Big Sky Secrets-Linda Lael Miller

Big Sky Secrets Linda Lael Miller Harlequin HQN, Dec 31 2013, $7.99 ISBN 978-0373778317 Divorcee Landry Sutton returns home to his Parable, Montana rustic roots to sell his share of Hangman Bend’s Ranch to his brother Zane as he plans to live in the city where he became a wealthy executive. At his sibling’s Big Sky Wedding, Landry met 200-proof urbanite Widow Ria Manning; who finds everyday rural life harrowing while she runs a flower farm. Landry and Ria were attracted to one another at first sight, but neither acted on their feelings as his ex-wife and his father’s abandonment left him a doubter; while her deceased firefighting spouse’s cheating and her dysfunctional family left her a skeptic. When his wandering buffalo trample her flowers and send a frightened Ria into a panic, Landry arrives to take them home. Before leaving with his bison, he challenges her to go with him; she reluctantly takes up his dare. As they double and triple dare each other, Landry and Ria fall in love; but besides their hearts they share exorbitant distrust of people that keeps both from committing to a forever relationship. The last Parable ranch romance (see Big Sky Summer and Big Sky River) is an entertaining contemporary as love is not enough for the protagonists who must work through their troubled pasts before they fully can connect. Landry’s butler Highbridge brings fresh humor to the otherwise enjoyable straightforward storyline. Harriet Klausner