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Montana Sky

4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 · rating details · 26,147 ratings · 536 reviews

Jack Mercy's three daughters are strangers to each other. Now they must learn to live as a family-in order to gain an inheritance worth 20 million dollars...

ebook, 480 pages

Published May 1st 1997 by Jove Books (first published January 1st 1996)

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Feb 03, 2008 Ciara rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No One!

I read it all the way through, but I hated it. There were so many ridiculous factual inaccuracies that I could write a novel on this novel! How incredibly annoying to someone who actually lives this life that she would butcher/romanticize it to this extent! Booo! Boooo!

Most notably:
In the very beginning, the main character's love interest hears a shot and goes running to find the main character butchering a bear she just shot. Apparently, she shot it because it was attacking her. First of all, y...more

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Aug 10, 2012 CL rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites, read-in-2012, romance, romance-contemporary, romance-friends, romance-cowboy, romance-standalone

Thank the heavens for another stormer of a novel from Nora Roberts with none of those pesky supernatural, paranormal happenings. This is a straight forward awesome romance with a bit of suspense thrown in to keep the stakes high of course.

I loved the setting. I have always wanted to go to Montana and stay on a ranch but I figure I would be a mix of Tess and Lily once I'm there. Anyway, beautiful, gorgeous setting.

And the three sisters! Awesome characterisation and you fall in love with all three...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-suspense

4 STARS

Jack Mercy - a gruff mean old SOB - has died and leaves to his three daughters (by three different wives) a third of the ranch. There is one minor hitch - they must live on the ranch together for a year.

Willa is devastated as she has lived with her father and worked alongside him. The ranch means everything to her as does her father's approval. The salt to her wounds is that Ben McKinnon (fellow ranch owner) and Nate Torrence (lawyer and rancher) are to supervise the running of the ranch...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Tempo de Ler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

{Blog} http://tempodler.blogspot.pt/2012/07/...

Nem depois de morto o calhorda do Jack Mercy deixa as pessoas em paz e sossego! Deixando o seu estimado rancho às três filhas, cada uma de mãe diferente e que nunca tiveram a oportunidade de se conhecer antes do funeral do pai, Jack obriga-as a (con)viver todas durante um ano no rancho e apenas findo esse período de tempo poderão ter acesso à herança.

Filhas de mulheres muito diferentes e criadas em ambientes diferentes, estas três irmãso não têm na...more {Blog} http://tempodler.blogspot.pt/2012/07/...

Nem depois de morto o calhorda do Jack Mercy deixa as pessoas em paz e sossego! Deixando o seu estimado rancho às três filhas, cada uma de mãe diferente e que nunca tiveram a oportunidade de se conhecer antes do funeral do pai, Jack obriga-as a (con)viver todas durante um ano no rancho e apenas findo esse período de tempo poderão ter acesso à herança.

Filhas de mulheres muito diferentes e criadas em ambientes diferentes, estas três irmãso não têm nada em comum e são praticamente incompatíveis...ao serem obrigadas a viver juntas no rancho Mercy as suas diferenças sobressaem ainda mais: Tess, a escritora hollywoodesca que não está minimamente interessada no trabalho do rancho e só quer pirar-se dali o mais depressa possível; Lily, que fica satisfeita por esta oportunidade de poder fugir ao violento e abusivo ex-marido, servindo-se do rancho como refúgio; e Willa, que nasceu e cresceu no rancho, e só quer ver estas intrusas pelas costas.

Ter quer ir embora...Willa quer que ela vá o mais depressa possível...mas nenhuma terá o que quer antes do prazo de um ano! Enquanto Tess e Willa puxam a corda em direcções opostas, Lily deixa-se ficar no meio destas duas fortes, teimosas e conflituosas personalidaes.

Contudo, a urgência em se unirem contra um mal maior e comum acaba por levá-las a superar as divergências.

Esta família muito pouco funcional começa então a criar laços de afecto e observar a interacção, por vezes hilariante entre estas três irmãs é maravilhoso. E não é só entre elas que se estabelecem laços...cada uma desenvolve um interesse romântico por um dos homens que circunda o rancho: Lily pelo irmão de Willa, Tess pelo advogado responsável por se certificar que cumprem o estabelecido no testamento de Jack, e Willa pelo filho do proprietário do rancho vizinho.

