Big Sky Mavericks #4

Publisher: Tule Publishing Group

5 Stars

I am so glad I was able to pick this book up from Netgalley to review and give a honest opinion without bias.  I loved it!

This is a feel good story that includes a little intrigue, suspense and most of all romance. 

Let me give you a brief description of this book:

Meg Zabrinski, successful scientist, well-known environmental advocate, and tenured professor is as independent as they come in Montana. She doesn’t need a man in her life, but she does want to have a baby. She retreats to her isolated mountain cabin to write and ponder her future when Henry Firestone–an old rival and former secret crush from her distant past–drops out of the sky on Christmas Eve with three young children and a baby. Meg doesn’t believe in cosmic signs, but even she realizes she’d be crazy not to consider all her options.

The sparks that have always smoldered between them ignite a mutual passion, but when Henry Firestone makes it clear he’s done having children, Meg is forced to accept that falling in love with Henry and his ready-made family would require her to abandon her dream. Can this “Lone Wolf” assimilate into a new pack, or is this Big Sky Maverick meant to be alone?

Here's what I thought:

Debra Salonen brings us a contemporary romance interlaces with a small amount of intrigue and suspense.  She brings us the strong Meg who is at a crossroads in her life.  She is a tenured professor at the University of Montana and a budding novelist.  She has retreated to her cabin in the mountains to not only write her book, but to also make a life altering decision.  Meg is a very complex character, but also one that's easy to love and respect.  Her self imposed solitude is disrupted when a small plane crashes not far from her cabin.  Without thought of her own safety she heads out just as a snowstorm is hitting to do a search and hopefully a rescue. 

Hank Firestone has been out of his element since his daughter came to live with him and her subsequent death.  He has suddenly become the guardian to his grandchildren who range in age from 13 to a baby.  Hank's entire life has been turned upside down, but he would lay down his own life to protect his grandchildren.  Yes, I easily fell in love with this character..  Meg and Hank have know each other for many years and have been adversaries at times over wolves and dead cows. 

To me this was a feel good story.  I really liked the storyline and the crisis that pulls these two characters together.  The amazing imagery combined with the wonderful characters pulls the reader in, but the fast paced storyline will keep them turning the pages. 

I would recommend this book to anyone.  Even though this story is written in a series it's easily a stand alone. 

Let me introduce you to Debra:

Born and raised in Brookings, South Dakota. Youngest of five (much youngest). A Baby Boomer who married her high school sweetheart (our lockers were side-by-side). Mother of two, grandmother of three darling princesses, dog mother of 2.5 mutts.
 Graduate of South Dakota State University with a Master’s degree in Geography and History.
Job history: taxi driver, flax seed counter, cartographer, rural mail carrier, substitute teacher, secretary/community liaison for Merced College’s Child Development Center, bookkeeper, journalist, author.
 First sale story: June, 1999, to Harlequin Superromance. Total number of books sold to Harlequin =27.
 Honors and awards: Romantic Times BOOKreviews, 2006 Series Storyteller of the Year. Winner: Best Superromance of 2010: Until He Met Rachel. Nominated for Desert Quill in 2008.

 First book published by Tule Press, summer 2014: Cowgirl Come Home. The Big Sky Mavericks series opens Aug. 2014 with: Nobody's Cowboy.   

http://www.debrasalonen.com/