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The Silver Hills Boarding House
Fans of the hit TV show Yellowstone and its two prequel series will fall in love with this epic love story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller.
Lizbet Fontaine will do anything to keep her family together, even leave behind the only life she’s ever known to journey to the West. But as the jitney rumbles away, holding tightly to her little brother’s and sister’s hands, she knows something is wrong. Her stepfather has summoned an associate with a predatory glint in his eyes, and Lizbet knows she needs to save them all. She just doesn’t know how…until a kind man points out the Silver Hills Boarding House.
Gabe Whitfield is no saint. But he won’t let a woman be threatened. Getting involved with Lizbet and little Frankie and Jubal is the last thing on his mind, though. When his wife and their child died a few years ago, a piece of him died, too. So he’ll help this family find their way at Miss Ornetta’s boarding house. Anything more is out of the question.
But that one chance meeting changes Gabe forever. Lizbet’s fierce strength makes him feel the faintest whisper of hope. And Lizbet can’t deny being drawn to the honest, gentle man whose kindness moves her. Can she trust her heart to a man who can’t let go of the past?
Lizbet Fontaine will do anything to keep her family together, even leave behind the only life she’s ever known to journey to the West. But as the jitney rumbles away, holding tightly to her little brother’s and sister’s hands, she knows something is wrong. Her stepfather has summoned an associate with a predatory glint in his eyes, and Lizbet knows she needs to save them all. She just doesn’t know how…until a kind man points out the Silver Hills Boarding House.
Gabe Whitfield is no saint. But he won’t let a woman be threatened. Getting involved with Lizbet and little Frankie and Jubal is the last thing on his mind, though. When his wife and their child died a few years ago, a piece of him died, too. So he’ll help this family find their way at Miss Ornetta’s boarding house. Anything more is out of the question.
But that one chance meeting changes Gabe forever. Lizbet’s fierce strength makes him feel the faintest whisper of hope. And Lizbet can’t deny being drawn to the honest, gentle man whose kindness moves her. Can she trust her heart to a man who can’t let go of the past?
288 pages, Hardcover
Published October 7, 2025
51 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Linda Lael Miller
553 books3,222 followersThe 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 3, 2026
Inoffensive but bland. There's the bones of a good story here, but the author spends the entire book "telling" the reader and info-dumping backstory. The happy ending isn't hard won because the conflict is hand-waved away and somehow our couple falls in love without spending much time together - which I'm not sure how other than he's a good man and she's attracted to him. I'm a sucker for a boarding house story though, I liked the early 1920s Montana setting, and this was a read I banged out in a couple of hours. Still, this is a story I can't muster up many words about and I'm likely to forget is short order now that I've finished the last sentence.
November 24, 2025
I picked up a copy of this book in large print. I figured it would be a good pallet cleanser between more serious books.
I made it to page 72 and quit.
In my opinion, there are far too many commas in this book. For me, makes it tedious and choppy to read. I also found some typos. I think the editor could have done a better job cleaning it up a bit.
I'm also feeling like the story is too predictable and ... trite? for my taste.
Moving on to the next book on my TBR pile...
I made it to page 72 and quit.
In my opinion, there are far too many commas in this book. For me, makes it tedious and choppy to read. I also found some typos. I think the editor could have done a better job cleaning it up a bit.
I'm also feeling like the story is too predictable and ... trite? for my taste.
Moving on to the next book on my TBR pile...
September 20, 2025
This was one of the best books that I’ve read this year. I loved Lizbet and her two younger siblings, she had an inner strength that I greatly admired.
It was a time period when young women didn’t openly defy their father, but I’m so glad she did. It led to meeting some amazing, kind people who I grew fond of. Gabe is a wonderful man who is dealing with his own loss and yet has a heart for others.
A fantastic storyline, wonderfully crafted characters makes this a book that I will read again.
I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley. Opinions are my own.