Em termos de romance este livro enche-nos as medidas: o amor puro, enternecedor e carinhoso de Lilly e Adam, a lúxiria entre Tess Nate e o amor violento e arrebatador, que se recusa a assumir, entre Willa e Ben.

Como se não bastasse, Nora adiciona suspense e mistério ao livro fazendo-o com mestria e de forma muito pouco previsível ou óbvia.

Como aspectos negativos temos a existência de demasiados pontos de vista que se revezam com bastante frequência; algumas partes e descrições servem apenas para arrastar o ritmo do livro; há partes bastante violentas; a existência de três romances num único livro pode provocar alguma distracção da história central, mas acaba por dinamizar a trama e há sempre qualquer coisa a acontecer! A cena do gato que é morto e colocado à porta é repetida do livro «Maléfico», da mesma autora, contudo a reacção da personagem principal é bem diferente.

Todos estes pontos menos positivos são completamente abafados pela magnífica e belíssima prosa de Nora, pela criação de um mistério denso e de resolução inesperada. As descrições dos cenários selvagens de Montana no inverno são magníficas, captando inclusivamente o ambiente frio...já as descrições na época quente são menos precisas.

A riqueza das personagens secundárias complementa imenso a história. (less)

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Mar 26, 2011 Tracy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-suspense, non-series-stand-alone-novels

The death of her father took Willa Mercy by surprise - he hadn't even told her he was sick. Finding out that the cold man who she'd tried her entire life to please had left a will that took away the home she'd grown up in and the ranch she'd worked on for her entire life and split it between herself and two half-sisters she'd never even met, demanding that to get anything, they all had to live together on Mercy ranch for a year, is a betrayal that she can't even process. Then, still reeling from...more The death of her father took Willa Mercy by surprise - he hadn't even told her he was sick. Finding out that the cold man who she'd tried her entire life to please had left a will that took away the home she'd grown up in and the ranch she'd worked on for her entire life and split it between herself and two half-sisters she'd never even met, demanding that to get anything, they all had to live together on Mercy ranch for a year, is a betrayal that she can't even process. Then, still reeling from that affront, Willa stumbles across the butchered carcass of one of her cattle. And the only animal who would do something like that...is man. As three strangers struggle with each other and the legacy of the unbending, frigid man who was their father, a psychotic killer stalks Mercy and threatens them all.

It was 1997 when I first read Montana Sky. I'd never read anything quite like it, and it turned me on to the exquisite blend of romance and suspense and mystery that Roberts is so acclaimed at writing. Since then, I've read almost every book Roberts has published, regardless of genre.

Montana Sky is, at its core, a story about the bonds of family - those shared through blood and those born and nurtured through affection, dedication, and love. Three sisters first meet, then spark off each other as they start to know each other, eventually like each other...mostly, then love each other - unquestionably. As those tentative family bonds are laid, so too are the bonds with three impressive men who love them. It's heartwarming and horrifying at turns, and despite its age, has a timelessness that keeps it from feeling dated. It's still one of my favorites of Roberts, despite having a few issues with it as a whole.

It's quite long, first of all, and despite Roberts using that length to develop every aspect of the plot sufficiently, I still felt like there were some parts that could have been trimmed down and streamlined in the plot and in the narrative. A few superfluous scenes bogged down the pacing from time to time. I would have also preferred to have Willa and Ben be the sole romance, as the relationships between Adam and Lily and Tess and Nate were quite clearly not the focus of the story and weren't given enough room to really expand into three dimensions, either. And despite the fact that Willa and Ben's relationship is the backbone of the romantic aspects in the book, the conclusion of that relationship arc felt a little less satisfying than those of Lily and Tess and their loves. That's personal preference and opinion, of course.

Despite those few issues, Montana Sky is a compelling, sweeping saga - still a compelling and sweeping saga, actually, and is rich and decadent with the benefits of Roberts' lyricism of prose and her unparalleled ability to draw a reader into the scenes of the book so completely that you can smell the snow on the mountain peaks after a blizzard and feel the trickle of sweat down your spine when the characters are stringing the fences. I loved revisiting this book after so many years and so many fond Roberts' memories.

