Big Sky Secrets by Linda Lael Miller

**This book was received as part of the Amazon Vine program**

Linda Lael Miller is one of my favorite romance novelists.  I like her stories, subjects, and the detail she puts into everything.  This book was technically part of a series, but it isn't really necessary to read them in order, it can be read as a standalone book.  It wasn't one of my favorite of hers, but it still kept me reading.

Ria has started a new life.  After the death of her husband she left the west coast for a small flower farm in Montana and now is content growing her flowers and attending the farmers markets.  Her only agitation is her neighbor Landry, who has a buffalo that likes to get loose quite often.  But he's so darn good looking that she can't help but feel more than agitation for him.

The characters were a little weak in this one.  I especially didn't like the plot twist for Ria's dead husband.  It felt like they had to make him a less likable guy in order for her new romance to be ok.  I just didn't see the need for it.  And Ria herself had a couple bouts with her character going crazy.  Add in her niece Quinn that acted more like 12 than 17, and it was somewhat confusing.  That being said, I did like Landry's butler.  While a weird addition to the book, he was a welcome one.  Landry was the typical rich cowboy, he provided a hunky love interest who was good in the sack.  Which for a romance novel is pretty standard.

The plot was ok.  There wasn't that much strife.  And I did think the ending was a little rushed.  I'm also never sure why the end all be all of these romance novels are marriage and a kid.  I'd love to see marriage and perfectly happy without kids, but I don't think romance novels are allowed to be published without that ending.  I did like that the two had sort of a love-hate relationship going and that it took place in Montana.  Miller is also very descriptive so while this book didn't take place over a long period of time, it felt like what was happening was in a regular timeline while reading because you could picture what was happening.  There were descriptive sex scenes in this book, three, right at the end.  So there's a lot of buildup as you can imagine.

Miller's still my favorite but this one fell just a bit flat.  But it was entertaining, and you can't go too wrong with that if you're not expecting fine literature.

Big Sky Secrets
Copyright 2014
376 pages