Wildflower Bride

CONNEALY, MARY

WILDFLOWER BRIDE

Wade has a hero reflex but Abby has a knife reflex!

Glowing Sun has never met a man she didn't pull a knife on -- including the man who's determined to marry her.

Glowing Sun, a white woman raised by the Flathead Indians is one of a handful left alive after the people of her village are slaughtered. When those remaining blame her for bringing on the killing spree, she is forced to leave her tribe.

With a vague memory of her life in the white world, which eventually includes a name -- Abby Lind -- she declares her life as Glowing Sun over. But where does she belong now?

Wade Sawyer, having broken ties with his cattle-baron father, makes himself responsible for Abby's survival. But can he win her heart when she pulls a knife at everything that moves?

When Wade receives word that his father may be dying, he heads home, with Abby reluctantly following behind. Neither is aware that land-hungry killers slink in the shadows of the Sawyer Ranch.

Will Abby be able to keep the mild-mannered Wade out of trouble? Will Wade rescue reflex in the way of his common sense? Can they stay alive long enough to fall head over spurs in love?

IF WADE HAS A HERO REFLEX AND ABBY HAS A KNIFE REFLEX, I HAVE A MARY REFLEX! I JUST HAVE TO REACH OUT AND GRAB EVERY SINGLE BOOK I CAN GET MY HANDS ON. AND THEN I HAVE TO READ IT STRAIGHT THROUGH. I LOVE HER HUMOUR -- IT'S DOWN-HOME WITTY AND SO ENTERTAINING. AND I LOVE HER HEROINES. THEY ARE SUCH STRONG WOMEN. IN FACT BELLE TANNER...OOPS, HARDEN...AND GLOWING SUN COULD BE FOLK HEROINES IN THEIR OWN TALL TALES.

I LOVE THAT MARY REDEEMED WADE. I WAS SO SET ON HATING HIM AT THE BEGINNING OF MONTANA ROSE AND SO RELUCTANT TO SEE ANY GOOD IN HIM REGARDLESS OF WHAT RED PREACHED. BUT I HELD A SOFT SPOT FOR HIM AT THE END OF THAT BOOK (FIRST IN THE SERIES) AND WAS THRILLED TO SEE HIS GROWTH IN THE HUSBAND TREE AND ECSATIC (YES I GET WAAAYYY TOO ATTACHED TO MY FAV BOOK CHARACTERS) WHEN I DISCOVERED HE HAD HIS OWN BOOK COMING OUT.

MARY DID A WONDERFUL JOB OF FLESHING HIM OUT, HELPING HIM TO GROW INTO A MAN WITH THE KIND OF STRENGTH THE BULLIES AROUND HIM COULDN'T BEGIN TO MATCH. I LOVED HIS DOGGED DEVOTION TO ABBY; HIS RELENTLESS DETERMINATION TO PURSUE HER DESPITE THE NARROW ODDS OF WINNING HER. BUT MOST OF ALL I LOVED HIS CONVERSION STORY. IT IS SUCH AN UPLIFTING PART OF THE BOOK AND SEAMLESSLY WOVEN IN AMONGST THE LAUGHTER AND ANGST.

SPEAKING OF ANGST. MARY HAS THE OLD WEST OUTLAW DOWN PAT. PURE EVIL BENT ON CAUSING AS MUCH MAYHEM AS POSSIBLE AND MARY LETS THEM HAVE THEIR WAY...TO A POINT.

AND THOSE ACTION SCENES -- STARTING WITH THE VERY FIRST PAGE! MARY HAS PACING DOWN TO A FINE ART AND EXPENDS JUST ENOUGH WORDS TO CATAPULT YOU OUT OF YOUR EASY CHAIR AND RIGHT INTO THE WILD WEST.

ABBY IS ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE HEROINES I HAVE MET. I LOVE HER FRESH POINT OF VIEW -- AS A WHITE WOMAN WHO HAD GROWN UP IN A FLATHEAD VILLAGE SHE HAS KEEN OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUPPOSEDLY SUPERIOR WHITE WORLD THAT ARE BOTH HUMOUROUS AND PROFOUND. I ESPECIALLY ENJOYED HER INTERACTIONS WITH WADE'S FATHER. I COULD HAVE READ A WHOLE BOOKFUL OF THOSE TWO GOING AT EACH OTHER!!! LOL.

MARY HAS OUTDONE HERSELF WITH THE THIRD OF HER MONTANA MARRIAGES SERIES. PLUS SHE'S LEFT THE DOOR OPEN (I HOPE) WITH ALL THOSE UNMARRIED JESSUP BROTHERS NOT TO MENTION TACITURN TOM LINSCOTT.