A caution to sensitive readers: there are scenes that dip into the deranged psychosis of a killer's mind and detail the savagery of his crimes - not to gruesome levels (though that's subjective), but definitely far more than just glossing over them. This is not simply a contemporary romance and does have brutally dark edges more commonly found in romantic suspense or thrillers. It may be too graphic in some places for some readers.

~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another. (less)

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Apr 15, 2013 Kenya Wright rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-romance, western

I was forced to read this for my MFA in writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University. That being said, I would have stopped reading at 10%, which would have resulted in me missing a pretty decent romance.

It wasn't the best, but. . .nice and decent.

Let's see. . .This book is a simple mathematical computation.

Multiply: a hot cowboy times 3

Add three half-sisters, that don't really know each well, but are forced to get to know each other due to their dead father's will. Additionally, at first I...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Sabine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-read

Dieses Buch hat alles, was ein Schmöker braucht: interessante Charaktere, knisternde Romantik, eine tolle Kulisse und spannende Ereignisse.
Nach dem Tod des reichen Farmers Jack Mercy treffen die drei unterschiedlichen Schwestern auf der Farm ein, um dem letzten Willen des Vaters nachzukommen: gemeinsam ein Jahr auf dem Landgut zu leben. Nur schwer können sich die drei unterschiedlichen Frauen aneinander gewöhnen, da passieren auf einmal blutige Anschläge auf das Vieh und versetzen die Frauen in...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: brain-candy

Mean old Montana rancher Jack Mercy dies and leaves the ranch to his three daughters, born of three different mothers, none of whom have ever met before. The catch is that in order to inherit their third of the multi-million ranch, they all have to live on the ranch for one year with no more than one week away.

Californian screen writer Tess is mad, fleeing abused wife Lily is grateful but scared, and rancher Willa is furious. And not only do they have to adjust to each other and their changed li...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Tytti rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, my friend just loaned me ten NR books and I decided to start with this one, hopefully it's good... or even better =)

Okay, about 700 pages later, I'm finished. And I have mixed feelings about this book. Good things: Montana (I love the scenery in the film Horse Whisperer and for some reason the book reminded me of the film), Adam and Nate, I loved reading about them (especially when Nate tells Tess that he- the cowboy from Montana- graduated from Yale or the first sex scene with Nate and Te...more

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Jul 20, 2010 Chinablue_25 West Bostedor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So I thoroughly enjoyed this one. In this one, the book starts out at a funeral. You find out that the funeral is of Jack Mercy, a real SOB. He ha three daughters. Only one of them, the yougest Willa, actually grew up with him on his ranch because her mother died when she was a baby. The first daughter, Tess, lives in LA California writing screenplays. The second, Lilly, is from Virginia, but has been moving around a lot hiding and running from her abusive ex husband. She arrives at the funeral...more So I thoroughly enjoyed this one. In this one, the book starts out at a funeral. You find out that the funeral is of Jack Mercy, a real SOB. He ha three daughters. Only one of them, the yougest Willa, actually grew up with him on his ranch because her mother died when she was a baby. The first daughter, Tess, lives in LA California writing screenplays. The second, Lilly, is from Virginia, but has been moving around a lot hiding and running from her abusive ex husband. She arrives at the funeral with fresh bruises from his latest attack. She took three different planes to throw him off track to come to her father, whom she never knew, funeral.

Willa grew up on the ranch working it and putting in her blood sweat and tears. When the will is read by the family lawyer/friend Willa just about flips out. Her father leaves the ranch to all three daughters, with a very big stipulation. They have to live together on the ranch for a year. If any one of them refuses to adhere to the stipulation they forfit their piece of the pie and ultimately everyone elses. If they don't all follow through with the requirements then the land is to be donated to a wild life preserve organization. During that year, Willa is to be in charge of the ranch with the supervision of Nate (family lawyer and friend) and neighbor Ben McKinnon. Ben McKinnon runs the ranch next door with his father and brother.

Tess agrees to staying the year because she wants her cut of the ranch (the ranch is worth 18-20 million) Lilly jumps at staying because she finds it peaceful and wants to hide out there. Tess ends up going after Nate to help pass the time. Meanwhile, Willa's older half brother, Adam, is spending his time working with Lilly to open up, trust and she learns the horses with him. They end up falling in love.

