Country Strong

Painted Pony Creek #1

by Linda Lael Miller

Shallie Fletcher has left heartbreak where it belongs – in the past. What matters is the woman she's become – not the girl she was. So what if she needs the help of the gorgeous cowboy who once left her in tears? Running away is no longer her thing – she'll get what she wants and she's sure it's not Cord.

Cord Hollister knows how to handle horses – not surprise daughters. But when a teenager shows up at his doorstep he needs to find out the truth. One thing he does know; he doesn't have time for Shallie. She wants to learn how to train horses – and that's all he will do for her. So what if she's stunning and enchanting? He can resist – he hopes.

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Cowboy Romance, Western Romance

487 pages, Library Binding

First published January 28, 2020

About the author

The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West. Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a spacious property outside Spokane.
Linda traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she sold Fletcher’s Woman in 1983 to Pocket Books. Since then, Linda has successfully published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, mysteries and thrillers before coming home, in a literal sense, and concentrating on novels with a Western flavor. For her devotion to her craft, the Romance Writers of America awarded her their prestigious Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Long a passionate Civil War buff, Linda has studied the era avidly for almost thirty years. She has read literally hundreds of books on the subject, explored numerous battlegrounds and made many visits to her favorite, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where she has witnessed re-enactments of the legendary clash between North and South. Linda explores that turbulent time in The Yankee Widow, a May 7, 2019 MIRA Books hardcover, also available in digital and audiobook formats.
Dedicated to helping others, “The First Lady of the West” personally financed fifteen years of her Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women, which she awarded to women 25 years and older who were seeking to improve their lot in life through education. She anticipates that her next charitable endeavors will benefit four-legged critters.
More information about Linda and her novels is available at www.lindalaelmiller.com, on Facebook and from Nancy Berland Public Relations, nancy@nancyberland.com, 405-206-4748.

Reviews

[Owl._. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to get this book as I've always enjoyed books by this author in the past. Unfortunately, this one was difficult to read. I hate to write negative reviews, and find it difficult to critique a writer, as I am not one. However, as I promised to give an honest review in exchange for the eARC ... I found the dialogue between the characters to be poorly written, as if written by an amatuer. The writing was choppy and made it difficult to connect with the characters - most specifically Cord and Shallie. The whole relationship felt forced - whether it was the writing or poor character development. This was not a novella but was written as if it was one as quickly as the relationship between the two developed.

I finished the book because I did want to know how Carly's story ended. If not for that, I probably would not have continued past the first couple of chapters.

Thank you #netgalley and #HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada) for the eARC.

[Sina & Ilona Glimmerfee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es war nicht ganz das, was ich erwartet habe, denn die Liebesgeschicht empfand ich eher als Nebenhandlung und konnte mich nicht einfangen. Stattdessen stand viel mehr der Gemeinschaftssinn im Zentrum des Geschehens.
Bei dem Klappentext hatte ich mir vorgestellt, dass Shallie die Hilfe ihres Jugendfreundes Cord wirklich bräuchte bei ihrem Pferd und dass sie sich darüber annähern würde, aber dem ist nicht so. Es ist ein Roman über die Suche nach einem verschollenen Elternteil, denn gleich drei Charaktere sind auf der Suche.
Die angebliche Protagonistin Shallie, deren Mutter fortgegangen ist, als sie zwei Jahre alt war und sie der Tante überließ. Der männliche Hauptcharakter Cord wurde auch von seiner Mutter verlassen und wuchs bei seinen Großeltern auf und dann wäre da noch der Handlungsstrang um die geheimnisvolle Zelda (wie sie sich anfangs nennt). Diese kommt nach Painted Pony Creek, um nach ihrem Vater zu suchen. Dies war für mich der interessanteste der Handlungsstränge und damit beginnt auch gleich der Roman. Eigentlich wäre es ihre Geschichte gewesen und damit wäre ich wesentlich glücklicher gewesen, ohne all die anderen Handlungsstränge, die auch ihre Geschichte verwässerten.
Aber das ist noch nicht alles, was in dem Buch passiert, denn jemand befreit in der Gemeinde einfach die Tiere aus ihren Gehegen und bringt sie dadurch in Gefahr, manche werden sogar getötet. Außerdem für alle die eine Triggerwarnung diesbezüglich wollen - Es wird ein Hund angefahren, was bei mir aber keine großen Emotionen weckte.
Allgemein weckte dieses Buch nur wenig Emotionen und die Liebesgeschichte war so glatt und so selbstverständlich, dass sie mich langweilte. Der Fokus lag auf anderen Themen und Handlungssträngen und so fehlte für mich hier das Annähern und die Initimität, die sich sonst in Liebesromanen über die Seiten langsam aufbaut.
Insgesamt ist es ein entpannender Roman und durchaus eine Empfehlung, wenn man sich wegträumen will in eine Welt der Ranches, Gemeinschaft und Tiere. Alles ohne große Emotionen, Spannung oder einer Handlung, die einen unbedingt weiterlesen lassen will. Es ist nicht wirklich langweilig, aber halt extrem entspannend.

