This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Montana Rose
Barbour Publishing, Inc (July 1, 2009)
by
Mary Connealy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary’s writing journey is similar to a lot of others. Boil it down to persistence, oh, go ahead and call it stubbornness. She just kept typing away. She think the reason she did it was because she was more or less a dunce around people—prone to sit silently when she really ought to speak up(or far worse, speak up when she ought to sit silently).
So, Mary had all these things, she want to say, in her head; the perfect zinger to the rude cashier, which you think of an hour after you’ve left the store, the perfect bit of wisdom when someone needs help, which doesn’t occur to you until they solve their problems themselves, the perfect guilt trip for the kids, which you don’t say because you’re not an idiot. She keep all this wit to herself, much to the relief of all who know her, and then wrote all her great ideas into books. It’s therapeutic if nothing else, and more affordable than a psychiatrist.
So then a very nice, oh so nice publishing company like Barbour Heartsong comes along and says, “Hey, we’ll pay you money for this 45,000 word therapy session.” That’s as sweet as it gets.
Mary’s journey to publication is the same as everyone’s except for a few geniuses out there who make it hard for all of us. And even they probably have an Ode to Roast Beef or two in their past.
Mary has signed an exclusive contract with Barbour that will have her writing eighteen (18) books for them over the next four years! This book is the first in the Montana Marriage Series. The second book will be the Husband Tree, and the third will be Wildflower Bride
ABOUT THE BOOK
Fire up your love of romance with Montana Rose.
When surrounded by a mob of ill-bred, foul-smelling, women-hungry men, the newly widowed and seemingly spoiled Cassie “China Doll” Griffin has no choice. Marrying handyman Red Dawson seems the only alternative to Cassie’s being hitched to a brutal rancher. But can this “China doll” bear exchanging smooth silk for coarse calico? Red was reluctant to be yoked to an unbeliever, but sometimes a man has no choice. Will Red change Cassie’s heart by changing her name? Wade Sawyer is obsessed with saving Cassie from a marriage of convenience. How far will he go make her his own?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Montana Rose, go HERE
My Review:
I’ve had the pleasure of “meeting” Mary Connealy online when she graciously offered to send out copies of her Lassoed in Texas series to military families. I became hooked. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that made me laugh out loud, and not just a chuckle, I’m talking a big belly laugh. And Mary doesn’t pull any punches with her heroines. These gals are willing to stand up to the hero, with a gun if needs be.
Mary took a different approach this time around with her new heroine, Cassie Griffin. Around town, Cassie has become the “China Doll”, a woman so standoffish, people despise her and her silk dresses. Yet what the town’s people don’t see is the abuse, the neglect, and the shame brought down on Cassie by her now deceased husband, a man no one respected because he thought himself above them all.
The hero, Red Dawson, sees another side to Cassie. And in attempt to save her from the cruelest man in town, Red proposes marriage. Upon taking her to his home, Red soon learns Cassie and his farm animals soon equal disaster. To save himself the trouble, he starts to rein in what she can and can’t do. But with time, Red’s eyes are opened to the real reason Cassie is prone to disaster. And he nearly loses her to a man obsessed with her by some misguided notion they are one and the same.
This book has all the earmarks of what makes a great Mary Connealy book, humor, a strong-willed woman, and a lesson learned from God.
To learn more from Mary herself, check out my interview with her here!
