Montana Mornings
By Kim Law
Publisher: Montlake
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Reviewed by: Janga
Gabe Wilde grew up the son of a narcissistic mother, and he
married a woman cut to the same pattern. After fighting for years to save his
marriage, he has filed for divorce, and he and his seven-year-old daughter,
Jenna, have returned to Birch Bay, Montana, where Gabe has accepted a job as
high school science teacher and football coach. Gabe is cautiously optimistic
about his new life, but his concerns about his daughter are deep. The effect of
her parents’ divorce on Jenna are profound. She is no longer the sweet, loving
child she once was. Although flashes of that child emerge often enough to keep
Gabe’s hope alive, Jenna is often rude and obnoxious. Only with Haley Denton,
Jenna’s best friend and step-daughter of Dani Wilde Denton (Montana Cherries) is Jenna like her old
self. It is for this reason that Gabe pulls strings to have Jenna placed in the
same class as Haley, a class taught by a substitute teacher, Erica Bird.
Erica divorced her cheating husband two years ago, after his
girlfriend announced her pregnancy at a football game, but since he was her
high school sweetheart, the son of a prominent family, and a local golden boy,
she has found it difficult to move on. When she found herself more entangled
that she ever wanted to be, she resigned her tenured position at the elementary
school where she had won two teacher-of-the-year awards and accepted the
temporary job in Birch Bay. Erica knew that she might see Gabe, but she wasn’t
expecting him to be the parent of one of her students.
Gabe and Erica have a history. They dated in college,
breaking up their senior year after Gabe met Michelle, the woman who became his
wife. Erica returned to her hometown and married J.C. Bird, the guy she dated
in high school. Now Erica and Gabe are both free, and it is soon clear that
they are still attracted to one another. They are also mature enough now to
appreciate qualities in each other that they valued less as college students.
But neither has completely cut the tendrils of the past, and Jenna’s needs must
be considered. Stolen meetings are one thing, but building a life together is
quite different. Are Gabe and Erica truly ready to commit to one another?
This is the third novel in Law’s excellent series, The
Wildes of Birch Bay. It is one of the more realistic portrayals of divorce that
I have encountered in romance fiction. For one thing, although Gabe and Erica’s
situations are different, both demonstrate that divorce is not always the clean
severing of a relationship that some novels suggest. For another, Jenna’s
insecurities and her acting out show how divorce can affect children. Law is
particularly effective at showing a young child’s mixed emotions about the
absent parent and blame assigned to the custodial parents. Gabe and Erica are
likeable, sympathetic characters, but it is Jenna even when she is at her
brattiest, who will break the reader’s heart.
The secondary characters are also deftly drawn. Gabe’s
family proves that he can depend on them when he needs them, whether it is
providing an assist with child care or taking an active role in his battle with
his malicious, conscienceless ex. I really appreciated that the Wildes have
necessary roles to play and add to the novel’s emotional power rather than
merely reminding readers that this book is part of a series. And I loved Bree, Erica’s free-spirited, forthright sister. Some readers may be bothered by the
lack of redeeming qualities in the two exes. I’m not a fan of one-note
villains, but I have seen enough of narcissists (Gabe’s ex) and over-indulged,
eternal frat boys (Erica’s ex) in real life to find Michelle and J.C. credible.
Montana Morning
can be read as standalone, but it will offer a more nuanced, more complex
understanding of Gabe and Jenna for those who have read Montana Cherries and Montana Rescue.
The first is an exceptional story, and the other two are strong books that you
will be glad you read. I recommend all three books, and I hope I’ll have the
chance to recommend Cord Wilde’s book. He is a most intriguing character.
Sounds good. Thanks for lmk about it.
ReplyDeleteladbookfan
The first book in this series, Montana Cherries, was one of my best books of 2015. I'm so happy Kim Law decided to write stories for the rest of the Wilde siblings!
ReplyDeleteI've read the first 2 books. Will have to get this one. Enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the first book in the series and I'm looking forward to this one. I'm glad to hear this is a realistic portrayal. I particularly enjoy when the heroine who's been cheated on, gets her happy ending.
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