Dieses Buch wurde mir als Rezensionsexemplar zur Verfügung gestellt.

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hot damn, this was trash. Either I left overdrive open on an unlocked ipad and a curious orange cat checked it out at random or a medicated me (allergy or migraine meds) got duped by the cover and its placement on the most popular ebooks on overdrive. There's a lot of $0.99 self published crap on amazon and the worst of that is way better than this, and a lot of the self published crap is in riddled with grammatical errors and atrocious spelling. Male characters read like female characters, it's all tell no show, nothing whatsoever happens, and the storyline is utter nonsense. The shittiest Lifetime and Hallmark channel movies look The Godfather compared to this, and I'm talking trash like Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? and The Babysitter's Seduction. I skimmed a good chunk of this to find out the Maury show DNA results only to have LLM give away the results from the get go. Romance, hardly, it's instant everything with no tension and everyone gets the same duh, what happened to my parents storyline and happily ever after. Instant everything like a cutesy miniature food craft kit that my high ass bough at Target while killing time in the toy aisles. I hate myself for the time wasted on this pile of shit.

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐⭐ - Meh!
============
I went skimming to find out who the father was.
I think the story was very boring. A pity, because I like the author.
Reba was a whore bag that played the three heroes and who knows how many more.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dont normally give reviews but for this one I feel I have to. Let me start by say, I love Linda Lael Miller and while I have yet to read all her books, I have read a fair number and loved them. This one, however, felt underdeveloped and amateurish. Almost like she had an outline for a story, filled in a few details, and called it good. Honestly, the way the story was laid out is pretty much how I would describe it to a friend--there were these 2 characters, then this happened, and the characters did this,...etc. I am sad to say I pretty much skimmed it and even then had to force myself to finish it. I can't even say I continued reading to find out who the father was, it was pretty much announced early on in the book.

I read romance because I like happy endings but this was unreal. Everyone and their mother (literally) has a happy ending. There was no conflict, no suspense, no mystery. I feel the the mystery of the father or the search for the mothers or something could have been drawn out throughout the trilogy as a background story. It maybe would have interested me in reading the next 2 books but as it stands now, I have no interest in reading any others in this storyline.

[Ann Lorz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for Romancing the Readers Blog: http://bit.ly/30u10kP

It's been a while since I've had a new Linda Lael Miller to read. She's one of my favorite authors that I always say is a comfort read for me. I usually read her contemporaries over her historical's but I'm sure historical readers would enjoy them.

I was so happy to see her having a new series out. I couldn't wait to read it. This being a new series we have all new characters to fall in love with.

We are introduced to three childhood friends that will each have a story. Cord, Eli, and J.P. Up first is Cord's story.

I will admit it was a little slow going in the beginning. I always expect bumps for the first book in the series. They have to do the setup and get you to know what the series is about and who the players are. Plus it's been a while since Miller's last book so maybe she needed to find her rhythm.

This happened in about the middle of the book, maybe a little less than that. Once I started to find the Miller I loved the book moved for me. I became engaged with the characters and wanted to know more.

Part of me felt that Cord and Shallie fell into a relationship a little too quickly, and another part of me felt it was always meant to be. I love a story that makes me think about it after I'm done reading it and this is one of those for me.

Even though I wasn't sure about how quickly that got together I really liked them as a couple. They felt like one. I'm so glad they both found their happy ever after.