Willa and Ben hook up. During all this, animals have been ending up dead. One cat, couple cows, and 8 calfs the night after they were born. All of wich were cut up and gutted. Two people were killed as well in the midst of all this. One of the men who work and live on the ranch, and some 16 year old run away that no one knew.

Through all this you also as the reader know that Jesse Cook, Lilly's ex husband, has been working for Ben all this time and nobody knows who he is. This leads you to believe that he is the murderer. He ends up prematurely (he was waiting out the year so Lilly would get the inheritance first) kidnapped Lilly because her and Adam decided to get married and the wedding day was fast approaching.

He ends up taking her up into the mountains and hides out in a cave. It was snowing when he took her and practically a blizzard by the time they got to the cave so she was freezing. He wouldn't start a fire cause he didn't want to draw attention. She ended up passing out and he drank himself stupid. By the time Adam, Ben and Willa find the cave and her, they find a fire was build and Jesse is dead (cut up and gutted and scalped like the other murders) and Lilly is delerious with a high fevor.

After a week in bed, Lilly is fine. Wedding plans continue. The day of the wedding, Lilly finds a note slipped under the door in the kitchen telling her that she is not to worry and that he doesn't plan to do anything on her wedding day and that she doesn't have to worry about her sisters or Adam.

More time goes on and one hot day Willa noticed one of her men, Ham, (who she knew all her life and considers her real father cause he was always there for her in a way her real father never was)burning up and not looking too good. She decided to make him turn in for the day and he essentially threw a fit and stalked off saying he wanted his final check. That evening, he came by the main house and they talked it out. She told him how she really felt about him and basically that she was afraid to loose him. They have a moment and they make up. As he was leaving he thought he heard something so thought he would check it out. Turned out it was the murderer in the middle of slicing up a cow. The murderer turned out to be one of the men who worked on the ranch, named Jim. He stabbed Ham because Ham found him with the cow. Then after he stabbed Ham Willa happened to come upon them looking for Ham to tell him one more thing. She first just saw Ham on the ground and ran to him then she saw Jim with the knife and he punched her out.

She comes to, tied up and thrown over a horse. He takes her all over the place trying to back track and throw off the scent. Finally he gets to where he wants to go and sits down with her to try to talk her into understanding everything. He tells her that he is her brother and that Jack Mercy had knocked up his mother and told her he would take care of her but then refused to. Her being a single mother with no help from the father forced her to become a whore. When she died of a drug overdose, Jim was 16 and came straight to Mercy Ranch to confront his father. Jack ended up laughing at him then telling him he would give him a job, and if he lasted a month then he would have some job security. When he turned 21 Jack gave him a really nice knife. It is the knife he had used to kill all of the animals and people. He then tells Willa that he likes to kill and that he gets that from Jack. Then he reminds her of when Willa was little she had a cow that she helped birth and got to sorta keep as a pet. She won ribbons for her cow and had named it Blossom. When she was 12, he forced her to watch him kill her pet cow to teach her that this was a ranch and cows are not pets but beef. Jim thought that Willa would accept him as her brother and forget all the horrible things he did. When she tried to lie he could tell and he sorta went crazy on her. Then Ben showed up, and Jim had a knife to her neck. Ben being an excellent shot, shot him right between the eyes. Happy ending!

(less)

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Jul 02, 2009 Akemi Joy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-bit-of-fluff

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 28, 2011 Margarida Cruz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, segredo-dos-livros

Estar tanto tempo longe das histórias de Nora Roberts fazem-me esquecer o quão maravilhosas são. Os Céus de Montana, concretamente, é um livro que superou, de longe, as minhas expectativas e ao qual fiquei inteiramente rendida.

Confesso que ao início me assustei. Cowboys, ranchos, rodeos... Definitivamente não era a minha área. Mas surpresas das surpresas: estou perdidamente apoixanada por cowboys, por ranchos, Montana e tudo o mais com que Nora Roberts nos brindou neste romance.

Os cenários são u...more Estar tanto tempo longe das histórias de Nora Roberts fazem-me esquecer o quão maravilhosas são. Os Céus de Montana, concretamente, é um livro que superou, de longe, as minhas expectativas e ao qual fiquei inteiramente rendida.

