Third in the Big Sky Mavericksseries, this novella focuses on a lady who has worked hard, played hard and fought hard to beat cancer. In MONTANA DARLING, Mia Zabrinski can't hold the divorce against her husband - they both worked all hours, and she hadn't become ill yet. Now she's a single mother of two, staying fit. She's also back in her home town of Marietta, Montana, because her new income won't pay the rent in Cheyenne. Why does a girl have to travel so far to get back to where she started?

Ryker Bensen, a nature photographer, is camping out on some empty ground, trying to reconnect with life after a tragedy. He doesn't know he's on the site where Mia hopes to build her new family home. When Mia meets this motorbike guy, eviction is the only thing on her mind. But Ryker knows that he played on this site - his family's land - as a kid, and if it's been sold, he never gave the necessary permission. Could his stepdad have done something he shouldn't? Time to call in lawyers and talk to both their family members, or in Mia's case her ex, who signed the deal and handed her the site in the divorce settlement.

I greatly admire the way that both main characters are presented to us and their backstories developed. Other people around town come across as genuine too, probably because this is a series although I had not read the earlier books. Even someone mostly absent, Ryker's brother, is a fire fighter off tackling forest fires, and we pick up a good feeling for how he fits in the story and social circle. Ryker takes a temp job for which he's way overqualified while Mia drops her thorny problems when she spots one of her teen kids truanting. These are really grounded people. Aside from the land, there's another matter in the frame; Mia now has body and femininity issues after her illness. She can find a man attractive, but she doesn't believe she can ever be romantic again.

The town of Marietta is interestingly populated, including an alpaca raiser and a chocolate maker. I'd be happy to visit here again and meet more of the inhabitants so I'll look out for more well-written adult romances from Debra Salonen. MONTANA DARLING is well worth a read for romance fans and the length makes it ideal for busy people.

Book Summary

Her marriage. Her job. Her body image. Mia beat cancer and is ready to rebuild her life in her hometown of Marietta, Montana. Literally. Her first order of business is to build a house on the ten-acre parcel she was awarded in her divorce settlement. And she's damned if she'll let some stranger camp on her land and claim squatter's rights. So maybe he's not a squatter. The high-end bike and camera hint at more. Plus, he's hot, gorgeous and smart, but that doesn't make him less of a threat--especially when he has the audacity to claim the land is his. Look out, darlin', Nitro is back and prepared to prove what the other Big Sky Mavericks always knew: small packages can pack a big punch.

Ryker Bensen doesn't have much-- And that suits him fine. Less than a year ago, he had everything: a beautiful girlfriend, a baby on the way, a career that earned him fame and a very comfortable living...until he didn't. Grief sent him to ground, and his favorite ground growing up was a ten-acre patch along side the Marietta River where he camped every summer - land held in trust until his thirtieth birthday, now just a few weeks away. When a beautiful spitfire named Mia Zabrinski shows up and orders him off what she says is her land, Ryker realizes she might be the spark he needed to jumpstart his interest in living again.