I wasn't sure what I thought of Carly the girl that claimed that one of the guys was her father. At first, she seemed off but you soon learn it's because she's a scared kid that isn't sure of her place. I was happy that we got to find out who the father was before the end of the book. I'm not sure what I would have thought if it went through all the books.

As a whole, I enjoyed the story and the people of Painted Pony Creek. I can't wait to visit again!

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I received an arc for an honest review

[R Rais · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you #netgalley and #HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada) for the eARC.

It's been a long while since I read from this author. Got excited to read this book from the blurb. But unfortunetly from the first chapter it was a struggle to read it.

A good premise when a girl, who look so much like the girl that once torn this three men friendship, come in the middle of the rain and claimed one of them is her father.

But then the monologue. It's so long and boring and dragging my feet to skip pages and it's only 20% in the reading!

And the the dialogue. Omg it falls flat and no chemistry between each characters.

[E-Reader Addict · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve read this author a few times in the past and enjoyed her books but this one was not good. Cheesy dialog and inane narration filled this story.

[Kari Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cord, Eli and J.P have been best friends since they were children except for that short period of time as teenagers when unknown to each other they were all dating the same girl, Reba. When the truth was revealed Reba left town and after some hard feelings they mended their relationship. Years later Carly, a teenager, shows up in town and claims that Reba is her mother and that one of them is her father.

Shallie was friends with the three men when she was in high school but her feelings for Cord ran deeper which was further complicated by the fact that Reba was her best friend. Her mother disappeared when she was two years old and she was raised by her aunt and uncle so when her relationship with Colt didn’t materialize she left town at her first opportunity.

Almost two decades later she is back to town to learn horsing skills from Colt. This time around both Colt and Shallie have feelings for each other, but they have both been burnt by love in the past. Will this be a case of history repeating itself or is it finally their time?

There were a lot of moving parts in this story maybe too time many at times. I was drawn to the characters and am looking forward to Eli and J.P.’s stories.

[MJ Symmonds · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was thrilled when I seen this book on NetGalley for review as I hadn't read a LLM book for many years. This was such a difficult read for me. I was so deeply disappointed in it. For me there was really no point to this story. It was very discombobulated and choppy in it's carry through of situations. Like the characters would be doing something and then it would just veer off onto something else without really finishing what had been going on in the first place. Way too many side characters and it just dragged on and on. It actually took me five days to read this and if I wasn't reviewing it and wanted to give it fair chance I wouldn't have finished it.

Honestly this book read like a debut novel by someone who really doesn't understand how a book should flow and how to draw in their readers. I'm actually shocked that the publisher is willing to put this out there in the book world. I am not saying any of this to be cruel and mean but just to inform possible readers of what you'll get for your money. I really try to put a positive spin on my reviews of books I don't love but in all honesty this one had no redeeming qualities.

**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**

[Ursina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally Linda Lael Miller is one of my favorite authors. I own or have read almost every books she's ever published. This one is going into the donate, I never want to see it again pile. And the only reason this book is not a one-star is because there's some elements that are good. This can not be her own writing. It doesn't feel right, it's terrible writing and so difficult to read. I even went back and re-read an older novel of hers. I hate writing bad reviews but if this is what LLM is writing now, I want her old editor back. What a terrible, awful book!