October 8, 2025
Reviewed at Happily Ever After Romance
The Silver Hills Boarding House is one of those stories that slowly winds its way into your heart until it finds a solid home. Lizbet has traveled far from where she’d considered home with her two young siblings, Frankie and Jubal, to this small western town at the summons of her stepfather. The man sent to fetch them gave her an intense unease as his glance traveled over her in a predatory fashion. The last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere with this man, and thanks to the kindness of a stranger, they were saved, at least momentarily, from having to learn just how dangerous the man her stepfather had sent truly was.
Gabe didn’t allow anyone to intimidate a woman or children. Usually a man who kept to himself, he just couldn’t pass by the attractive woman and her two young companions without offering to help in some way. Gabe’s wife and child had died some years earlier, and he hoped that someone would have stepped in to keep them from harm, just as he was doing now. He sent them off to the boarding house for safety, not knowing that he’d just met his future… if he could let go of the past and embrace life once again.
I have loved Linda Lael Miller’s stories, both modern western and historical western, for years now, and The Silver Hills Boarding House was exactly what I expected from this talented author. Lizbet and Gabe make a believable couple, each suffering loss in different ways, yet the attraction simmering beneath the surface between them gave them each a bit of courage to take a few risks in their emotional journey to a happy ending kind of future.
Their story is well-written, engaging, and emotional, with a touch of danger and a bit of humor to balance it out. I enjoyed myself so much reading The Silver Hills Boarding House by Linda Lael Miller, and if that sounds like your kind of historical western romance, then you’ll find a believable, enjoyable couple to cheer on to their happily ever after future in Lizbet and Gabe.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, and I sincerely thank the author or publishing house for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*
The Silver Hills Boarding House is one of those stories that slowly winds its way into your heart until it finds a solid home. Lizbet has traveled far from where she’d considered home with her two young siblings, Frankie and Jubal, to this small western town at the summons of her stepfather. The man sent to fetch them gave her an intense unease as his glance traveled over her in a predatory fashion. The last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere with this man, and thanks to the kindness of a stranger, they were saved, at least momentarily, from having to learn just how dangerous the man her stepfather had sent truly was.
Gabe didn’t allow anyone to intimidate a woman or children. Usually a man who kept to himself, he just couldn’t pass by the attractive woman and her two young companions without offering to help in some way. Gabe’s wife and child had died some years earlier, and he hoped that someone would have stepped in to keep them from harm, just as he was doing now. He sent them off to the boarding house for safety, not knowing that he’d just met his future… if he could let go of the past and embrace life once again.
I have loved Linda Lael Miller’s stories, both modern western and historical western, for years now, and The Silver Hills Boarding House was exactly what I expected from this talented author. Lizbet and Gabe make a believable couple, each suffering loss in different ways, yet the attraction simmering beneath the surface between them gave them each a bit of courage to take a few risks in their emotional journey to a happy ending kind of future.
Their story is well-written, engaging, and emotional, with a touch of danger and a bit of humor to balance it out. I enjoyed myself so much reading The Silver Hills Boarding House by Linda Lael Miller, and if that sounds like your kind of historical western romance, then you’ll find a believable, enjoyable couple to cheer on to their happily ever after future in Lizbet and Gabe.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, and I sincerely thank the author or publishing house for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*
October 9, 2025
The Silver Hills Boarding House
by Linda Lael Miller
Fans of the hit TV show Yellowstone and its two-prequel series will fall in love with this epic love story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller.
Lizbet Fontaine will do anything to keep her family together, even leave behind the only life she’s ever known to journey to the West. But as the jitney rumbles away, holding tightly to her little brother’s and sister’s hands, she knows something is wrong. Her stepfather has summoned an associate with a predatory glint in his eyes, and Lizbet knows she needs to save them all. She just doesn’t know how…until a kind man points out the Silver Hills Boarding House.
Gabe Whitfield is no saint. But he won’t let a woman be threatened. Getting involved with Lizbet and little Frankie and Jubal is the last thing on his mind, though. When his wife and their child died a few years ago, a piece of him died, too. So he’ll help this family find their way at Miss Ornetta’s boarding house. Anything more is out of the question.
