Judith’s review of Big Sky Summer (Swoon-Worthy Cowboys #4) by Linda Lael Miller
With his father’s rodeo legacy to continue and a prosperous spread to run, Walker Parrish has no time to dwell on wrecked relationships. But country-western sweetheart Casey Elder is out of the spotlight and back in Parable, Montana. And Walker can’t ignore that his “act now, think later” passion for Casey has had consequences. Two teenage consequences!
Keeping her children’s paternity under wraps has always been part of Casey’s plan to give them normal, uncomplicated lives. Now the best way to hold her family together seems to be to let Walker be a part of it-as her husband of convenience. Or will some secrets-like Casey’s desire to be the rancher’s wife in every way-unravel, with unforeseen results?
I think the gist of this story is . . . “O what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.” So it was with Singer Casey Elder, at home now in the little town in Montana where she delights in raising her two fatherless children and simply having time to herself out of the spotlight. Her kids are delightful and she is doing a fine job, yet her son keeps asking about their dad to no avail. Her eldest, her daughter, just has stopped asking, yet there is no doubt that she has a hole in her heart that would be filled perfectly by a dad. Yet Casey, for all her celebrity status and her performance success, is a woman who is driven by insecurity and whose past with Walker Parrish has seemed to be an embarrassment. It’s not that he isn’t successful, it’s just that she wants her kids to herself. Walker knows they are his and he wants Casey to tell them, but now they are teens and she has put off telling them for so long that she is truly fearful–as well she should be! It’s a situation that has not gotten better with her silence. What’s going to happen when the kids find out that their honorary “uncle” is really their dad?
This story, like many other Miller tales, is based in the family and community dynamic. Reading stories filled with people that have become familiar is part of their charm and their on-going attraction to many of us. Her stories are also filled with the messiness of life, the push/pull that seems to dog the steps of all human beings and the kinds of difficult situations that bite all of us in the butt when we aren’t forthright and honest up front. That is perhaps the real lesson in this novel. No matter how reluctant Casey may be, no matter how successful, no matter how laid back Walker may think and exist, lying by omission is never acceptable, any more than an intentional lie. So Casey comes to find out, and the fall-out, the consequence of her choices are the substance of this story. I never enjoy seeing kids hurt by the unwise decisions of parent who should know better. Perhaps I feel so strongly about this story because of my own father’s experience of being adopted by his aunt and uncle as a baby but who always knew who his parents were, who had a close relationship with his biological dad and all his many siblings. Being honest and upfront from the get-go really never hurts in the long haul.
This is a fine story in a very good series. Many of the characters are familiar and it is like visiting old friends. Yet there is a sense of freshness about each of these novels, a quality that really good writers seem capable of giving their stand alone series novels. This book is no exception. It is also not a disappointment, and while there are those who have criticized writers like Ms Miller for writing a lot of books within a specific genre, I applaud a good writer for staying with what she knows and loves. Believe me: I’ll keep on reading them.
I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Harlequin HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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