[DrunkenCherry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Montana Hope war mein erstes Buch von Linda Lael Miller. Ich dachte, bei einer Autorin, die bereits so viele Bücher veröffentlicht hat, könnte ich gar nichts falsch machen. Leider entsprach die Geschichte dann nicht so recht dem, was ich mir nach dem Klappentext vorgestellt hatte.
Die angeteaserte Liebesgeschichte ließ sehr lang auf sich warten, denn Cord und Shallie treffen erst nach über 100 Seiten überhaupt aufeinander. Das Verlieben ging dafür dann umso schneller. Es folgt ohne viel Vorgeplänkel ein Kuss und ein paar Seiten später beschließt Cord schon, dass er Shallie für immer an sich binden will. Hätte ich die E-Book Version statt der Print Ausgabe gehabt, hätte ich mich ernsthaft gefragt, ob ich versehentlich mehrere Kapitel übersprungen habe.
Da war also kein sehnsuchtsvolles Schmachten, bevor man sich dem anderen hingibt und was den Leser mitfiebern lässt.
Tatsächlich spielte die Liebesgeschichte eher eine Nebenrolle und die Autorin konzentriert sich eher auf das Geschehen um Shallie und Cord herum. Und da passiert einiges. Denn Shallie hat neben Cord noch einen anderen Grund, aus dem sie nach Painted Pony Creek zurückkehrt und Cord steht vor der Frage, ob er vor Jahren möglicherweise Vater geworden ist, ohne es zu ahnen. Ach ja, und dann gibt es noch einen Vandalen, der die Tiere der umliegenden Farmen freilässt, sodass sie in höchster Gefahr schweben.
Für mich waren das fast schon zu viele Baustellen. Denn es kommen nicht nur Shallie und Cord zu Wort, sondern man erfährt die Story auch noch aus der Sicht anderer Figuren. Alle paar Seiten ändert sich die Perspektive und ich empfand das als etwas überwältigend. Es war mir einfach zu viel. Die einzelnen Geschichten waren zwar interessant, es wurde aber immer mehr und mehr. Denn die Autorin hat eine ganz seltsame Art, diese interessanten Begebenheiten mit Belanglosigkeiten zu mischen, sodass ich das Buch als zäher empfand, als es eigentlich hätte sein müssen.
Das Cowboyfeeling, das ich mir nach dem tollen Cover erwartet habe, wollte nicht so recht aufkommen. Es wird zwar von Cords Tätigkeit als Pferdeflüsterer erzählt, aber nicht so detailliert, wie ich es mir gewünscht hätte.
Für mich glich das Buch von der Aufmachung her einer TV-Serie. Viele, schnelle Szenenwechsel, viele Figuren und viele Handlungsstränge. Das muss man einfach mögen. Dann wird man sich in Painted Pony Creek bestimmt wohlfühlen. Denn was die Autorin sich für ihre Figuren überlegt hat, ist durchaus interessant, für meinen Geschmack war es alles nur etwas überladen, fühlte sich aber zeitgleich zu langsam erzählt an. Wer Freund romantischer Kleinstadtsettings ist, wird Painted Pony Creek aber bestimmt lieben.

[Avirem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurzbeschreibung



Drei beste Freunde, so stark, ehrenhaft und unabhängig wie Montana, das Land, das sie lieben...



Seit ihrer Jugend wollte Shallie nur einen Mann: Cord Hollister. Aber dann musste sie eines Tages Hals über Kopf die kleine Stadt Painted Pony Creek in Montana verlassen. Niemandem hat sie damals erzählt, warum und wohin sie ging. Nur aus einem Grund kehrt sie jetzt in die Stadt zurück: Cord ist Pferdeflüsterer, und sie braucht seine Hilfe. Schnell muss sie sich allerdings eingestehen, dass schon sein Anblick ihr Herz höher schlagen lässt und dass ihre Gefühle stärker sind als je zuvor. Doch kann er das Gleiche für sie empfinden?



Meinung



"Montana Hope - Flüstern der Sehnsucht" ist der erste Band der Painted Pony Creek Reihe von Linda Lael Miller. Das Buch ist am 23. März 2021 im Mira Taschenbuch Verlag erschienen, umfasst 416 Seiten und ist als ebook oder als Taschenbuch erhältlich. Die Autorin hat schon viele Bücher veröffentlicht. Für mich war dies das erste Buch von ihr. Pferdeflüsterer. Menschen die besonders gut mit Pferden umgehen können, spezielle Methoden der Kommunikation anwenden, das Verhalten von Pferden verstehen und deren Körpersprache analysieren. Obwohl ich kein Pferdenarr bin, finde ich die Thematik interessant. Mit diesem Buch lädt die Autorin den Leser nach Painted Pony Creek im Big Sky State Montana ein. Es ist der Auftakt einer dreiteilig angelegten Reihe, die in der oben genannten Kleinstadt spielt. Cord Hollister. Eli Gartett. J.P. McCall. Drei Freunde, die sich seit Kindesbeinen an kennen und bereits viel miteinander erlebt haben, finden in dieser Trilogie ihr Glück. Im Auftaktband geht es um Cord. Auf seiner Ranch arbeitet er sehr erfolgreich mit Pferden und bringt anderen bei, dies auf die richtige Art zu tun.



