I won Montana Rose by Mary Connealy and this poor book had such a hard time getting to me. In fact, it never came. Poor Mary. She graciously sent me another one and you wouldn’t believe the condition in which the package arrived! The envelope was dirty and torn so much that the postman had wrapped rubberbands around it to hold it together. It looked like a tired had run over it! When I told Mary, she said…in her unique, funny way…”I hope the postman wasn’t carrying it when it got run over!” LOL

Read what the back cover says and then I’ll tell you what I thought.

Cassie Griffin has always dressed in silks. Her free-spending husband expects nothing less. But now he has died, leaving her unprotected, heavily in debt, and pregnant. As any single woman doesn’t remain so for long in Divide, Montana, Cassie wonders if marrying one of the local cowboys might be her only choice. After seeing her choices, she then wonders if joining her husband might be even better.

Red Dawson has always had a soft spot in his heart for Cassie, even though most of the townspeople see her only as a silk-clad china doll. When she’s left a widow, only one thing keeps him from immediately sweeping her off her feet–she’s a nonbeliever.

As the other cowboys lay claim to Cassie, the most powerful rancher in the area steps forward to demand what he thinks rightly belongs to him…and the property that goes with her. Red struggles with figuring out what to do but decides he can’t allow Cassie to suffer a fate worse than death and marries her himself.

Will Red win over this seemingly fragile and spoiled china doll’s heart…and survie her unique brand of ranch help in the meantime? Will Cassie find true love with her cowboy–and his God–when she exchanges smooth silk for coarse calico?

My thoughts: I wasn’t sure I would like a wimpy heroine, but I knew I liked Mary Connealy’s writing. She makes me smile. As for the wimpy heroine, she did not get on my nerves like I thought she would. Instead, she stayed in my mind long after I read the last page.

It had to have been difficult to write a convincing character who has been abused and take her on a journey of healing and become a woman who is free from fear. Cassie was such a helpless thing and yet Red was a perfect companion who nurtured her and coaxed her to shed her fear and failure, layer by layer, until she was strong of heart and even a bit fiesty!

I loved the tenderness and the sweet love between Red and Cassie and I was extremely satisfied in the end. Bless Mary’s heart! She has written a lovely story that makes me smile and sigh in the end. Montana Rose stayed with me for a long time and is definitely going on my keeper shelf.

You can check out Mary Connealy’s other books on her website HERE.