Very unique Australian series. The author, Wendy Wilson, is a great story teller with a background in Australian history and its anthropological/cultural mix. Her books are not “romance novels” although it features a growing attraction between two of the main characters. Instead, the attraction for me is the compelling storyline of the emerging complexities of Australia’s history and the lives of ALL the people who have lived there It travels from the wonders & strengths of Aboriginal Dreamtime and its earliest inhabitants, to the arrival of the European white settlers and British violent criminals and those from debtor prison sentenced in England, who were shipped there as indentured workers. The icing on the cake is seen in the white worldview of most wealthy landowners and politicians, to the large British military presence. The growing dominance and power of the powerful whiteculture gains precedence, but also must deal with a variety of European & Scandinavian immigrants whose presence and social needs require growing attention and resources as their communities grow in size and various individuals find themselves and their families in crisis. Altogether, Wilson’s books are among the best I’ve ever read! (And believe me — I read a lot!!