Review & Giveaway: Truly Madly Montana by Fiona Lowe
By:
Fiona Lowe
Releasing
July 7th,
2015
Berkeley
Sensation
Blurb
Summer
in Montana brings heat with a chance of romance in the new Medicine
River Romance from the award-winning author of Montana Actually
Sexy
and charming Australian doctor Will Bartlett will do anything to help
out a friend, even if it means moving to Bear Paw for the summer.
Some small-town hospitality, and the uncomplicated friendship of his
co-worker, Millie, is just the ticket to shake off the restlessness
that’s been gripping him lately.
Millie
Switkowski, RN and medical student, is home for her clinical
rotation, and she’s determined to make this summer so much better
than last. She’s got a year of medical school under her belt, her
diabetes is under control and she’s kicked her crazy crush for Will
Bartlett, who only ever treated her as “one of the guys.”
But
when Will turns out to be Millie’s supervising physician, without
warning the summer gets a whole lot hotter than either of them
anticipated. With both of them holding onto thorny secrets, can they
walk away with their hearts intact?
Excerpt
Through
the window, she could see her folks dressed and ready for the wedding
and chatting in the kitchen. She’d spent more time than usual
getting ready herself, and she thought she looked pretty sharp. As
she stepped through the door, she called out, “Hi,” before
clicking her fingers and executing a soft-shoe shuffle across the
kitchen floor. She finished with a twirl in front of them. “Ta-da.”
Her
mother, Susie, dressed
in a gray silk shift dress gathered in at the waist with a matching
cummerbund and secured with a diamanté broach, stared at her,
horrified. “Why are you wearing a tuxedo?”
“Because,
Mom . . .” Millie smiled, already prepared for the
question. “I’m the best man.”
“You’re
the best person,” Susie
said in a long-suffering tone, “and in my experience, the women who
stand up with their guy friends always wear a dress.”
Stay
calm. “I’m sorry
you’re upset, Mom, but I did tell you I was wearing a suit.”
“And
I assumed you meant something classic like a Chanel.”
She
laughed, hearing the tightness in the sound and wishing it wasn’t
there. “A Chanel suit is way out of my price range, and besides, it
wouldn’t have all these awesome pockets for my stuff.”
“That’s
what a purse is for.”
Millie
looked at her mother’s tiny clutch purse—the one that perfectly
matched her shoes and frock. It was barely big enough to hold a
phone, let alone her continuous glucose monitor handset and her test
kit. “You know I need more room than that.”
Conflicting
emotions warred on her mother’s face, and she let out a sigh. “Yes,
honey, but if you’d let me take you shopping, I’m certain we
could have found the perfect dress and purse.”
I
doubt it. “Mom—”
“You
look terrific, Millsy,” her father said, finally stepping into the
conversation as he always did just as it was getting uncomfortable.
“You’ll put all the other guys in the shade.”
“Thanks,
Dad.” She kissed him gratefully on the cheek. “I better get going
or Josh will beat me to the church. I’ll see you guys there.”
“At
least wear some color,” Susie said, pressing a pretty wine-stained
lipstick into her hand. “You look pale. Are you sure you’re
feeling okay?”
As
a redhead, she was frequently pale, but that wasn’t what her mother
meant. “I’m fine, Mom. My blood sugar is my friend today. I
promise you that I’ll put on the lipstick just before I go into the
church, I’ll spritz on some perfume and I’ll pinch my cheeks, but
seriously, all eyes will rightly be on Katrina and Josh, not me.”
Thank
goodness. As her fingers
closed around the door handle, her father asked, “You’ve got
everything you need, right?”
For
the briefest moment, she rested her forehead on the doorjamb. She
loved her parents dearly, but their constant concern wore her down.
Everyone’s constant concern wore her down. She patted her pockets.
Dex, keys, test kit,
snack. “Yep. Bye.”
