Edie had ever seen. He was certainly interested in marriage--but only temporarily--and was not at all interested in love. MY REVIEW: Alfreda Asher, Edie for short, was tired of men not interested in marriage. She was a nurse, attractive and fun-loving, but her boyfriend was pushing for a live-in proposition she couldn't accept. She answered cattleman Drew Sutton's advertisement in an effort to start a new life for herself, but it was only after she made the trip to Drew's Outback cattle station that she learned exactly what it was that Drew wanted. His uncle Phillip had died without children, leaving Drew and his cousin Greg as possible heirs to Dhoora Dhoora (Walkabout). Uncle Phillip's will stipulated that if Drew was still unmarried by the time he was thirty-five, then the station would go to Greg. In the meantime, Greg and his mother had moved to Ireland, and Drew's fiance, Laurel, had followed Greg and threatened to marry him in order to inherit Dhoora Dhoora. The deadline was coming up fast, and Drew needed a wife! Edie was disappointed, but gamely decided to help Drew out. She married him and returned to the station, where she set about learning how to be a cattleman's wife and even going on muster with Drew. Enter Laurel, who unexpectedly turns up at the station and spreads her poison about Drew still being in love with her. To top it all, Joe, Edie's old boyfriend, shows up too! What to do? We can echo Drew's request, "Come home, Edie, come home!" But will she? Read and find out! This is an older book (published in 1979), but still interesting, so much so that it has been on my "keeper" shelf for many, many years! Enjoy it, and happy reading!