I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
A sweet easy read but not enough substance or depth for me. Likeable characters. Fairly predictable.
Just hoped for a bit more. I wanted Jacie to have a bit more backbone and realise despite being a mother, she could have a life too.
3 stars

a sweet read

I absolutely adored this book! The main characters of Jacie and Brett worked wonderfully together. This is a very well written story with a pace that is perfect, a friends to lovers story with a wonderful twist. Reunited after 10 years it appears that now is the time for the two of them to explore the chemistry between them. Brett's all in but Jacie is much more cautious considering she has a daughter to think of. Grab a copy of this one and enjoy their wonderful story. I highly recommend it!

The Montana Bride by Jeannie Watt - Romance

Jacie Rose is a single mother of a 9 year old. Brett Starr was a friend she met in high school that she fell head over heels in love with but already had a girlfriend so she never let her feeling known. He was also the guy Jacie asked to marry her but left at the courthouse waiting. She left her hometown of Sweetheart when she was pregnant, to get away from her controlling step-father and a neglective Mother. After a decade away Jacie returns for her first solo project to lead the renovation of the historic Montreau Hotel.

This is a sweet second or third chance at love. Brett's character is almost too perfect. The white knight/protector but too passive. While Jacie is so determined to provide the secure home that she didn't have for her daughter. You just want to smack their heads. The 9 year old Darby seems to have the all the smarts. This is very cute and I just loved reading it. Really enjoyed the reacquainted of friendship and the tender feeling redeveloping. It is easy to get hooked. Spoiler - loved the just deserts that was served!

Lil, is Jacie's best friend with a hint of a romance between her and an old (friend or enemy - not sure). So a new story with old friends. Nice!

Things happen in the publishing world that I, as a reader, have no clue as to why. I only know (see) the end result. So, I’m going to admit to being somewhat confused about The Montana Bride. This book with a title change, one family’s last name and the name of the small town were different in The Secret Bride, which was published on September 15, 2015… otherwise, this is the exact same story. I know there must be a good reason, one that from my end, makes this confusing. Knowing all that, I’m going to republish my original review for The Secret Bride… because it’s the same book… an excellent story that for some reason got a few cosmetic changes made to it.

Sometimes the choices we make for the good of the ones we love turn out to be the worst decisions for ourselves. Jacie didn’t want her daughter, Darby, to ever feel that her mom wasn’t in her corner first and always. Not like her own mother who had taken Jacie’s stepfather’s side always even when his actions were abusive or just simply wrong. She would never, ever give a man the chance to do to her daughter what had been done to her.

The trouble with that kind of logic is that you also miss out on the awesome things that letting another person be a part of your life could bring. It’s going to take Jacie a while to see that. Maybe once some of her own ghosts are laid to rest. Perhaps with the help of a horse crazy nine year old who sees all too clearly what her mom wants but is afraid to reach out for. And just possibly with the security of the man who loves her and has always had her back Jacie can make that commitment.

Brett has always been attracted to Jacie. So when she’d asked him to marry her in order to keep her from even more trouble from her stepfather he hadn’t hesitated. Unfortunately, he’d never had the chance to see if they might have made their unexpected marriage work since Jacie never showed up at the courthouse on their wedding day. Now here she was, back in Cherry Lake and looking even more tempting and being even more stubborn. The spark was still there between them. If only Jacie could see that Brett would protect Darby from hurt and harm as much, if not even more so than he would Jacie.

The Secret Bride is a lovely story, one of those happy and sad ones, where what could have been almost messes up what should have been. With drama caused by Jacie’s former stepfather and his minions at her new position – and with Jacie blocking just about every advancement that Brett makes, well it’s going to be a long hot summer as these two figure out that the past is just that. And the future could be theirs if they take the risk.

I enjoyed (The Secret Bride ) The Montana Bride very much. And I’m hoping that there will be many more stories from( Cherry Lake) Sweetheart in the future. It happened in Marietta, so why not here. *hopeful grin* I would recommend this one for any romance reader who enjoys a really good love story, with family and heritage at the forefront and a happy ever after.

*I received an e-ARC of (The Secret Bride) The Montana Bride from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

(Goodreads and Amazon)
I really enjoyed reading this story. The story is sweet, the romance believable and the characters complex. The writing, as usual with Jeannie Watt, is good.
There are some details that I loved and that bring depth to the plot: the heroine’s (a strong woman, an engineer, a single mother) sexual inexperience, the fact that the hero is a regular guy with a regular job, his protective instincts and integrity.
There are even some twists on the usual tropes in romance and in this story it’s the heroine that, finally, takes the initiative and the hero refuses to be used. Cool…
The heroine’s daughter is a wonderful character too.
There’s some predictability but also some opacity and that combination contributes to a very pleasurable reading.

Now I know I read quite a lot of books but this one was just so familiar from the very start. The character names, the events, the general plot were ones I’d read before, I knew what was going to happen. That’s when I checked and discovered I was right. This is a tweaked version of a story by the same author entitled ‘The Secret Bride’ that I’d read and reviewed in 2015. In that case the heroine returned to Cherry Lake, whilst in this one she’s returning to Sweetheart. Other than that and a few minor differences, it is essentially the same story IMHO and having read this new version, I think my original review is still appropriate.

This story concerns Jacie Rose who is returning to Sweetheart to help renovate the historic hotel. Jacie grew up in here but ran away when she was a pregnant teenager and this is her first time back in ten years. She’s bringing her daughter with her. With many events from a decade ago impacting on current events, meeting up with some of her old friends may well be welcome but what about the man she left waiting to marry her, Brett, and her conniving, manipulative and vicious bullying ex stepdad? Life’s never simple but it is sure to be more complicated now!

