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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Montana Rose by Mary Connealy is up on CFBA! Includes bonus review!


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:

Montana Rose is a good title for this book because it shows how genuine love and concern for another human being can cause a person to bloom who had been previously stifled by fear. There were many things I enjoyed about this story. At first I found the repetition about the heroine Cassie's submissiveness, her abuse history, and the reference to her being a China doll a bit annoying. I clearly caught that early on. But the story was strong enough to pull me along. I quickly forgot that issue once the story picked up speed regarding her developing marital relationship and all of the peaks and valleys they experienced along the way.

There were so many wonderfully romantic scenes in this story that I couldn't choose just one. There was also a lot of humor like when Red told her to speak her mind and she bowled him over during her birthing pains. That was LOL funny and also very believable. Red was the ultimate hero and such a godly example to his wife, yet he was human and obviously flawed, too. His character's strengths and weaknesses seemed very balanced to me.

The character arcs and emotional/spiritual development of these character was also very well done. The subplot with Belle was heartbreaking, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we haven't seen the last of Belle. I also enjoyed how the author showed that loving relationships can cause people to see what they are missing whether it's in relation to each other or between them and God. She did a great job showing how that inspires people to want something better. To want to change. In Montana Rose it created a longing for something more than they are currently experiencing. That was very well done.

So while this story wasn't perfect in the beginning, it really warmed my heart as the story developed and I believe the message is powerful (and beautiful) if the reader pays attention to it. This story has the potential to help women who are stuck in a rut like Cassie had been, and like Belle remained, and hopefully readers will seek something more for their life (like respect) as a result. Highly recommended.

2 comments:

Jeannie Campbell, LMFT said...

hi michelle! i loved mary's book. glad to see you did, too.

i have a blog award for you on my blog today. stop by and check it out!

M. L. Archer said...

Your review made me want to check out this book!

michele

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