Montana Grit

Bear Grass Springs #2

by Ramona Flightner

An interrupted wedding. A deceitful bride. A devastated groom. Will they forgive each other and allow their love to rekindle?

After fleeing her past and settling in Bear Grass Springs as the schoolteacher, Leticia Browne has no intention of falling in love with the charming liveryman, Alistair MacKinnon. The pioneer town was to be her refuge. Survival and peace were her goals, not love. She never thought to marry. Never again.

Alistair MacKinnon is a patient man, slow to anger and quick to forgive. He's waited three years to marry Leticia and his wedding day is upon him. When the door to the church bursts open, interrupting his wedding, he realizes nothing is as it appears. Now, he must face his worst fears , the town's ridicule, and his hardest challenge yet.

Battling despair at her treachery, Alistair must fight to regain his trust in Leticia while fending off the courtship of a desperate woman. Leticia, now a shunned woman in town, must find a way to survive by her wits alone while evading an unwanted suitor. Will Alistair allow the interloper to destroy his dreams or will he fight for Leticia and their love?

Download today to immerse yourself in 1880's Montana!

Books in the series:
Montana Untamed (Bear Grass Springs, Book One) Available Now!
Montana Grit (Bear Grass Springs, Book Two) Available Now!
Montana Maverick (Bear Grass Springs, Book Three) April 2018!
Montana Renegade (Bear Grass Springs, Book Four) May 2018!

With More To Come!

Montana Grit is the second book in the Bear Grass Springs series and can easily be read as a standalone, western historical romance with no cliffhanger ending. Each of the novels in the series are linked, so you can find out what happens to your favorite characters in other books. For more information about Ramona and her new releases, visit:ramonaflightner.com. Enjoy!

Genres: Historical Romance, Western Romance, Westerns, Historical

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2018

About the author

Ramona is a historical romance author who loves to immerse herself in research as much as she loves writing. A native of Montana, every day she marvels that she gets to live in such a beautiful place. When she’s not writing, her favorite pastimes are fly fishing the cool clear streams of a Montana river, hiking in the mountains, and spending time with family and friends.

Ramona’s heroines are strong, resilient women, the type of women you’d love to have as your best friend. Her heroes are loyal and honorable, the type of men you’d love to meet or bring home to introduce to your family for Sunday dinner. She hopes her stories bring the past alive and allow you to forget the outside world for a while.


Connect with Ramona: her webpage: www.ramonaflightner.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorramonaflightner; on pinterest: www.pinterest.com/Ramonaauthor or on twitter: @ramonaflightner. She loves to hear from fans!

Reviews

[Mei · Rating 1 out of 5]

What does a future husband do when discovers, in front of the whole church, that the woman he wanted to marry is already married?

HE GOES AND FUCKS A WHORE!!!



And what his family thinks of that?

THEY JUSTIFY HIM!!! BECAUSE HE'S A MAN AND MAN HAS NEEDS AND SINCE HE HAS NO BRIDE AND HE DIDN'T FUCK ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE HE LOVES HER, HE HAS TO IN ORDER TO FEEL MANLY AGAIN!!!

No, thank you, this is no romance for me!>



DNF!!!

[Cheesecake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alistair the prideful guy and Leticia.

I felt so bad for Leticia. She manages to ditch the dirtbag she married when she was young and foolish with nobody looking out for her. But then he creeps into town just as she's about to marry again?!

I liked the writing and plan to check out more by this author, but this isn't going to be a fave read of mine.

Alistair had been wooing her for a couple years and she only gave in when she felt safe and figured the dirtbag wouldn't return. But like a bad penny...
There were circumstances that stopped her from trying to divorce him from afar. Not the least of which was she was afraid of him.
Sooo, she loses her job, and is locked out of the house where her cloths and stuff are. She and her little girl are forced to move into the bakery run by her friend (heroine from book one).

There's an OW wannabe with an evil mother and small minded towns people to contend with ontop of her creepy husband.
In order to protect her daughter she finally decides to leave town with her husband, leaving her daughter with her friend to keep safe.
It isn't until this that Alistair gets a clue. But WAIT, he doesn't pull his head out of his hurt pride until his brother points out some serious truths to him.

So I was pretty disappointed with Alistair. He does go after her and he does grovel, but I wondered if he would have gone after her if his brother hadn't set him straight first...

By the end I was happy with the HEA, and I do think he learned his lesson.

