Hutch Carmody, rancher, is standing at the altar still trying to tell his fiancée that he doesn't want to marry her. She hasn't listened and he finally has to explain in front of the congregation. While this seems a bad opening to a romance, it leaves Hutch both ostracised and free to find the right woman in BIG SKY MOUNTAIN. This is part of a series but can be read as a standalone.

Kendra Shepherd has returned to Parable County, Montana with her adopted daughter Madison, recovering from a failed marriage to a wealthy Englishman. She runs a real estate business with more viewers than sales; clients range from creepy deputy sheriffs to a rock star looking for a home incognito. Putting her own mansion on the market she settles into a small two-bedroom cottage. The local community welcomes her back and while she worries that her past is known and recounted she is convinced that this is a good place in which to raise a child.

Hutch discovers that Kendra is back and he can't resist memories of their previous romance. She doesn't seem interested and rather than press her to take up with a man who is being vilified on the internet by friends of the almost-bride, he settles for being neighborly to Kendra and her daughter. Hutch also has a ranch to run and his genuine concern that a divorce could see him losing half of Whisper Creek ranch is a very real issue for farmers everywhere.

As the summer slides by other friends have children, or finally get around to cleaning up the yard for visiting children, and little Madison gets a dog, then a rideable pony, and a rodeo comes to town, Hutch and Kendra get to know each other as adults. They admit that they have feelings for each other, but both of their pasts seem to prove insurmountable.

Linda Lael Miller has given us a book that is full of detail and a pleasure to read, with very human characters making decisions that make good sense, in their own time.