Er ist von seiner Vergangenheit geprägt, hat ein Problem mit Vertrauen und Nähe. Ihm gegenüber gestellt wird Shallie Fletcher. Sie ist in Painted Pony Creek aufgewachsen, hat es aber in jungen Jahren verlassen. Nun kommt sie zurück und drei unerledigte Dinge stehen auf ihrer Liste. Auch sie hatte keine einfache Kindheit, hat ihr Leben in den vergangenen Jahren aber gut in den Griff bekommen. Nicht unerwähnt bleiben darf Carly. Das siebzehnjährige Mädchen taucht unerwartet in der Kleinstadt auf und wirbelt das Leben und die Vergangenheit der drei Freunde auf. Man kann sie gut und gerne als dritte Hauptperson in dieser Geschichte betiteln. Der Einstieg in die Erzählung fiel mir nicht schwer. Der Autorin gelingt es, den Leser problemlos in die Kleinstadtidylle zu geleiten. Nachdem der Anfang etwas zögerlich voranschreitet, nehmen die Dinge ihren Lauf. Linda Lael Miller hat viele Themen eingebaut, die ihr persönlich wichtig sind. Es geht nicht nur darum die Liebe zu finden, vielmehr vermittelt sie die Wichtigkeit von Beziehungen zur Familie, zu Freunden und zu Menschen im näheren Umfeld.



Sie hebt das Gemeinschaftsgefühl in der Kleinstadt hervor und die Liebe zum Leben auf dem Land. Ein wichtiger Punkt ist auch die Bewältigung der Vergangenheit. Beim Blick auf das Cover könnte man einen sexy Cowboy Roman vermuten. Ein solcher versteckt sich dahinter aber nicht. Es ist ein Roman, in welchem sehr viel hineingepackt wurde. So gab es wenig Zeit für die einzelnen Themen. Die verschiedenen Verstrickungen waren zwar nett erdacht, aber letztlich fühlten sie sich zu konstruiert an. Die Kleinstadt und die Menschen fühlten sich fast schon zu perfekt an, auch wenn sie das nicht sind und ebenso Negatives passiert, kommt letztlich Friede Freude Eierkuchen Feeling auf. Es ist nicht so, dass ich positive Stimmung und Happy Ends nicht mögen würde, aber hier war es schon etwas viel. Die Liebesgeschichte blieb mir etwas zu blass und das Thema Pferde zu abseits. Es wird hier distanziert erzählt und so blieben mir einerseits die Charaktere fern und andererseits kamen die Emotionen nicht wirklich bei mir an. Insgesamt gesehen war es ein netter Roman, den man lesen kann, aber nicht unbedingt muss.



Der Leser begleitet verschiedene Protagonisten durch die Geschichte. Hauptsächlich Cord, Shallie und Carly. Mit dem Schreibstil der Autorin kam ich nicht ganz so gut zurecht. Ich empfand ihn zu distanziert, manchmal etwas sprunghaft und den Dialogen fehlte oft die Lebendigkeit und Realitätsnähe. Die Sprache fand ich zu Geschichte passend. Das Erzähltempo schwankte. Manches wurde für mich zu schnell abgehandelt, während anderes nur wenigere Worte bedurft hätte.



Fazit: "Montana Hope - Flüstern der Sehnsucht" ist der erste Band der Painted Pony Creek Reihe von Linda Lael Miller. Es geht nicht nur darum die Liebe zu finden, vielmehr vermittelt die Autorin die Wichtigkeit von Beziehungen zur Familie, zu Freunden und zu Menschen im näheren Umfeld. Sie hat jedoch viele Themen in das Buch gepackt, sodass nicht allen ausreichend Zeit geschenkt werden konnte. Die Liebesgeschichte bleibt blass. Die Charaktere bleiben fern. Erzählt wird distanziert. Letztlich ist es ein Wohlfühlroman, doch selbst für einen solchen ist alles zu positiv, konstruiert und künstlich auf Happy End getrimmt. Von mir gibt es *** Sterne.