Safety isn't great neither were virgins. No real details about his sexual past. But he visits a prostitute on what would have been his wedding night, while Leticia and her daughter are left hanging with nobody to help her until Annabelle steps up. Leticia never enjoyed sex with her first husband

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 3 out of 5]

My reviews are honest & they contain spoilers. For more, follow me:


Montana Grit is the book 2 of Ramona Flightner’s newest historical romance series, Bear Grass Springs. Even though I’ve enjoyed the premise, I have mixed feelings about this one. Will try to explain in my review in the following.

I always talk about Banished Saga, Ramona’s debut series, whenever I review her books. I’m a huge fan of that series and glad that there are a few more installments left before we bid adieu to it. Bear Grass Springs, IMO, is quite different from Banished Saga. Yes, it’s still a clean romance and yes, we still get to know about a family and see them find love one after another but you get your traditional HEA, rather than a Saga where it spans years and includes new characters of new generations. Of course, I’m not comparing the two. I like both styles. In fact, I’m a reader of traditional HEA who has come to love the idea of growing with a family and seeing them grow and expand, becoming their friend in the process.

Book 1, Montana Untamed, introduces us to the MacKinnon brothers Caliean, Alistair and Ewan and their younger sister, Socha. They came to America from Scotland to settle down after they were forced from their lands. Cailean and Alistair arrived first. Eventually, Ewan and Socha joined them. Cailean and Alistair are very successful livery owners, the only one in the small but surely budding town of Bear Grass Springs. They’re well-liked and respected among the people and, alongside Ewan, they’re also well sought after bachelors. Ewan’s skills lie with the carpentry. He’s also earning good. Among the brothers, Cailean the eldest is what I’d call a grumpy bear. Very serious and moody. Alistair, the middle brother, seemed like the one with a sound head on his shoulders. Cool and calm as they say. Ewan is the happy go lucky charmer who can be impetuous at times. His gambling habit is one of those things that his brothers do not approve of. Sorcha is still young and brash, she has her own burdens to bear too as you will read, but her brothers love her all the same.

Cailean had lost his wife to childbirth and swore never to go through that pain ever again. So when he met Annabelle Evans of St. Louis, coming to Bear Grass Springs Montana in search of her long lost sister, Fidelia, marriage was the last thing on his mind. In fact, marriage wasn’t on his mind at all since Annabelle was claiming Fidelia said she was to be married to Cailean... which wasn’t really true. The sad truth was, when Fidelia fell on hard times she had no one to turn to. And the only path open to her was the bordello of the town. She had been estranged from her family for many years and lost a husband or a fiancé, the reason why she left home to begin with because her father wasn’t amenable to the match. We still don’t know the entire story, which I can only imagine, would be revealed on her own book. Whereas Fidelia was the beautiful sister, Annabelle was the plump, reclusive one. She liked baking and eked out a living off of that. After their father died, however, is when she felt she can seek her sister out and try to amend the rift. But it wasn’t to be. Fidelia, who still held grudge that Annabelle didn’t help her when she needed it the most, refused any help now, ignoring her sister’s plea of leaving the bordello. Annabelle promises to work on it until she understood that she has a family to turn to now.

While she was on her mission to save Fidelia, Annabelle also opened the first bakery of the town. She left St. Louis and there was nothing for her to go back to. Soon, one thing led to another and she found herself married to the grumpy livery owner, one of the most sought after bachelors of the town. Their path to HEA was anything but smooth, their relationship quite fragile. Too many misunderstandings and each pushing other away (Cailean could be an a$$ when he’s of a mind to it) left its negative mark on my enjoyment. BUT I liked the idea of the story, the introduction to a new setting and new characters.

Montana Grit is the story of Alistair and his fiancée Leticia Browne. They’ve known each-other for a while, fell in love and been engaged for the same amount of time. The town was waiting for them to finally tie the knot. Leticia was one of those few people who welcomed Annabelle with open arms, even helping her opening the bakery when she needed another pair of hands badly. Because when the townspeople knew of her relationship with Fidelia (or Charity as she went by), many were hoping she’d also join her sister, trying to besmirch her name whenever they could. Leticia still helps Annabelle since her baked goods are so high in demand now that she never lacks of orders. It’s also probably one of these things, alongside her marriage to Cailean, that helped Annabelle find a strong footing in the town. Now it was Leticia’s turn. So when they finally set up a date, Leticia takes a few days off to prepare for that one most anticipated day of her life.