But that one chance meeting changes Gabe forever. Lizbet’s fierce strength makes him feel the faintest whisper of hope. And Lizbet can’t deny being drawn to the honest, gentle man whose kindness moves her. Can she trust her heart to a man who can’t let go of the past?
Lizbet Fontaine and her little brother Frankie and sister Jubal.
Gabe Whitfield.
My favorite quote is
Lizbet left her agreement unspoken and said instead, “Everything will work out, you’ll see.
Would everything work out?
Yes.
Lizbet Fontaine ached with purpose. She would keep these children—and herself—safe from the threat Henry Middlebrook represented.
So help her God.
I recommend this book.
The Silver Hills Boarding House by Linda Lael Miller is a 4 star book.
I am looking forward to reading more books by Linda Lael Miller .
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions shared here in this review are my own.
by Linda Lael Miller
Fans of the hit TV show Yellowstone and its two-prequel series will fall in love with this epic love story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller.
Lizbet Fontaine will do anything to keep her family together, even leave behind the only life she’s ever known to journey to the West. But as the jitney rumbles away, holding tightly to her little brother’s and sister’s hands, she knows something is wrong. Her stepfather has summoned an associate with a predatory glint in his eyes, and Lizbet knows she needs to save them all. She just doesn’t know how…until a kind man points out the Silver Hills Boarding House.
Gabe Whitfield is no saint. But he won’t let a woman be threatened. Getting involved with Lizbet and little Frankie and Jubal is the last thing on his mind, though. When his wife and their child died a few years ago, a piece of him died, too. So he’ll help this family find their way at Miss Ornetta’s boarding house. Anything more is out of the question.
But that one chance meeting changes Gabe forever. Lizbet’s fierce strength makes him feel the faintest whisper of hope. And Lizbet can’t deny being drawn to the honest, gentle man whose kindness moves her. Can she trust her heart to a man who can’t let go of the past?
Lizbet Fontaine and her little brother Frankie and sister Jubal.
Gabe Whitfield.
My favorite quote is
Lizbet left her agreement unspoken and said instead, “Everything will work out, you’ll see.
Would everything work out?
Yes.
Lizbet Fontaine ached with purpose. She would keep these children—and herself—safe from the threat Henry Middlebrook represented.
So help her God.
I recommend this book.
The Silver Hills Boarding House by Linda Lael Miller is a 4 star book.
I am looking forward to reading more books by Linda Lael Miller .
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions shared here in this review are my own.
October 29, 2025
Montana 1921, and Lizbet Fontaine finds herself abandoned by her step-father and his wife in Silver Hills. And her step-father wants to marry her off to an older man, the owner of the bank. She escapes to the boarding house with her half brother and sister, but over the months, finds no work as the evil banker has threatened practically everyone into not hiring her. But Gabe Whitfield has a farm on the outside of town. A widower who lost his wife and young daughter the same day in 1918 due to the influenza epidemic, he has been going through the motions, waiting for his brother to make an appearance and claim his half of the farm. But Lizbet wakens something in Gabe, and his brother, Finn, returns, with secrets of his own.
Nice story. Promoted as being for folks who liked the TV show Yellowstone, and it's spinoffs, but I don't know. I've seen clips of Yellowstone, and this is just too sweet a story!
Nice story. Promoted as being for folks who liked the TV show Yellowstone, and it's spinoffs, but I don't know. I've seen clips of Yellowstone, and this is just too sweet a story!
November 8, 2025
Excellent book. I loved this sweet story. LLM has not disappointed.
Lizbet Fontaine, along with her two younger half-siblings and their father with his new wife, have arrived in Silver Hills, Montana. A mere stop on the way from St. Louis to California, Lizbet has suspicions when they are met at the train station by a predatory looking banker old enough to be her grandfather. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finds that she is “to be married” to this lecherous fellow in some kind of “deal” made by her stepfather. She thwarts both of them with her escape to the boarding house with her siblings. How will she find honest work in a town run by the banker with folks being scared to cross him?
Enter Gabe, a widower of about two years, who sees the scene unfold at the train station. As Lizbet and Gabe come into contact as the story unfolds and Gabe can offer her honest work, can he open his heart again?
