Customer Reviews

Wildflower Bride (Montana Marriages, Book 3)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the 3rd book in the Montana Marriages series. Wade Sawyer was first introduced in the first book, Montana Rose, with his obsession over Cassie Dawson. He was the "villain" in that book, but at the end he found God and changed. In the second book, The Husband Tree, Wade is completely reformed and meets Glowing Sun, a white woman living with the Salish since her family died when she was 10. She had been kidnapped and Wade helped her return to her family.

Wade continues with his obsessive ways and stays near the Salish's summer camp site waiting for their return. He accepts he is being a little obsessive and vows to stay away, but still waits for her return. When he next sees her, her entire village has been murdered save her and her mother-in-law and one other young boy. Glowing Sun is blamed for the massacre since she is white, so she is rejected and forced to leave. Wade takes her in and vows to help her. She reluctantly accepts his help to find a place for her.

Again, I enjoyed the stories from Divide, Montana. I really liked the return of the characters from the first two books. I laughed when Silas had to keep repeating that Belle's name is Harden, not Tanner. Cassie is cute, but maybe a little too naive (she didn't know she was pregnant for the 3rd time while Red did? huh? not very believable).

I liked both Wade and Abby as individual characters, but I found the romance to be a bit weak for my liking. I just did not understand the attraction. It just didn't develop as well as I would have liked.

Overall, a good story that was developed and well written. I enjoy Mary Connealy's writing and look forward to reading more from her.

*I received this book from the publisher to review via netgalley.*

This is the third book in Connealy's Montana Brides series. (If you haven't read the first two, I highly recommend that you read them in order.) In the first book, I couldn't stand Wade Sawyer, the cowardly bully who terrorizes Red and Cassie Dawson. In the second book, I began to like him a bit more. He accepted Christ at the end of Montana Rose, and then in The Husband Tree he proves himself a stronger man while he falls in love with Glowing Sun (a white woman who has been raised by a Flathead Indian tribe). Wildflower Bride is Wade's story, but fans of the series will be delighted by the reappearances (several of them) of Red & Cassie and Silas & Belle (and all their respective offspring). It does bring the story full-circle and is a most satisfying conclusion.

In Wildflower Bride, Wade has been keeping an eye on Glowing Sun (from afar, of cours) when it is massacred. He rides in to save her, and Glowing Sun is banished from her tribe, who believe she is the cause of their misfortune. Meanwhile, Wade receives news of his father's ailing health and is asked to return to the Sawyer Ranch. He refuses to leave Glowing Sun, who from this point forward insists on being called "Abby," her birth name. Abby reluctantly agrees to follow Wade home, as she has nowhere else to go. Once he arrives at the ranch, Wade finds himself busy with no-good ranch hands, an angry father, and a group of rustlers who are trying to kill him and Abby. As they fight to save the ranch and each other, they also end up falling in love.

I didn't have much hope for Wade being a likable character, but Connealy manages to make him a man you can love and respect in Wildflower Bride. He's generous, kind, patient, and when he finally stands up to his father, it was the moment I'd waited for. He redeems himself with his actions toward Abby, Tom Linscott, and his continued devotion to the Dawsons. Although his father has treated him with cruelty, he returns home to help him restore order. What's more courageous than that? And yet, for all its charm, this was not the best book in the series. It seems to be lacking in romance when compared to the other two. Besides kissing each other an awful lot, there's really no indication (especially from Abby) that they're in love, or why. There's a great deal of action and suspense, as the band of murderous outlaws devise a plan to kill Mort Sawyer, Wade, and Abby. This one is definitely heavy on the action and light on the romance.

Wildflower Bride (Book #3 of Montana Marriages)
By Mary Connealy

Wade Sawyer once again helps Glowing Sun evade capture, and is horrified to find that her people have been massacred. When she is subsequently banished by her adoptive Flathead Indian family, Glowing Sun (formerly Abby) reluctantly accepts Wade's plea to accompany him home, summoned by his dying tyrant of a father, Mort. Only a sense of God-mandated duty convicts Wade enough to reestablish his fathers floundering ranch instead of hightailing it back into the mountains.

In the meantime, the four outlaws who annihilated Abby's village are plotting more destruction than anyone can imagine. Wade, Abby, Mort and everyone around them is unknowingly in danger. As criminal behavior begins to spread, certain "accidents" no longer appear to be coincidental and they all must save more than their pride if they are to survive at all.

Entertaining and diverting, Wildflower Bride is a great light-hearted read. Perfect for a rain day or sunny weekend read; Mary Connealy combines Christian themes and old west bravado to induce laughter and reverence at the same time.

I have yet to read a Mary Connealy book that did not tickle my funny bone while it's tugging the heart strings at the same time because bottom line, when it comes to romantic comedy with cowboys, Ms. Connealy is Queen! I devour everything the woman writes, so it's darn good thing she puts out a book about every other week! Just kidding ... but if you get hooked on Connealy, rest assured there will be no shortage of great reading material!

Of course, the book was wonderful. Which was no surprise. But let me tell you a bit about it.

Simply put - Wade Sawyer is one of Mary Connealy's best written characters yet...and he's in a heap of trouble.

He's in love with a woman who has a penchant for pulling a knife on every man she meets: Abby, a woman raised by the Flathead Indians, who hates the stench of white men, and suddenly finds herself without a home or family.

Wade is a `rescuer' and ever since he met Abby (Glowing Sun) in Mary's novel, The Husband Tree, he's felt connected to her. Now, as she's left alone, Wade wants to take care of her. But who will take care of him, especially since this woman has the strength of a killer and the heart of a warrior.