Leticia had been married before and has a child of 5 yrs, Hortence (can’t say I liked that name on a sweet little girl like her). But she has been hiding a dark secret, something that led her to delay the marriage as long as possible. But it couldn’t be delayed any longer. Everybody was getting impatient. Busybodies were already after her for keeping Alistair waiting for so long.... even Alistair was getting impatient. Unfortunately, on the day of her wedding, her one worst nightmare becomes reality when her estranged husband returns to ruin everything for her. When her seemingly disturbing story was revealed in aplomb by the horrid man, everyone was left flabbergasted, and Alistair heartbroken at the treachery of the one woman he’d loved. How is it that she couldn’t trust him that bit, couldn’t even think of confiding in him? That she was still married, when the whole town knew her to be a widow?

Everyone was so quick to judge Leticia, no one asked the questions that begged to be asked: What made Leticia not even trust Alistair with her secret when everyone knew them to be in love? What was she hiding from? If this man was the one she was hiding from, why exactly was she hiding?

Regrettably, what Leticia was trying to hide was the fact that her past isn’t as neat and clean as she’d made everyone believe. In fact, she knew that if some of what she was forced to do because of her first husband, would’ve marked her as a woman of bad reputation and her destination would’ve been the bordello, instead of the school where she’d worked as the teacher for the past few yrs. And even though she loved Alistair, she wasn’t sure he’d be so understanding when her past was revealed (ironical because that’s exactly what happens). Leticia, it’d seem, was just waiting for the axe to fall while also hoping that her husband would never find out about her new destination. She hated him, and didn’t want to be found ever. She also had hoped he was dead by now. Yes, her reasoning was faulty but I couldn’t blame her seeing what happens next. With a child to take care of, she had to do whatever it takes to survive, as respectably as possible for her.

Hence starts the unfortunately ‘big misunderstanding’ of the story. Alistair did a horrible thing after the broken wedding by visiting the bordello. He had been true to Leticia before the disaster but would that he’d act matured. *SMH* I did NOT like it and didn’t think he couldn’t be more of an a$$ to think that shagging a prostitute will make him feel like a man. Really? Of course nothing was described in detail but the implication was there. Leticia tried to explain a few times, he won’t give her a chance at first. For days. In the meantime, her nasty husband would come by and threat her. Mentally abuse her. He’d nag her to have her leave with him so he can continue fleecing people off of their valuables in the card game. Leticia was to be a distraction with her blonde beauty. We’re never told what else she did but it seemed like her charms worked so well that it was quite a profitable venture for him until she ran away. So the guy won’t leave her be. He wouldn’t acknowledge Hortence as his, but threatened Leticia nonetheless with the child’s well-being.

Annabelle, who knew a bit of struggle of her own and how much of an a$$ MacKinnons can be when they’re cross, tried her best to help Leticia; from horrible gossips and from the nasty old biddies who were out to do anything to see Leticia kicked out of the town. There were times I did sympathize with Alistair cause his reasoning were sound. Like Leticia had enough time to explain but she never did. However, there were times I wanted to smack him on the head with something for not giving her the chance when she was asking for it. If he loved her that much, he’d have listened to her and not make a muck of it, then drag it on. He was an utter a$$. I did quite a bit of SMH and eyerolling at his antics. Poor Leticia, I felt heartsick for her, when she finally felt she had no other choice but to leave with her scoundrel of a husband. She gathered Hortence would be the safest if she’s with the MacKinnons and they loved her, so despite the hurt and the possibility that she’d never see her little girl again, Leticia leaves Hortence behind.

When Leticia vanished without a trace leaving Annabelle distraught, with her Cailean too, Alistair felt like he’s missed out on his chance to show her that he still loved her. Cailean’s buddy, a lawyer named Warren, stepped in to help Alistair sort out this mess. Now all he had to do is the chase her to wherever her husband had taken her and save her. He had to convince her to divorce the man and come home with him. But would Leticia give him that chance? After all, he had been an idiot and an a$$ to her (he acknowledges so himself later in the story) and may have killed any chance he may had with her.

