With a writing history that spans more
than 20 years, Debbie Macomber's latest effort, MONTANA,
is bound to please. Set in
Montana, Macomber tells us the story
of how two people living separate lives are forced to marry
in order to save a failing ranch. With the recent migration
of the militia into the quiet town of Sweetgrass, an endless
string of mysterious incidents centered on the Broken Arrow
Ranch are creating a financial burden on the family.
Molly Cogan is a single mother with two boys
living in San Francisco. Forced to be both mother and father
and hold down a full time job is taking its toll. When she
receives a call telling her that her grandfather has taken
ill, Molly takes it as a sign that perhaps city life is not
what she wants for two impressionable boys, or herself. A
new life helping her grandfather run his ranch, The Broken
Arrow, might be just what they all need. She's not prepared
for what she finds when she arrives however. Gramps is sicker
than she thought and his ranch is in such disrepair that she
almost doesn't recognize it. And when she meets the ranch's
new foreman, Sam Dakota, there's almost an instant dislike
of the man. Molly is beside herself when Gramps suggests marriage
between the two in order to save the failing ranch. Her boys
are taken with Sam and are more than encouraging her to take
the offer. Molly must now decide whether she should marry
this man for Gramps and the ranch, or try to run a failing
business on her own.
Sam Dakota is a man starting his life over
again. Once a rodeo star, one with a prison record, Sam has
dreams of a piece of land, a few head of cattle and the wide
open space that Montana has to offer. Taking the position
of foreman on the Broken Arrow Ranch, Sam hopes to learn all
there is to know about running a ranch from seasoned rancher
Walt Wheaton. But not long after his hire, Walt falls ill
and Sam finds himself with the duty of calling Molly with
the bad news. By the time she arrives with her boys, Walt
has already filled Sam's head with ideas of Molly. When Walt
suggests the two marry to save the ranch from its untimely
demise, Sam battles between his feelings for the old man and
his feelings for Molly. He knows Molly doesn't want to marry
again. And Sam doesn't want to marry for the sake of marriage.
If he agrees to the arrangement then Molly must agree to be
his wife completely.
MONTANA is a sweet story. It's full of twists
and turns, humor and real?life situations. I was a little put
off with the amount of secondary romances that paralleled the
main characters, but the story as a whole was intriguing. Macomber
is a seasoned author with her name appearing on Best Sellers
lists nation wide. And MONTANA is bound to follow suit.