Zitat



"Es sollte der Tag kommen - sogar mehr als einer -, an dem sie einander dringender den je brauchen würden. "

( Zitat "Montana Hope - Flüstern der Sehnsucht" aus, Pos. 371)

[Vagabond · Rating 1 out of 5]

It saddens me to write this one-star review. I've been a loyal reader of Linda Lael Miller for decades, have read all her books. But, in recent years, with an increasing lack of enthusiasm or interest.

As others have posted here, her books have become too formulaic: heroes fall into one each of rancher, law enforcement, successful entrepreneur and/or veteran. The heroines are small business owners, artisans, returning lost schoolmate. Almost always they started life in poor and often dysfunctional family situations and "made good" and have now mysteriously achieved a very comfortable level of independent means if not flat out wealth. And there are always the dogs and dog rescues. I love dogs and all other animals and I salute LLM for her work in this area but I don't want to read on every page of her books what the dogs are doing.

If LLM or her publisher were to read this review I would make a few recommendations:

- If you're going to put a military member in your story, get someone with a military background to fact check what you write. For those of us who are military the mistakes stand out as stupid mistakes a few minutes of fact checking could have corrected. FYI - although no age is given for "Chris," his wife is in her mid-50's, his daughter is 18. So it is HIGHLY unlikely he'd be a lieutenant in the US Marines as lieutenants (with medical and chaplain exceptions) must be commissioned by age 35. And one other small annoying point, he is stationed at both San Diego AND Naval Station Everett, which happens to be not in San Diego but north of Seattle.
- Check your maps. LLM creates a lot of geographically impossible commutes for her characters. A small point, but for those of us with road maps for brains, it matters.
- KUDOS on your animal rescue support. Maybe you should consider a new line of books that focus on that love of animals and stop putting the animals as main characters in your romances. I think LLM probably has a gazillion inspirational stories on her animal rescue efforts as well as stories of those she works with. Maybe she should start a new line of non-fiction books, à la James Herriot. I think they'd be marvelous stories to read and the animals would take front and center and could inspire countless dollars of donations to this worthwhile cause.

Until then, based on this poorly plotted and written book, and the fact that has become a predictable
expectation, I think I may have read my last Linda Lael Miller. Sadly.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in a new trilogy by LLM about 3 friends who grew up together in the small Montana town of Painted Pony Creek. When they were at the end of their senior year in high school, Rancher Cord Hollister, sheriff Eli Garrett and veteran J. P. McCall allowed a woman, Reba come between them, when she played them all, but she left town and eventually they managed to rescue their friendship. Years have passed, but it turns out that Reba wasn't finished with them.

Cord wakes up one morning with feelings of foreboding. Two people are headed to Painted Pony Creek, who are about to turn his world upside down. The guys weekly poker game is interrupted by a young version of Reba, who announces that one of them is her father. The next day, Shallie Fletcher, once their tomboy companion, also returns to town. She has come on 3 missions: ostensibly, to learn from Cord how to rehabilitate abused horses, but also to look for her mother, who had abandoned her at 2 years old, leaving her with her half sister, her husband and their twins and finally to see if Cord is still the man that she had crushed on growing up and if a relationship with him is possible. She and Cord have much in common besides their love of animals, they were both abandoned by their mothers and had been hurt in their previous marriages. With the help of a PI, they all find the answers that they were seeking and Shallie also manages to reconnect with her cousin, Russ, and help draw him out of the solitary life that he had been living.

This is a beautifully written tale about abandonment and recovery with the help of good people. There is no villain in the story, just flawed people, who thought they were doing the best that they could for the ones they loved, even if it did not turn out the way they thought. The only negative was that for some reason, and I'm not really sure what that is, this seemed to be a slower read than usual.

[Elizabeth Aymond · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was SO bad. It legitimately makes me wonder if she got a ghostwriter for this series and just didn’t check the ghostwriters credentials. It’s the first book I’ve read by her but I have no idea how she can be a bestselling author if all her stories are like this. Completely unimportant details were drawn out for paragraphs, like what they had for supper. But there were hardly any mentions of feelings between the main characters before they were kissing. And then it was 2 chapters of them not mentioning or even THINKING about the kiss before they were kissing again. And there was SO much thinking. I was just constantly waiting for something important to the plot to happen but the only thing that seemed to happen was drawn out, detailed small talk and going out to eat.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucked so bad. I found it in romance but there were barely any romance in it. It was poorly written and the story line was horrible. Did I mention it was badly written? I skimmed the last couple chapters just to see who Carly’s father was and to see if Shallie and Cord got married. I wasted a lot of my time reading this garbage. I won’t be reading anymore from this author. I can’t get over the writing style.. seriously it sucked.