Confesso que ao início me assustei. Cowboys, ranchos, rodeos... Definitivamente não era a minha área. Mas surpresas das surpresas: estou perdidamente apoixanada por cowboys, por ranchos, Montana e tudo o mais com que Nora Roberts nos brindou neste romance.

Os cenários são um autêntico sonho. As montanhas, os céus, o rancho Mercy, a casa de Willa, as pastagens, as cercas... Tudo! Montana é-nos apresentado com um autêntico paraíso. Um retrato divinal, perfeito, imaculado. A sua beleza inigualável. Sinto que nunca as descrições de Nora Roberts tiveram um impacto tão grande em mim enquanto leitora dos seus romances. Nunca me senti tão presente num lugar apresentado pela autora como desta vez. A verdade é que o trabalho da autora em termos de descrições do local da acção é de tal modo bem conseguido que não me lembro de nenhuma cena em que não me tenha sentido precisamente em Montana, a ver, mesmo na minha frente, as personagens em acção.

Embora tudo me tenha encantado em Os Céus de Montana, não posso deixar de referir o meu carinho especial pela protagonista, Willa Mercy, cujo carácter me encheu inteiramente as medidas. Willa é, talvez, o alter-ego de muitas mulheres. Destemida, inabalável, forte, trabalhadora, crítica. O seu mau feitio e a faceta de "durona", ironicamente, cativaram-me ainda mais. Não conseguia evitar um sorriso sempre que chamava "Hollywood" à irmã, Tess. Achei, efectivamente, que foi uma personagem muito bem conseguida e em tudo apelativa. Tal como Ben, que é quase o seu reflexo, mas no masculino.

A história em si é fantástica. Willa sempre viveu no rancho Mercy. Contudo, quando o pai, Jack Mercy, falece, vítima de cancro, vê-se na posse de uma carga de responsabilidad es inimaginável: herdar e tomar as rédeas da propriedade. Ainda assim, as coisas estavam muito bem, comparado com o que adivinhava. Antes de morrer, Jack Mercy escrevera um testamento onde estipulava que as suas três filhas teriam de partilhar e comandar o rancho durante um ano se alguém quisesse continuar na posse dele. Caso o pedido não fosse cumprido, o rancho criado por gerações e gerações de Mercy seria gratuitamente cedido ao Estado. O problema é que Willa não conhece as irmãs, fruto dos dois primeiros casamentos do pai e vê, de um momento para o outro, um sonho (o rancho) nas mãos de duas estranhas.

A relação que floresce entre as três irmãs é simplesmente hilariante. Enquanto Lily aquece todos os corações e mais alguns, Tess arrelia e faz muita gente perder a cabeça e soltar gargalhadas com as suas futilidades e manias hollywoodescas, uma vez que estava habituada à vida de Los Angeles, onde passou toda a sua vida. Os três romances são igualmente eternecedores, principalmente o de Adam e Lily, onde o amor que Nora nos descreve é do mais puro que podemos encontrar. Já Ben e Willa... bom, que momentos emocionantes passamos com eles. Nora Roberts não cria só suspense com os frequentes homicidios em Mercy. Ela consegue transformar a história de amor de duas personagens igualmente sufocante e hipnotizadora!

Para mim, perfeita seria a palavra mais adequada a aplicar a este caso. Nora Roberts misturou suspense, romance, drama e horror e conseguiu uma receita extraordinária. Largar o livro era um martírio. Cada vez que me via obrigada a trabalhar e a abdicar do meu tempo de leitura entrava num estado de ansiedade tal que, quando dava por mim, tinha Willa, Ben, Tess, Lily, Adam e Nata na minha cabeça. Sonhava com eles. Perguntava-me como iria terminar a história. Imaginava-os no rancho e punha-me a pensar como seria bom visitar aquele sítio.

Em suma, Os Céus de Montana é um livro simplesmente fantástico, de uma leitura frenética e ao mesmo tempo deliciosa. "A Dama Negra" estava isolada no top de livros desta autora. Ainda não foi superado, mas graças à majestosidade de "Os Céus de Montana" tem agora um forte rival e encontra-se num empate que não me sinto capaz de resolver.