Abby has very few memories about her white family. Rescued by the Flathead Indians when she was a young girl, Abby identifies herself more with her Indian family than her white one. In fact, she wants very little to do with white men, but Wade Sawyer perplexes her. Strong, yet not harsh, determined but not overbearing, patient, kind, and different than any man she's ever met, he sneaks behind her well-built defenses before she can slash him to pieces.

Thrust into his world when outlaws destroy her village, Abby tries to find her place between two worlds. As her eyes open to the realization of who she is in Wade's life as well as in God's greater plan, she must make a decision. Open up her heart to the hope she sees in Wade's love, or hold on to her hurts and prejudices from the past.

Bringing in beloved characters from the first two books (Montana Rose and The Husband Tree), Mary weaves a wonderful tale of redemption, the power of forgiveness, and the hope of second chances.

Like I said before, Wade Sawyer is one of Mary's best heroes so far. We see him as a sympathetic villain in book one of the Montana Marriages series, a growing Christian in book 2, and finally in full bloom as a hero in book three.
His spiritual strength to do the right thing, instead of what he wants to do, is in stark contrast to the man he used to be. No longer ruled by fear, he repeats the verse from Psalms "Who shall I fear?". It's a beautiful reminder than nothing in our pasts can deter God's work in our lives, no fear is too great that He can't overcome it in us. His strength is perfect.

Beautifully done, Mary.

I enjoyed this book, not nearly as much as the other two, but it was still fun. It was really cool how a side story in both of the first two books was pulled together into this book and finished. However, you don't need to read the others to read this one. She writes in such a way that you feel like you've known them forever and haven't missed a thing if you pick up in the midst of a series.

After reading the first two books in this series, I was excited to read Wildflower Bride. Unfortunately it was my least favorite. I had a couple of major problems liking the main characters and I also felt that the main focus of the book was the mystery rather than the romance which is fine for others but not my thing. There was much more time spent finding the cattle thieves than spent developing any type of romance between Abby and Wade.

Abby began as a likeable character in The Husband Tree (my favorite of the series) but in Wildflower Bride she came across to me as being disrespectful, rude and judgemental. I understand that she was coming from a different culture but I felt that her reactions were not true to that culture either. From what I understand, elders and males are respected in most indian cultures. I don't think she would ever have talked to Wade's father the way she did because of that, not to mention she was a guest in his house. Her disrespect for Gertie was also heartbreaking to me. Although her methods were wrong, Gertie had dedicated her life to caring for and loving Wade in a time when children and women were often abused and had no way of escape. I've always heard that respect is earned not forced and I felt that Abby was trampling over everyone else to get the respect that she felt she deserved because she considered herself a Flathead and not a disgusting white.

In the beginning of the story, Wade was transforming into a strong male character who felt lead by the Lord to go and help his father but by the end was begging and groveling to Abby to try and get her to stay with him promising to leave his Dad and go anywhere with her if she would only marry him. He was well aware that he was begging and decided it was ok with him, "Wade was begging. He was planning on spending the rest of his life begging, because he was planning to spend it with the stubbornest woman he had ever known. He accepted it and looked forward to a lifetime of being overpowered." What a turnoff for me! I have no problem with the woman being strong (I loved Belle in Husband Tree) but the man has to have enough backbone to at least do what the Lord is leading him to do!

On a positive note, I really enjoyed how the characters from the other two books in the series were still focused on and we were able to see how they all interacted. They added many light, humorous moments to the story.

I hate to give a bad review but I barely made it through this one. Mary Connealy is a talented writer and I have enjoyed her other books immensely so I am not letting this discourage me from reading the other series. Sometimes a book and reader just don't connect and I feel like that is what happened here.

Mary Connealy did the impossible when she redeemed Wade Sawyer in Wildflower Bride from a despicable past. Now an admirable hero, Wade will tug at your heartstrings as he tries to save Glowing Sun's life and make peace with his father. Another fun Connealy read!

This book was provided by the publisher

Wade Sawyer is a Christian now, and trying to live his life as pleasing to God, not his money and land hungry father. Now Wade had found a woman he can love, blonde, blue-eyed Glowing Sun, a girl who was raised by the Indians and now believes she is one. A girl who doesn't understand a word of English.

Glowing Sun was raised by the Flathead Indians and is one of only a few left when men slaughter her village. When the few remaining blame her for the attack, she has no choice but to leave. Glowing Sun used to be Abby Lind in the white world, but Glowing Sun has no memory of that life. When her life as Glowing Sun ends, where does she belong?

Wade loves her, but how can he win her heart when she pulls a knife at everything that moves? And will Wade be able to reconcile with his father before it's too late?

I met Wade in Ms. Connealy's first book in this series, Montana Rose, but he was a bad guy in that book. I enjoyed getting to know him better in The Husband Tree, and was looking forward to reading his story. WILDFLOWER BRIDE is the third book in the Montana Marriages series, but it easily stands alone.

I didn't really care for Glowing Sun as much as I would have liked to, and the romance in this book was kind of added as an afterthought, at least it read like it, but otherwise, I enjoyed the story, and laughed out loud in a few places. If you are looking for a good historical romance, then pick up a copy of WILDFLOWER BRIDE today.

I just finished "Wildflower Bride" today and loved it. No big surprise there. I really enjoy Mary Connealy's books.

I was encouraged to read how some hurting characters matured to show strength of character even in tough situations. One character's comments about the tough childhood he endured showed insights and a perspective new to me--thought-provoking.

I enjoy the dialog between these "people" on the pages and feel as if they are real people with real problems looking to a great God for help.

Looking forward to the next Connealy book!