The Wildflower Bride by Mary Connealy

Glowing Sun, or Abby, has lived with the Salish tribe longer than she ever lived with her white father's family. When her tribe is attacked and slaughtered, she is rescued by the one man she didn't think she would see ever again. Despite the tragic events which brought them together again, Wade Sawyer is thrilled to have Abby in his sights once more. But he has to reconcile with his dying father first. And throughout it all, he and Abby will have to learn to see each other for who they really are, as well as deal with their growing attraction for each other.

Wildflower Bride opened with a brutal scene that sucked the air right out of my lungs. There is a lot of clash between the historical white and Native American cultures in this book, and it shows that Mary Connealy spent a lot of time researching before writing. The feelings Abby has towards the people she meets are strong and often lead to very dramatic scenes. I have also mentioned before how well Connealy writes her villains. She rounds out their characters so their intentions and motivations are deep, however flawed and tragic they may be. Her descriptions are light but thorough, so that I can almost smells the fields of flowers and feel the dirt settle into my clothes. I never fail to get fully lost in her books, the real world around me disappearing as long as my nose is stuck between the pages.

One last thing to mention about the Montana Marriages series (books one and two reviewed) is that I feel Mary Connealy truly understands how to create characters, families, and settings that the reader can really immerse themselves into. This three-book series manages to feel like it could go on forever, that the reader has known the characters for a lot longer. Often in trilogies like these, each book is about another couple, and while it is nice to have different stories, I do enjoy the fact that Connealy kept all of her lead couples involved till the end. Seeing Cassie and Red Dawson interact with Silas and Belle as established couples was such a joy!

As much as I have really enjoyed this trilogy, I am SO looking forward to Doctor in Petticoats, up next from Mary Connealy!

Overall Rating: 4 Stars