My main problem was, again, those regretful misunderstandings and the H and h pushing each-other away. Not giving each-other the time to finally talk until it’s too late. I was TBH frustrated as hell. Did I say I thought Alistair to be the calmest of 3 brothers, the one with a sound head on his shoulders? Who can reason and see reason without being blinded by anger? I take it back. -_- Actually, if I’m brutally honest, that illusion was shattered the moment he went to the brothel. Then, in the middle of the story when I thought he was finally coming around, he listens to another bit of gossip of Leticia kissing her husband (which was NOT true) and immediately assumes the worst again. Good God. :/ So where is the trust? Could I believe that they’d maintain the fragile trust they formed, even though they’ve had their HEA and Alistair promised to not jump to conclusions ever again? Could he stick to that promise in the long run? I really don’t know but I wished them all the best.

After all said and done, I do feel invested in the characters because I want to read about the remaining MacKinnon siblings’ stories. I’ve quite enjoyed their banters in the past. Ewan is getting his book next in Montana Maverick, maybe Sorcha’s will follow soon. There’s also Fidelia and I do hope she’ll get the chance to tell her story. I’m super thankful that Ramona is considering a book for Helen too! If you’ve read the first two books, you’ll understand why I’m surprised but pleased as well. She deserves her HEA so bad, poor girl. :( I’m thoroughly intrigued by whatever ‘history’ she and Warren share and her book is not far behind! 3.5 stars for Montana Grit.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

NOT as good as the first book in the series. The big "Reveal" to the "secret" the heroine was hiding was to long in coming. The resolution to the problem took about 5 minutes and a fast talking lawyer. The hero's wavering inner/outer of should I/shouldn't I forgive her is monotonous.

On another note what kind of women patronize a store where the proprietor openly insults them. Especially when another store opens. When I was was young if I went home and told my husband the local grocer called me a whore he would have went down to the store and threw him thru the store window. Even now the old fart would give it his best shot. Instead the H/h give the shopkeeper a stern warning they might take their business elswhere. What?

[Judy Esposito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Montana Grit! Book 2

I enjoyed this book as much as I did book one, Montana Untamed. I enjoyed the storyline, along with the characters that make up the family of the stubborn but handsome MacKinnon brothers. This book is about Alistair and the young woman he's loved for three long years. Will she finally set a date for their wedding and will it really take place? This is a stand alone book, just like book one, but so fun to read as a series. Looking forward to the next. JudyE

[Barbara "Cookie" Serfaty Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Montana Grit: Bear Grass Springs, Book Two

The love story of Leticia and Alistair. The wedding of the year is happening and then a man walks in the church and tell everyone that Leticia can not marry because she is married to him and she is a wanted criminal. Can Alistair save Leticia and their love? Great story.

[Brenda Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

This story takes off rite after book 1 and I was not disappointed, the story, the characters, the time, great reads. Thank you so much for the book and I recommend this book and author to my friends and family. Look forward to book 3

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leticia Browne came to Bear Creek Springs, Montana with no intention to get involved with a handsome man but liveryman, Alistair MacKinnon has other ideas. After the longest courtship in the history of this frontier town, the day of the wedding arrives but turns into a disaster when Leticia's long ago husband shows up to cause mischief. This starts a problems between Leticia and Alistair with plenty of prejudice from the local town folks to make the situation more difficult.

The plot gave a good idea of the different expectations socially between men and women in this period of our history and how women were at at the mercy of gossip and osteration from society with their children being bullied too.

[Bonnie Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secrets & Lies - and Love

Another wonderful story of love and forgiveness, this is the second book in the Bear Grass Springs series. I enjoyed it as much as I did the first book, maybe more because the editing was much better.

The characters are well-developed with real emotions, and the book has a good and realistic storyline. It’s well-written and I look forward to reading the next books in the series. If you like stories set in Montana before its statehood, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

[InD'tale Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

Readers will enjoy the author’s depiction of the old west.

Read full review in the 2018 June issue of InD'tale Magazine.

[Nikki Rushing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

I have enjoyed reading the first two books of this series. I wish I could buy more for my kindle.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the first in the series....did not love this one. Just couldn't connect with the characters.

[Gal reads books]

To be fair - I’m not rating this but seriously - to have the hero sleep with someone else after the big misunderstanding? Just NOPE.

[Richard T Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. Enjoyed meeting the Characters and getting to know them. Interesting read. Test your vocabulary which I like. Makes you want another episode!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story. Near the end I could see a lot of potential for stories about some of the characters in this story and wonder if and when the author will write the, Looking forward to the next.

[Sydnee Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow just wow. Some ppl need to be taken out back and put right. When you purposely try and ruin other ppls life you need to be set right. I’m glad things worked out though.