Lizbet Fontaine, along with her two younger half-siblings and their father with his new wife, have arrived in Silver Hills, Montana. A mere stop on the way from St. Louis to California, Lizbet has suspicions when they are met at the train station by a predatory looking banker old enough to be her grandfather. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finds that she is “to be married” to this lecherous fellow in some kind of “deal” made by her stepfather. She thwarts both of them with her escape to the boarding house with her siblings. How will she find honest work in a town run by the banker with folks being scared to cross him?
Enter Gabe, a widower of about two years, who sees the scene unfold at the train station. As Lizbet and Gabe come into contact as the story unfolds and Gabe can offer her honest work, can he open his heart again?
September 19, 2025
I stepped back in time to right around cars were just showing up. Gabe and Lizbet had both suffered loss, but need each other to heal. Scared with two children caught in the middle. I found myself crying and laughing several times while reading and being drawn into the author’s world of Silver Hills. This author has always been a favorite of mine and she didn’t disappoint here. Book provided by NetGalley.
September 12, 2025
I wasn't too sure if this was something I would like. Though it was on the lighter side, I found myself drawn into the characters. Though I thought something tragic would happen, it didn't and I liked the ending as well. Thanks for the opportunity to read the advance copy. I ended up enjoying the story and will plan on ordering it for our library.
November 24, 2025
Instead of a rom-com, this was a rom-drama! Lots of obstacles and challenges for this couple to overcome. Poignant and very touching throughout, it still was a warm comforting read—despite the onset of a snowy Montana winter.
December 2, 2025
This book takes place in the early 1900s so you can learn a lot about that era and how people lived.
A story about an older sibling and their two younger siblings. An easy and enjoyable read. 5 stars.
~ Judy
A story about an older sibling and their two younger siblings. An easy and enjoyable read. 5 stars.
~ Judy
Read
December 21, 2025Lizbeth's stepfather promises her to a rich old man. She runs away with her half brother and sister. Meets Gabe, who is still grieving his wife and daughter. They fall in love and live happily ever after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2025
Nothing happens in this book. Do not expect anything. I get a cozy story; this isn't that. It is supposed to be a feel good story, but it was just a waste of time. Do not recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 1, 202520th Century Historical Romance, Siblings, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Western Romance
October 15, 2025
Christian Romance.Even though the word romance is definitely a stretch in this case .The story had potential but it fell flat. I've read children's books spicier than this.
October 19, 2025
Simple, fun romantic read
Want to read
October 29, 2025A
November 18, 2025
Kinda cheesy, but a great escape
November 28, 2025
3.5 stars
December 8, 2025
Nancy
What a wonderful historical book , the characters were unique. The storyline was a beautiful love story with tragedy, but still a wonderful ending. Thanks for the great read.
What a wonderful historical book , the characters were unique. The storyline was a beautiful love story with tragedy, but still a wonderful ending. Thanks for the great read.
December 8, 2025
Nothing special
December 12, 2025
A cozy winter romance with low stakes and lots of fluff.
December 28, 2025
feel good book
December 28, 2025
This is an easy, quick read. Very predictable in many respects. Not great, but not terrible. Just OK.
December 31, 2025
Our book club has been reading some very intense stories lately, and I wanted a light book for December. This met the need.
January 1, 2026
An author has never described a hot cup of coffee so deliciously.
January 2, 2026
A light, predictable story about a young woman who tries to take care of her two younger siblings in hard times.
January 4, 2026
This book was a quick read and absolutely adorable! I loved it!
December 8, 2025
Great for the Yellowstone fan who loves PG rated Western stories. As a standalone novel it was very easy to read, a face value drama featuring both sweet and evil characters.
Read this before or after an intense novel. Great palette cleanser! Plus, it just came out - perfect timing for winter.
I know my go-to author for entertainment now!
Read this before or after an intense novel. Great palette cleanser! Plus, it just came out - perfect timing for winter.
I know my go-to author for entertainment now!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews