Big Sky River by Linda Lael Miller
Harlequin HQN
December 2012
Format: Paperback, 368 pages
First line: Sheriff Boone Taylor, enjoying a rare off-duty day, drew back his battered fishing rod and cast the flyhook far out over the rushing, sun-spangled waters of Big Sky River.
From the back cover: The “First Lady of the West,” #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller, brings you to Parable, Montana-where love awaits.
Sheriff
Boone Taylor has his job, friends, a run-down but decent ranch, two
faithful dogs and a good horse. He doesn’t want romance-the widowed
Montanan has loved and lost enough for a lifetime. But when a city woman
buys the spread next door, Boone’s peace and quiet are in serious
jeopardy.
With a marriage and a career painfully behind her,
Tara Kendall is determined to start over in Parable. Reinventing herself
and living a girlhood dream is worth the hard work. Sure, she might
need help from her handsome, wary neighbor. But life along Big Sky River
is full of surprises…like falling for a cowboy-lawman who just might
start to believe in second chances.
My thoughts: This is the third in Linda Lael Miller’s Swoon-Worthy Cowboy series and I have to tell you…I’ve loved Boone Taylor ever since we met him in the first book of the series. I’m so glad he finally got his own happily-ever-after!
Big Sky River is Boone and Tara’s story. When they first met, back sometime during the first book in the series, it was anything but a pleasant exchange. And there is still an adversarial relationship between the two despite the fact that they are neighbors. Now, they find they are in similar positions. Boone has two little boys who have been living with his sister and her family since his wife died. When his brother-in-law needs to go in for emergency surgery, the two boys come to live with Boone in his double-wide trailer. Tara’s ex-husband has twin girls who come spend the summer with her in Parable so he can spend time with his new girlfriend.
Between finding themselves as “single” parents and
the twin girls and the little boys starting to hang out a bit, Boone and
Tara start to realize things are changing between them. They soon realize that all those sparks of anger and irritation might just be something entirely different. Boone asks Tara
out on a date and things start to heat up for the two. It’s such a great journey as Boone and Tara both learn to let go of their pasts and move forward. And the interactions with the kids were great – some humorous and some quite touching.
Throughout the story, we also get updates on the characters we’ve met in the previous books. Parable is definitely the type of town that I would love to live in – that small-town feel with people that really feel a sense of community as is evidenced by an event that occurs in the beginning of the book. Opal still seems to be the one gal that keeps track of everyone and everything. She shows up at Boone’s trailer ready to help out when he first gets back to town with the boys and is there every time he needs help. I really hope that one day we get her story – she absolutely deserves her HEA! Hutch, Slade, Kendra and Joslyn also make appearances.
I’m looking forward to the next Swoon-Worthy Cowboy book – due out later this spring…there are some hints as to who the book will focus on and I’m curious to see how it plays out.
When an author includes the first chapter of their next book at the end of the current book, do you read it or do you wait until the book actually comes out?
(I borrowed this book from the library.)
Books in this series:
- Big Sky Country
- Big Sky Mountain
- Big Sky River
- Big Sky Summer – due out May 2013