[Robin Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never thought I’d give this author such a low rating, but there you have it. I got this book from Fresh Fiction, and submitted my full review today, which I’m not allowed to post anywhere else, but you can read it here:

https://freshfiction.com/review.php?i...

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow I could not get behind this knock off country mamma mia. it was so boring.

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in the Painted Pony Creek series, in which the three men who are best friends are introduced even as the focus remains on Cord Hollister, who trains horses and is developing a therapy practice with abused and abandoned horses.

When Shallie Fletcher arrives to learn from him so that she can become a partner in a therapeutic riding program for children near Seattle, she doesn't immediately reveal that she had several reasons for coming to Painted Pony Creek, but soon her upbringing is revealed, in addition to her long ago crush on Cord, who didn't know she was alive.

But now he does! However, things get complicated when a bedraggled teen shows up claiming that one of the the three men, Cord, Eli or JP, is her father, something her dying mother, whom she looks like, told her. But which one? And will she again be rejected?

How this and other complications are resolved--including the whereabouts of Shallie's mother and also Cord's--forms the basis for the story that sets us up to want to know more about the engaging characters in this little Montana town.

[Kimberly #Audiofile · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 star listen
Sweet, cute rom com
History brings back a tragic event between 3 best friends who almost lost their friendship because of it.

When the past comes to town it leaves all the men shook. This first story is about cord and his fmc

Chapters go between both points of view mmc and fmc.
Story has a hea
Characters are mid thirties
Very little steam tho and no detailed sex scenes.

[Donna Repsher · Rating 2 out of 5]

For anyone who follows my book reviews, you already know that I tend to start at or near the end of a series, so I was eager to get in at the beginning of a new series, Painted Pony Creek, by a talented author I've been reading for years, Linda Lael Miller, and I wish I could say I was absolutely thrilled with this novel, but since it took me what seemed like forever to get through this book, the best I can do is give it 2.5 stars. It was sort of okay but left a lot to be desired, in my opinion.

I liked the plot and the series summary, 3 male friends each of whom might just be the father of a teenage girl, who shows up in Painted Pony Creek, Montana one nigh, tin the middle of a rainstorm, breaking in on their poker game. She looks strikingly like Reba, a popular girl who showed up in town during their senior year in high school, and who, unbeknownst to them, had sex with all 3 of the men, Cord Hollister, Eli Garrett, and J.P. McCall, and then a short time later, Reba was suddenly gone. Eventually, the bedraggled young girl gives the men her real name, Charlotte (Carly). She tells them that her mother, Reba, is now deceased, and Carly wants answers. Although Reba wasn't in town very long, she found a best friend in shy, quiet, unobtrusive Shallie, who grew up with these 3 men, and who was aware of what Reba was doing that long ago summer, but never told them that Reba was playing them, nor did she ever know why

Shallie's aunt and uncle owned a motel in Painted Pony Creek, and her mother left her alone in a room there when Shallie was just 2 years old. She was never told the reason why, and never heard another word from the mother who abandoned her. Her aunt and uncle were heavy drinkers, were not good stand-ins for a loving mother, and they are now deceased, leaving the motel to their son, Russ, also a heavy drinker.

Fast forward 18 years and Shallie, a divorcee, now lives and works in Seattle. In addition to her job, she is now also involved with an equine therapy program run by a friend, and when she learns that Cord Hollister has earned quite a reputation training and rehabilitating abused horses as therapy animals, she decides to return to Painted Pony Creek and take the classes in horse training he offers. She hardly surprised when Cord doesn't recognize her, but she sure remembers him. Cord Hollister was also abandoned by his mother, who left her abusive husband, leaving Cord to be raised by him, and to wonder whether or not his abusive dad in fact killed her. Cord also divorced his cheating wife 3 years earlier, and hasn't dated since, but although he doesn't recognize Shallie at first, he is certainly attracted to her, but from the outset, these two main characters are tentative at best, and although they eventually start a relationship, there wasn't really enough character development for this reader, and so their slow-moving romance felt forced, flat and utterly without any chemistry between them.