… The characters are well developed, the emotional turmoil of Jacie deciding whether to dare to give their love a second chance yet being torn by loyalty to her daughter because of her traumatic teenage experiences with her step father all add to the drama. A great story, well written, enjoyable and engaging - a lovely romantic read to relax with, especially if you haven't read the previous version of it!

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC of this novel with no obligation. This is my honest review.

Oh how I loved The Secret Bride! I fell for this story on the first page and loved it to the end.
There were so many times in this book when I felt like taking Jacie Rose and bashing some sense into her, yet even though she frustrated the bejesus out of me I couldn't help but like her. In every possible way, she's bright, smart, and confident, yet when it comes to Brett Jackson, she is a dithering wreck. She knows she likes him ... A lot. She knows that when she touches him her insides go to mush, and she knows that he's a good guy. But she just can't being herself to trust him enough to have a proper relationship.
Brett is gorgeous. Of course he is, but he's also one of life's good guys. A born protector, Brett had Jacie's back years ago when she found out she was pregnant, and he's right there looking out for her now she's back in Cherry Lake.
Brett and Jacie have both had a "thing" for each other since way back when though neither has owned up to it. Throw in Jacie's matchmaking daughter, who wants a lot more of Brett in her life than Jacie is willing to agree to and you have the makings of a good story. I'm pleased to say author Jeannie Watt delivered the goods. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!

The more I read The Montana Bride (Marvells of Montana, Book 1) by Jeannie Watt the more familiar it seemed. I looked back through my books and see that it has had a name and cover change. It was first released as part of the Secrets of Cherry Lake Series with the title of The Secret Bride.

Ms. Watt has given us a couple of endearing characters, big and small, with one loathsome one who works to continual ruin Jacie’ life. Jacie is an excellent mother. I appreciated how she put her child’s wellbeing first especially since I had seen children like Jacie was when she was younger. Their lives are more of an endurance since they must survive poor parental choices. Brett is clearly a good guy. Instead of allowing them to jump into a relationship, it is a slow building of renewed trust. In life, friendships last that way and so does love.

This is an interesting second chance romance. Just the thing for the dead of winter to bring a smile to your face. It may make you long to see the hay growing in the fields nearby once again.

Jacie is done running and is back to help make the Montreau hotel whole again. She also knows its time to answer some questions and put Brett behind her and make a life for her daughter. She just has one person she is not happy about coming face to face with and wonders if he will be able to destroy everything she has worked hard for. She also starts to wonder if the life she created is good enough to continue living or is it time for a change. Brett is back in Cherry lake and loves being a farmer even though its hay and not cherry and his family is not happy with his choice of profession. He can not believe Jacie the long ago crush he had in high school is back in town. He wants answers and wonders if he will get them or if they will send Jacie on the run again.
This book is short and sweet, does have some adult language in it. The book seems to tie some of the stuff from other books all together in this one even though they all seem to be written at the same time. The story and the chemistry is fun and simple while popping in places. I have to say though towards the end of the book it really seemed to rush the story along and was a bit abrupt. Over all not to bad of a story.

I really enjoyed this second-chance romance. Great setting and a sweet romance - I can't wait to read more by this author!

Jacie returns to Montana with her daughter and runs into her almost groom Brent.
These two must come to an understanding to join their futures together. Enjoyed the characters and setting. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

Ebook from netgalley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

Fairly simple plot not much to it, quick read. I found this story reminiscent of plenty of other single mother returning home with a child and meeting up with a guy from her past type scenerio's. Nothing really stood out as different. Not unenjoyable, but not sure I would actually buy this book. I did like the setting in Montana, as it is in area that I love to visit. I did enjoy that Jacie, was able to stand up for herself, though upon the introduction of a male engineer from the company in Seattle, we didn't get much interaction there other than it was kind of skipped over until the ending in which everything seems to be resolved. Considering the fact that the troubles with Clinton stirred up the pot, we never get to truly find out if he was the culprit (just suspicion) it would have been nice to have a little more dialogue other than the other guy is sent in and all the focus of her job is brushed over for the other main topic of the story, her relationship with Brett. Unless you are going to write him as slightly mysterious and there is not a guarantee that he will turn out to be a stand up guy, I found the whole reservations that Jacie had to be really dumb. In other stories, the male character in this situation has let the woman down in a huge way in the past. Here, Brett has never done anything but be loyal and kind to Jacie - yet we keep hearing the same issues over and over, although he has been totally reliable as a guy since the start. Unrelatable. Unrealistic. Unbelievable. OK story, if you want an easy read set in the Montana mountains. Based around ranching and cowboys.

Thanks to Netgalley & Tule Publishing for the complimentary copy. This is my honest review.

"The Montana Bride" by Jeannie Watt is book five in the "Cherry Lake Montana" series. This can be read as a standalone. This is Jacie Rose and Brett Jackson's story.

Ten years ago Brett had agreed to marry Jacie to help her out with a problem. Jacie didn't show and disappeared. Brett has never forgotten her. Now, Jacie is back in Cherry Lake with her daughter to renovate a historic hotel plus deal with some unfinished business.

Jacie and Brett cross paths after ten long years. As they get reacquainted one thing for sure is there is no lack of chemistry between them. Jacie is determined to give her daughter a secure home life that she didn't have. So, there is no room for a man in her life or is there?

I really enjoyed the story. At times I did get frustrated with Jacie being so afraid to take a chance on love. I loved Brett's character. He was fun, romantic, and loving.

I received a copy of this book from Tule Publishing for an honest review. FYI, contains mature content.

A sweet romance. It was okay but I do prefer my romance books a touch hotter
Love me a cowboy book though.

Sadly I thought I'd downloaded this story before it archived, I did not and missed out on what I'm sure was an entertaining story.