Can four wounded souls find love?
Iraq war veteran Dan Mitchell once disobeyed an order – and it nearly destroyed him. Now a national park ranger in the Australian outback, he’s faced with another order he is unwilling to obey …
Photographer Rachel Quinn seeks out beauty in unlikely places. Her work comforted Dan in his darkest days. But Quinn knows darkness too – and Dan soon realises she needs his help as much as he needs hers.
Carrie Bryant was a talented jockey until a racing accident broke her nerve. Now Dan and Quinn need her expertise, but can she face her fear? And could horse breeder, Justin Fraser, a man fighting to save his own heritage, be the person to help put that fear to rest?
The wounds you can’t see are the hardest to heal …
I’m delighted today to welcome author Janet Gover to the blog. Her new novel, The Wild One, was published in Kindle format in the UK by Choc Lit on 3rd April, and it is also available through Amazon in the US and Australia. Over to you, Janet…
Thanks for having me on the blog to talk about my new book – The Wild One.
The Wild One is a love story – or rather, it is more than one love story. There are two intertwined stories: an immediate attraction and a strong romance between park ranger Dan Mitchell and photographer Rachel Quinn while at the same time, Justin Fraser and Carrie Bryant develop a gentle and deep love for each other.
But the other great love in this book is one that I share with the characters – a love for the wild horses that roam the Tyangi Crossing National Park.
When I first started writing the book, I told my friends that I was writing a story about brumbies. The first reaction of my English friends was – what’s a brumby? The answer is, of course, that a brumby is a wild horse. The Australian equivalent of the mustangs of the American west.
There’s a lot of debate where the word comes from. It’s widely thought to come from the word baroomby meaning “wild” in the language of the aboriginal people of southern Queensland. It’s also been suggested the word refers to one Sergeant James Brumby who let his horses run wild after he moved away from his property in New South Wales in 1804.
When the European settlers arrived in Australia, they brought horses with them, and it was inevitable that some would escape and become feral. What wasn’t anticipated was how much of a problem they would become in the future. Brumbies roam many of Australia’s national parks. They have bred successfully and have no natural predators.
The problem is that they do enormous damage to the national parks where many roam. Australia doesn’t have native large hooved animals. The horses, as well as wild cattle and also wild camels, damage the waterways and the native plant life. They are responsible for the destruction of the habitats of many endangered native animals. It’s not their fault of course. All they are doing is living as they were meant to live.
It’s not an easy problem to solve. The brumbies can be caught and turned into riding horses. I have a very old photograph from when I was young of my friend Jo and her chestnut mare Lindy. Lindy was a brumby who was turned into a saddle horse. She was lovely.
But in some places, the brumbies are culled. That’s so sad.
I understand that the brumbies have to be removed from the parks, but I wish every one of them could find champions like Dan and Quinn, like Justin and Carrie – so that they could all have the sort of future my brumbies get in The Wild One.
The Wild One is a story about the horses, but it’s also the story of four wounded souls who find love and redemption in their mission to save the brumbies. It’s a story very close to my own heart, and I hope it will touch your hearts too.
Thank you Janet – I hadn’t heard about the brumbies before, and this certainly does sound like a story so many people would love. I wish you every success with it.
Janet Gover lives in Surrey with her English husband but grew up in the Australian outback surrounded by books. She solved mysteries with Sherlock Holmes, explored jungles with Edgar Rice Burroughs and shot to the stars with Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. After studying journalism at Queensland University she became a television journalist, first in Australia, then in Asia and Europe. During her career Janet saw and did a lot of unusual things. She met one Pope, at least three Prime Ministers, a few movie stars and a dolphin. Janet now works in television production and travels extensively with her job.
Janet’s first short story, The Last Dragon, was published in 2002. Since then she has published numerous short stories, one of which won the Elizabeth Goudge Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association. She has previously published three novels with Little Black Dress, Flight to Coorah Creek was Janet’s debut with Choc Lit.
I hadn't heard about brumbies before either. We've all heard about wild horses, of course, but it's nice to learn a little about the history of how they came to roam free. Thanks for sharing, ladies. 🙂 x