Não quero acreditar que já terminei esta leitura. Mas como só está nas mãos da autora a continuação da história dos Mercy, vou optar por uma outra via: ver o mais depressa possível a adaptação cinematográfica , reencontrar estas personagens inesquecíveis e reviver esta fabulosa história.(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Katlet rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, own, romance

This is the first book I've read by Nora Roberts that disappointed me. I kept reading through to the end because I wanted to know who was doing the killing, but that was the only reason. I found the three main female characters so one dimensional as to almost be caricatures of themselves. Much like many of her other books we had: the tough tomboy woman, the abused sweet woman, and the sexy femme fatale. But they were all so far into their role that they didn't feel like real people at all. The m...more

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May 20, 2011 priddymomma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Montana Sky takes place on Mercy Ranch. It was owned by a selfish, cruel man, but he's dead now. Now the main players are his children. The catch? They've never met. This book has it all: birth, rebirth, growth, love, romance, murder, mystery, suspense, desire, guns, bonding, surprising plot twists, hard work, dedication, jealousy, tough decisions, joy, revenge, divorce, sex, fear, elation, sisterhood, brotherhood, friendship, loyalty, family, money, redefinition, women's roles, morals and ethic...more

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May 07, 2010 Alexis-Morgan Roark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I actually liked this one. I get tired of the trilogies. Or the stories that involves six or seven books, same storyline/structure with a slightly different twist.

It was a little violent, but I can be a bit squeamish; so, take that with a grain of salt.

Like some other reviewers, I do not believe it was one of Nora's "best," but it was still a good read. Pun intended.

I also agree with another reviewer who stated there was too much emphasis on one romance above the other two-hence the reason for t...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, audio, contemporary, friends-to-lovers, manipulative-friends-family, read-2012, soa-listening-challenge-2012, suspense, mystery

SOA Listening Challenge 2012: Spread Your Listening
Contemporary 4/4
Narrated by Erika Leigh

3.5*
Grade B-

Montana Sky is a solid romantic suspense novel with a decent balance of romance and suspense. The suspense plot was somewhat graphic and at times disturbing, but the author doesn't dwell on it too much or for too long. I can be pretty wimpy about graphic violence, and while there were unpleasant parts, they were over with fairly quickly.

The romance here is fairly typical for a Roberts' suspens...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Nairabell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-from-library, read-in-2012, 5-star, contemporary-romance

When Jack Mercy died, he left a twenty million dollar ranch to his daughters on a single condition - they must all live on the ranch for one year. For Willa who was raised on the ranch this is an invasion of her home, while Lily sees it as a safe haven from her abusive ex-husband and L.A. girl Tess just wants to collect her cash and get back to the city. The sisters have never met before, let alone lived together but they must put their differences aside when it becomes clear that a brutal enemy...more When Jack Mercy died, he left a twenty million dollar ranch to his daughters on a single condition - they must all live on the ranch for one year. For Willa who was raised on the ranch this is an invasion of her home, while Lily sees it as a safe haven from her abusive ex-husband and L.A. girl Tess just wants to collect her cash and get back to the city. The sisters have never met before, let alone lived together but they must put their differences aside when it becomes clear that a brutal enemy is out to destroy Mercy Ranch and the women who live there.

This was my first ever Nora Roberts book and I picked it up after watching the TV movie. I'd enjoyed the film so much I wanted to know what the actual book was like. The book is a richer, more detailed storyline than the movie, althouth the movie did keep the main plotlines. Although I generally prefer to read the book before watching the movie, in this case I'm glad I saw the movie first as otherwise I would have missed certain scenes from the book (like when the sisters go to a spa) that were not included.

The book focuses on the three Mercy sisters - independent cowgirl Willa, fiesty screenwriter Tess and shy reserved Lily. Each is given their own backstory and plotlines with their own romantic interest. I loved how each woman was distinct and came to life on the page, and it was great to see how different each romance was. Willa has a love/hate attitude to neighbouring rancher Ben McKinnon, Tess wants a no-strings affair with lawyer Nate and Lily falls for Adam and ends up healing the scars of her past. Even the supporting characters are well written and developed, showing a great depth of character which makes them interesting to read.

