Ms. Proctor also writes the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mysteries under the name C.S. Harris which is an automatic preorder for me each year, but I enjoy her historical romances also. September Moon is another set in Australia in the 1800s. Amanda Davenport takes a position as a governess in the Outback to three children. Their father, Patrick O'Reilly, is not predisposed to like English gentlewomen as his wife and mother both deserted their families to return home. Amanda is appalled at the free-wheeling attitudes of the people of this wild land while Patrick tries hard to get her to loosen up, convinced she's not as stuffy as she appears.
This is a slow-burn romance with an enemies-to-lovers trope that also details what living on an Australian sheep station entails. There are lovely descriptions of this desolate land, both flora and fauna, and the impact of drought.
Patrick is pretty much the man he appears to be, but Amanda can sometimes be annoying as she vacillates between letting go and maintaining her English manners. It's another good read from an excellent author. ( )

It's too bad this was such a dud of a book because Candice Proctor writes so well, particularly when it comes to depicting the setting of the Australian outback. There's not much to say about the story - it's a run of the mill governess charms unruly children and bags rancher husband type. Think Sound of Music but, if you liked Sound of Music, really bad. There just wasn't anything behind the characters, no depth, no personality, nothing to get me interested. They all seemed like they were just going through the motions. Added to which, the children were really annoying, and the romance wasn't remotely believable. Amanda Davenport starts out hating Australia and wanting so desperately to go home to England. She is also really repressed and ashamed of her sexuality - the British stereotype. But then, after hearing Patrick O'Reilly's sob story of how his mother and then his wife abandoned him, she does an about face turn around, has her epiphany, and realizes she loves him, his brood of monsters, and Australia. Color me unconvinced. The descriptions of landscape and atmosphere were the only things that had something resembling life in them. Besides that, September Moon was a disappointment, considering how much I've loved Proctor's other books ( )