Third in the Big Sky Mavericksseries, this novella
focuses on a lady who has worked hard, played hard and
fought hard to beat cancer. In MONTANA DARLING, Mia
Zabrinski can't hold the divorce against her husband -
they
both worked all hours, and she hadn't become ill yet. Now
she's a single mother of two, staying fit. She's also back
in her home town of Marietta, Montana, because her new
income won't pay the rent in Cheyenne. Why does a girl
have
to travel so far to get back to where she started?
Ryker Bensen, a nature photographer, is camping out on
some
empty ground, trying to reconnect with life after a
tragedy. He doesn't know he's on the site where Mia hopes
to build her new family home. When Mia meets this
motorbike
guy, eviction is the only thing on her mind. But Ryker
knows that he played on this site - his family's land - as
a kid, and if it's been sold, he never gave the necessary
permission. Could his stepdad have done something he
shouldn't? Time to call in lawyers and talk to both their
family members, or in Mia's case her ex, who signed the
deal and handed her the site in the divorce settlement.
I greatly admire the way that both main characters are
presented to us and their backstories developed. Other
people around town come across as genuine too, probably
because this is a series although I had not read the
earlier books. Even someone mostly absent, Ryker's
brother,
is a fire fighter off tackling forest fires, and we pick
up
a good feeling for how he fits in the story and social
circle. Ryker takes a temp job for which he's way
overqualified while Mia drops her thorny problems when she
spots one of her teen kids truanting. These are really
grounded people. Aside from the land, there's another
matter in the frame; Mia now has body and femininity
issues
after her illness. She can find a man attractive, but she
doesn't believe she can ever be romantic again.
The town of Marietta is interestingly populated, including
an alpaca raiser and a chocolate maker. I'd be happy to
visit here again and meet more of the inhabitants so I'll
look out for more well-written adult romances from Debra
Salonen. MONTANA DARLING is well worth a read for romance
fans and the length makes it ideal for busy people.
Her marriage. Her job. Her body image. Mia beat cancer and
is ready to rebuild her life in her hometown of Marietta,
Montana. Literally. Her first order of business is to
build
a house on the ten-acre parcel she was awarded in her
divorce settlement. And she's damned if she'll let some
stranger camp on her land and claim squatter's rights. So
maybe he's not a squatter. The high-end bike and camera
hint
at more. Plus, he's hot, gorgeous and smart, but that
doesn't make him less of a threat--especially when he has
the audacity to claim the land is his. Look out, darlin',
Nitro is back and prepared to prove what the other Big Sky
Mavericks always knew: small packages can pack a big
punch.
Ryker Bensen doesn't have much--
And that suits him fine. Less than a year ago, he had
everything: a beautiful girlfriend, a baby on the way, a
career that earned him fame and a very comfortable
living...until he didn't. Grief sent him to ground, and
his
favorite ground growing up was a ten-acre patch along side
the Marietta River where he camped every summer - land
held
in trust until his thirtieth birthday, now just a few
weeks
away. When a beautiful spitfire named Mia Zabrinski shows
up
and orders him off what she says is her land, Ryker
realizes
she might be the spark he needed to jumpstart his interest
in living again.
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