The ranch setting was really interesting and differs from the film in that it goes a lot deeper into the workings of a ranch. While the movie made a ranch seem like an attractive place to live, this shows off the hard work involved with birthing calves and moving livestock. This feels like a more realistic take and the book also shows Ben and Nate's ranches and the differences in how they are managed.

The plot is well paced and there is tension threaded throughout by the threat of the killer and Lily's ex-husband. Those scenes are tense, creepy and at times very disturbing to read. Nora Roberts has done an outstanding job of getting inside the mind of an abusive partner and the ways he justifies his actions to himself are unsettling to say the least. The storyline is divided into seasons which shows the required year on the ranch well whilst giving some gorgeous descriptions of Montana.

All in all this was a great read and I'll definitely be reading more by Nora Roberts.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 47/50 (less)

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Jul 05, 2012 Pamela(AllHoney) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: challenge-2012, contemporary-romance, cowboys-ranchers, rs-mystery-thriller, serial-killers, books-to-movies

This novel gives the reader 3 heroes and 3 heroines. The story seems to center more on Willa, the sister who was raised on the ranch. She is forced to share her home with two sisters she had never met. Strangers. All with very different lives and personalities. But their father's will demanded they live on the ranch for one year before they can inherit. There was much that needed to be told that didn't get told. I would have like to have seen a little more character development on each of the si...more

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Oct 02, 2009 Dee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, bestsellers

Typical Nora Roberts, which means a decent romance, though not her best.

Three half-sisters who have never met are forced to live together on a Montana ranch in order to inherit it from the uncaring father who'd never shown any love. Of course there are three incredibly handsome and wonderful men in the picture.

And there's a crazy afoot, killing and carving up first animals and then people with his knife. Some pretty good suspense there.

What makes this, to me, not one of NR's best, is that she ha...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Jaimie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was recommended by my sister. She said it was one of her favorites. It was a good story and had alot if mystery, but it was sooooo drawn out. What I assumed would be the lead romance between Ben and Willa actually was bland and rather cool for what it could have been. The love between Adam and Lily was much sweeter and warmer. I have only read a few Nora Roberts books and really liked the Quinn Brothers series(Now thats HOT!!. But, I was disappointed with the lack of relationship betwe...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Bells Remex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a story about 3 women, Willa, Lily and Tess who inherit a Montana Ranch from their deceased father who never laid claim to any of the 3 women. Willa was the only one left on the ranch and assumed she'd inherit until the will was read. In the will Jack Mercy, their father, stated that the only way any of them would get a piece of his pie was if they all lived on the ranch for a year together. They had never met before this day.

This is a story of family, love, trust, and murder. Ms Roberts...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Bronwyn Rykiert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance

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Mar 17, 2012 Nena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: womens-reads

Audio Book Version:

I absolutely loved this book. This is about three sisters who have never met (same father different mothers) from three very different places and upbringings who have come together on their father's ranch in Montana as per the directions of his Last Will and Testament. None of these women like each other so the challenge begins. They must live and work the ranch for one year in order to collect their inheritance which is worth millions.

The writing was easy and flowed well and...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Christina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a wonderful book. I wish I could have seen more between Lily and Adam, just because I loved those characters. Tess and Nate annoyed me because it was obviously just a sexual relationship Nora Robert's tried to tie up as a romance. But Tess was probably my favorite character because she was just so funny! I love city girls in the country! Willa was great too but Ben was just too cocky for me. Like he knew all along Willa was going to eventually be with him. I don't like that in a male ch...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Gems rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the one book by Nora that I will continue to come back to again and again. It's just not the usual love story though it follows the usual formula. I love that it's based on a ranch in montana because that's something I've never really experienced before through reading and I loved westerns as a child, so maybe that's what appealed to me. Plus being a farmer's daughter, I just really felt like I could relate to everything happening: the daily chores, the frustration and the hard work that...more

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May 12, 2013 Nabila Amr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Und wieder einmal schafft es Nora Roberts den Leser komplett zu fesseln, so das man das Buch nicht weg legen kann. Es ist echt unglaublich. Je mehr ich von ihr lese desto überraschter bin ich. Trotz der ausführlichen Beschreibung der atemberaubenden Landschaft von Montana wird es nicht langweilig. Diesmal spielt die Geschichte in Montana auf einer riesigen Ranch mit Rinderzucht und Pferdezucht. Und wieder ist das Buch durchgehend spannend. Eine super tolle Mischung aus Krimi und Liebesroman.

