The Lady and the Mountain Man by Misty M. Beller
Christian Historical Romance. 313 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
Leah Townsend, a recently orphaned heiress, flees Richmond after discovering her fiancé’s plot to kill her after their wedding. She needs a safe place to hide, and finds herself accepting a newspaper marriage proposal from a God-fearing young rancher in the Montana Territory. But when Leah arrives at the mountain ranch, she learns her intended husband was killed by a grizzly, leaving behind a bitter older brother and a spunky younger sister.
When Gideon Bryant finds a city girl standing in his log cabin, his first thought is to send her back where she came from. He’s lost too many people to the wild elements of these mountains––his parents, his wife, and now his brother. His love for this untamed land lives on, but he’s determined not to open his heart to another person.
But when an accident forces Leah to stay at the ranch for seven more months, can Gideon protect his heart from a love he doesn’t want? Has Leah really escaped the men who seek her life?
My Review:
This is my first book by Beller. It was a sweet little romance with quite a bit of intrigue. I really liked the idea of the plot, which is what drew me to the book in the first place. Girl running from a murderous fiance ends up in the glorious wild mountains? Yes please! Add the green-eyed, broken mountain man and his spunky younger sister and I figured I could at least stick around to see what I thought.
I loved the scenery, first of all. The author writes the setting very convincingly. I didn’t feel jerked out of time by anything and I love 1800 stories. Both the time and place were well-written, in my opinion. The characters were fun and had some realistic struggles, which I appreciated. They were stereotypically gorgeous, which is fun for fluff, but can get kind of old for some people. I didn’t mind it too much, except for the unnecessary repetition of “honey-colored tresses” and slightly excessive description of muscular builds…oh! And I did find it slightly off-putting, if not momentarily confusing, that all three of the MCs had green eyes. There was a spot or two where I wondered if the author had mixed up the characters with the descriptions of the eye color, but eventually I just shrugged and slid past it. Though the book had more cliche moments than I would like (I did have to roll my eyes a few times), it was sweet and certainly could have been a lot worse. There were a few fairly predictable plot points, but I never had a “I’m tired of this” moment or wished things had gone differently. The story was well-paced, I thought, and I did enjoy the read. I do plan to read the next book cause Miriam, y’all!
Clean romance, mild violence, no language. Christian fiction.
More:
Mountain Dreams Book 2 is The Lady and the Mountain Doctor
Book 3 is The Lady and the Mountain Fire
Book 4 is The Lady and the Mountain Promise
Book 5 is The Lady and the Mountain Call
I’ve only read book one, but follow the links above to check out the others! From what I can gather, you’re going to want to read these in order.