Melanie Milburne: Outback Heroes

One of the biggest thrills of being a Harlequin Mills and Boon author is having one of your books come out in a collecting with other authors. It's even more thrilling when those other authors are ones you know personally and count as friends. Fiona Lowe and Amy Andrews are out with me in the outback this time with our Outback Heroes collection called Australian Bachelors.

I love the Australian outback. It's so rugged and the colours so rich and unusual. The red ochre of the rocks and the shimmering of the heat on the vast landscape is something I think of again and again here in my green English countryside-like state of Tasmania.

One of my favourite holidays was to the Northern Territory a few years ago. We went to Darwin and then Uluru and Alice Springs and Kings Canyon. We also went out into the desert for dinner under the stars where an astronomer showed us the constellations in the brilliant night sky.

Another highlight was when I went to the Darwin Show. It had such a wonderful old world feel about it. And all those gorgeous men in moleskins! I had to fan my face many times. It was such a great trip and truly inspiring, which is why I came to write this particular book.

In Top-Notch Doc, Outback Bride I have Kellie Thorne thrown out of her depth in the outback. She really is a fish out of water as she is a beach chick from birth. 

The guarded and unfriendly Matthew McNaught is not quite what she is expecting. She is all bubbles and enthusiasm. He is brooding and enigmatic. Just what I love in a hero! But behind Matt's aloofness is a man who is not quite ready to let go of the past. His fiancee was tragically killed six years ago and he has not moved on from it.

One of the things I thought about as I wrote this novel was how soon is too soon to have another relationship after a partner has died? Does grief have a time limit? What do people think is the right period of time? Does the length of time say something about the relationship that has been lost?

I used to think if men remarried quickly that they must have been really unhappy before, but apparently that's not what studies have shown. It is more likely for a happily long-term married man to remarry sooner rather than later after the death of his spouse. Interesting, isn't it? What do you think is the reason? I will send a copy of Australian Bachelors to a random comment posted.

Warmest wishes,

Melanie Milburne

***Marybelle, your name was picked as the winner!  Please email me at totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and mailing address so we can get the prize in the mail to you. Thanks to everyone else who commented!***