Nora...more

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May 10, 2012 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Three sister all with different mothers have been cast away (2 physically, 1 emotionally) from their ranch owning father because they were not sons. After his death, three strangers who are sisters are brought together by the same selfish father to run his ranch and live together for a year if they wish any chance at a sizable inheritance. Brutal killings start popping up all over this isolated Montana ranch and threaten the women and the ones they care for.

This was a nice easy read, I am torn b...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my gosh this book had me so torn. It frustrated me becauee the romantic aspect of this book was SO predictable. I had the love stories pegged after about 15min into the book. oh my gosh but this book also put me through a damn loop. I didnt expect it and thats what made me LOVE this book. that twist I never saw coming. I do have to admit I loved the characters all of them. everyone from willa to ham down to Bes and tesses mom. each were great. I have to say this book would make an Awesome mov...more

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Jun 04, 2012 lia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-romance

I think this is a classic Nora Roberts which her eloquent language and gift of story telling.

The story is about three sisters, how they find themselves, building their relationship and finding their true love. All that, and add a killer to the fray and you got Montana Sky.

What is great about this book is the three sisters each has their own unique characters. Willa the rancher, Tessa "Hollywood", and Lily the victim of domestic violence. And each found the man that is perfect for them.

Nora Ro...more

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May 20, 2013 Bethany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-novel, library-books-for-the-win

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Nora Roberts

aka
J.D. Robb
Sarah Hardesty

Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was the youngest of the five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sopho...more aka
J.D. Robb
Sarah Hardesty

Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was the youngest of the five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sophomore year in high school, she transferred to a local public school, where she met Ronald Aufdem-Brinke, her future first husband.

In Augusy 17, 1968, as soon as she had graduated from High School, Eleanor married, against her parents' wishes. The marriage settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Her husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. While, she worked briefly as a legal secretary. "I could type fast but couldn't spell, I was the worst legal secretary ever," she says now. After their sons, Dan and Jason, were born she stayed home. Calling this her "Earth Mother" years, she spent much of her time doing crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children's clothes. The marriage ended separating, and they obtained the divorce in January 1985.

In February 1979, a blizzard in forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate. During the now famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981 as Nora Roberts, a shortened form of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson, because she assumed that all authors had pen names.

Eleanor wrote under the pseudonym Jill March a story for a magazine titled "Melodies of Love".

Eleanor met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Her husband owns and operates a bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland called "Turn the Page Books". Since that time, they've expanded their home, traveled the world.

In 1992, she decided adopted other pseudonym so to publish a futuristic-suspense novels, she first decided to use the pseudonym D.J. MacGregor, but she discovered that this pseudonym was used by another author. In 1995, her first "In Death" serial novel was published under the pseudonym J.D. Robb, the initials "J.D." were taken from her sons, Jason and Dan, while "Robb" is a shortened form of Roberts.

Eleanor has also been known as Sara Hardesty, because when the "Born In" series was released in U.K. it carried that name instead of Nora Roberts. She has since changed publishers.

Eleanor has been plagiarized by another best-selling romance writer, Janet Dailey. The practice came to light after a reader read Nora Roberts' "Sweet Revenge" and Janet Dailey's "Notorious" back-to-back; she noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the Internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Eleanor sued Janet Daily. In 1997, Janet, admitted to repeatedly plagiarizing from Nora Roberts' work, and that both "Aspen Gold" and "Notorious" lifted heavily from Nora Roberts's work. Both of those novels were pulled from print after Janet's admission. She acknowledged the plagiarism and blamed it on a psychological disorder. In a settlement, Janet paid Eleanor an undisclosed sum, which Eleanor donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America.

A founding member of the Romance Writers of America (R.W.A.), she was the first inductee in the organization's Hall of Fame. She also is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the (less)

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“Men didn't respect beauty...they used it.” — 71 people liked it

“Being dead didn't make Jack Mercy any less of a son of a bitch” — 7 people liked it

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