It
wasn’t until ten minutes later when she was parking next to Josh’s
positively gleaming sports car that she realized she’d left her
phone back at the guesthouse resting on
the charger. Oh well, she was at the church now, and if Josh needed
anything he could tell her in person. Feeling naked without her heavy
tote bag on her shoulder, she hurried over to the steep-pitched,
maroon-roofed building. Stepping out of the bright afternoon sunshine
and into the dimness of the changing room, her eyes were slow to
adjust, and she fuzzily made out the shape of a guy with his back to
her.
“Hey,
Josh,” she said moving in for a big hello hug. “Fifteen minutes
’til showtime.” As her arms went firmly around his shoulders, she
caught the flash of dark blond hair, the sharp zip of citrus cologne
and the glint of amused dark blue eyes.
Josh
had brown hair, wore woodsy cologne and his eyes were silvery gray.
And as tall as Josh was, her cheek was usually closer to his shoulder
than this, and she didn’t remember him feeling quite this broad.
Who exactly was she body-hugging?
She
was about to step back when she heard, “Hey, Millie,”
Josh’s voice filled with gentle amusement. “On my wedding day,
you’re supposed to be making a fuss over me, not Will.”
Will?
Her
brain melted at the exact same moment as her body. No
way! Not
possible. Will wasn’t
even coming to the wedding. But as she glanced up into familiar
dancing eyes—eyes she’d spent way too much time daydreaming about
last year—she knew.
Dear
Lord, she had her arms wrapped tightly around Will Bartlett.
Shock
dried her mouth and embarrassment made her arms drop away fast from
his wide shoulders. She stumbled backward, wishing desperately that
she could teleport anywhere as long as it was far, far away from here
and Will Bartlett.
Be
cool. Be calm. Be disinterestedly detached. “H-Hi-ello,
Will.”
Oh
yeah, so smooth.
“G’day,
Millie.” A cheeky grin lit up his perfectly symmetrical face, and
she saw the precise moment he recalled exactly their last meeting—the
time she’d fallen into his lap. “We have to stop meeting like
this.”
Author
Info
Fiona
Lowe is a RITA® and R*BY award-winning, multi-published author with
Harlequin , Carina Press and, Berkley USA. Whether her books are set
in outback Australia or the USA, they feature small towns with big
hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love.
When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two
'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes, slave to a cat and
often found collapsed on the couch with wine.
My thoughts....
I'm so glad that I was able to review Truly Madly Montana! I really enjoyed the first book in the series, Montana Actually. This series has that small-town feeling to it that I'm enjoying right now. For some reason I'm really loving small-town romances. They seem to deal more with the romance then who's killing whom.
I really liked both Will and Millie. Both have issues that they are dealing with. Will is dealing with the loss of his twin brother Charlie. I admit that I like how Will hears Charlies voice in his head. I think it helps him heal even if he doesn't know it. And oh boy does he need to heal.
Now Millie has some big issues herself. She has diabetes and spends a lot of time having to deal with it. She works so hard to be seen as something other then Millie with diabetes! I really felt for her! Her whole life seemed to be wrapped up in her illness.
Millie and Will are very good together. They both need each other, even if they don't know it. Together they start to grow as the people they really are. Millie needs someone who understands her illness and Will needs someone to help him learn to deal with the death of his brother.
It's not only Will and Millie that have a romance going in Truly Madly Montana. You also have Tara and Ethan. These two are hard nuts to crack. I really like Ethan. He's full of layers. I'd love to learn more about him.
For the most part I really enjoy this story. I will say that some books you can read very quickly they just read smoothly, Truly Madly Montana isn't one of them. I don't know if its because of the authors writing or some of the subjects the author talks about.
If you've read Truly Madly Montana I'd like to hear your thoughts. Happy reading!
Thank you for hosting TRULY MADLY MONTANA!
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome!
DeleteTruly Madly MONTANA of course!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteI'm going to have to get these.!
ReplyDeleteYou are. They are very enjoyable!
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