Ms. Miller gives you a lot of backstory early on in this novel, and then adds so many other characters, everyone from Cord's two best friends, to the gal who runs the local diner, to the man and his wife who've worked at Hollister Ranch for years, the town librarian, Shallie's best friend in Seattle, Emma, Eli's ne'er-do-well son, Eric, the guys who are in the local band, The GateCrashers, to the many volunteers Carly enlists to help care for the pets of the elderly and ailing in town, and on, and on and on, to the point where you feel you need a scorecard to keep them all straight.

The only character in this novel who was fully developed was Carly, who desperately wants to find out which of these three men is her biological father. Although Cord takes her in, Shallie is already occupying his guest suite as a paying client, and so Carly moves in with Tina and Mitch, Cord's elderly cook and her ranch hand husband, who live in a double-wide trailer on the ranch. When Tina is doing Carly's laundry she finds thousands of dollars in Carly's knapsack, but doesn't pry further, she just mentions it to Cord, who also never asks her about it. It turns out that Carly has been writing a popular blog on-line, about her search for her 3 possible dads, something else she's hiding. She responds well to the care she's shown by all concerned, but why on earth Ms. Miller dragged out getting the simple DNA tests to prove who actually fathered Carly for more than 90% of this novel both frustrated and mystified this reader.

While all the mysteries in this novel are solved and there is the expected HEA ending, everyone and everything in this novel lacked depth and emotion. Rather than coming to like, dislike, sympathize with or care about any of the characters in this plodding novel, they all just seemed two-dimensional and lackluster to this reader. I know from having read her novels for years that Ms. Miller is a far better writer than she exhibited in this novel, and I hope the sequels, J.P. and Eli's stories will be more interesting, less crowded with extraneous characters, and more emotionally moving than this novel.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak story line and characters.

[Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

This type of writing obviously appeals to some people, but definitely not me. Felt like I was reading somebody's day planner.

[Kady Spears · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the actual hell did I just read?!?! I accidentally read the series backwards (so 3,2,1) but omg I LOVED 3 and 2 but book 1 was so freaking bad I couldn't even finish it...

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was different from big Sky series. Love her writing , this book was different in the romance area. It showed that linda Lael Miller is writer that doesn't write with the same tone as the other books that she has written. She is more creative writer , at the same time makes you not want to put down the book. I can't wait until Country proud comes out.

[Ellen Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Country Strong

Linda Lael Miller has always been able to touch me through her remarkable stories and this one is no exception. It played into my favorite saying; everything happens for a reason. Seems all it took for things to come full circle was just one person. With the list of exceptional characters in this book, we just have to figure out who it starts with. I think I'll choose Reba. Enjoy yourself a really good book and give this one a read.

[Sue Gosland]

This is a lovely, warm romance by one of my favorite authors. She writes wonderful cowboy stories, full of honorable men and women living in small Montana towns. Linda Lael Miller has wonderful Characters who are open, warm and loving. It's not always reality, but seeing the best in a small town is a specialty of Linda's. I really enjoyed this one, the story of Cord and Shallie, as well as second chances, which is the theme of this series. I really enjoyed it.

[Tricia Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family, friends and community. All woven in together with animals to bind everything else. One of Miller’s sweet stories.

[Karen Hackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linda Lael Miller’s Country Strong is the first book of the Painted Pony Creek series. It starts with the arrival of a girl who is a spitting image of a woman who broke Cord Hollister’s heart. Her shocking secret upends his orderly life. As the story progresses, Shallie Fletcher arrives in Painted Pony Creek because of an opportunity to partner with a therapeutic riding program for kids. She seeks to take lessons from Cord who trains horses. But she is there for another reason close to her heart. Back in school, Cord was the crush Shallie couldn’t forget, even when he had eyes for her best friend. Seeing him now floods her with memories and fills her with hope for a second chance with him. Linda Lael Miller creates a small town of interesting characters, forgiveness, redemption, and family reunions.