Montana Summer

Author: Jeanette Miller

Published Date: July 2011

Publisher: Covenant

Softcover; 274 pages

ISBN# 978-1-59811-909-1

Genre: LDS Romance

From the back cover:

Life has never looked so promising for Shelby Hamlin. After weathering a lonely childhood, her father’s death, and her mother’s rejection for joining the Church, she is now engaged to someone who appears to be the ideal man: Brad Thompson, an ambitious BYU student who’s stalwart in the gospel. And when Shelby travels alone to Brad’s hometown in Montana while he’s in California, she’s warmly embraced by her future in-laws—with the exception of Cameron, Brad’s resentful brother whose own engagement recently ended in bitter scandal. But as Cameron becomes Shelby’s increasingly frequent companion in Brad’s absence, their initial sparks of irritation become the glowing beginnings of a complicated romance. And as the two explore the breathtaking scenery of Big Sky country, Shelby’s heart pulls her away from her carefully laid plans. Can she have the love she’s always wanted without destroying the family of her dreams?

I adore a good romance and I have always wanted to go to Montana, so I was pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of Montana Summer.

First things first: I loved the way the relationship developed between Cameron and Shelby. Considering the plot, I was worried about the growth of their relationship feeling stilted or contrived. It didn’t. I really, really liked Cameron and was relieved to like Shelby as well. She sacrificed a lot (particularly her relationship with her widowed mother) to join the Church. Many of her friends alienated her as well. Other than a couple of her roommates and her fiance, Brad, Shelby is all alone in the world.

Brad’s mother, Millie, welcomes Shelby to the family home in Montana when Brad is called away early for an internship. Shelby plans their wedding with Millie’s help. Brad’s brother, Cameron, who is also a local park ranger, is called upon to take Shelby around to see all the sites. Thus begins a friendship that soon blossoms into something more for both Shelby and Cameron.

There were several romantic moments that I enjoyed, especially one in particular (that I won’t mention so as not to give anything away) that I read more than once. Okay, more than twice. Ahem.

Jeanette’s descriptions of the beautiful Montana setting were well-written, with just enough detail so the reader could picture it in their mind without slowing the story down. I would love to visit the places Cameron showed Shelby, especially Quake Lake.

Now the rest: Writing romance for the LDS market is tough. Sometimes it is difficult to avoid the cliche. Some of those cliches (i.e., BYU student engaged to straight-laced RM, sons who kiss their doting mother’s cheek twice in every scene they are together, etc.) are in Montana Summer, but they were minor and not a big deal to me.

The thing I tripped over most in Montana Summer was frequent mid-scene point-of-view changes. I know it’s technically not against the rules to change point-of-view mid-chapter with no discernible “marker” (like *** or a flourish), but I found myself finishing a page and glancing back to the top because I swore we were in Cameron’s head but I suddenly found myself reading things only Shelby would be thinking. I did come across a 3-sentence paragraph with a different point-of-view (including omniscient) for each sentence.

This is a personal preference issue and a lot of readers might not be bothered by it. Despite the frequent point-of-view changes, I enjoyed the romance between Cameron and Shelby so much that I’m adding Montana Summer to my romance shelf to read again in the future.

I hope Jeanette is working on another manuscript because I would love to read another romance from her.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

FTC FYI: I received a free review copy that did not affect my review.

Watch a video interview with Jeanette Miller below: