Beneath Montana's Sky

A Montana Sky Novella

By: Debra Holland

Narrated by: Lara Asmundson

Plain and timid, debutante Pamela Burke-Smythe is a wallflower at the high-society Boston balls she attends, overlooked by possible suitors. One by one her friends become engaged, and Pamela resigns herself as to life as a spinster.

When rancher John Carter becomes guardian to his orphaned godson, Nick, nothing he does seems to help the grieving, angry boy. At his wit's end, he believes that a wife might help draw Nick out, and lonely himself, John's been thinking along matrimonial lines for a while anyway. But small Sweetwater Springs, Montana, has no suitable candidates. He decides to visit his great-aunt Hester in Boston and bring back a wife who is kind and compassionate, who can be a mother figure to Nick, and who can adapt to the hard life on the ranch.

Hester, who's also Pamela's godmother, plays matchmaker for the two. John responds to Pamela's kind heart and believes he's found the ideal woman. But Pamela never thought to marry a stranger and leave Boston, and her family and friends are against the idea. She musters all her meager courage to defy her loved ones and seize her only chance at marriage.

After a whirlwind courtship, the couple marries and travels west. Pamela discovers a run-down ranch house, a bunch of unruly cowboys, a sullen boy, and a different way of life. Can their new marriage survive the challenge?

Set in 1883, Beneath Montana's Sky is a prequel to New York Times best-selling author Debra Holland's Mail-Order Brides of the West series and Montana Sky series.

©2014 Debra Holland (P)2014 Debra Holland

I'm hooked

I didn't usually read historical western romances but I'm loving this series. These books transport me into another world. I'm looking forward to retiring in a few yrs, & these books have me realizing I want to live in the country, grow a garden, go to town on Sunday. No way am I working as hard as these farm and ranch women do! I've researched some of the historical things mentioned, looked at pictures of the antique furnishings mentioned. These books are a wonderful world I escape to. I'm on to the next one.

I love Debra Holland

I felt in love with the mail order brides of the west so I decided to listen to this series.
This is the story of Pamela and John and its just as sweet as the one on the mail order brides series, I cant wait to continue with the Montana sky series.
It sounds like a wonderful little town where everyone knows and helps each other, I would love to live there but I would require an indoor bathroom dunno how they used to bathe outside in the river.
#tagsgiving #sweepstakes #audible #listeningatwork #mybooks

Wanted to like it

** I was provided a copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review. **

I'm definitely willing to read another book by Debra Holland as long as it's not the same narrator. Lara Asmundson made this 4-hour novella stretch forever. I had to take frequent breaks to get away from her voice because it was so uninspiring.

Her pacing was off and she couldn't maintain her voices or accents, which caused frequent confusion as to which character was speaking. For her Bostonian characters, they would have softened British accents that would ease into polished Southern Belle and it drove me nuts. She was definitely a narrator, not a performer.

I would call this story flat-out sweet and wholesome, not simmering (in terms of heat level). As a reader who likes anywhere from sensual to outright erotic content, this was a definite departure for me. I think if I'd been reading the book myself I may have liked it better but this narrator was not for me at all.

Due to my not liking the narrator, I'm unsure how much of my not enjoying this title was on her and how much was on the novella. For being short in length, it seemed to take a long time for the hero and heroine to meet and, even then, there was a bit of a bait and switch because the hero was pursuing a different woman for his prospective bride.

I have a soft spot in my heart for westerns, contemporary and historical, because I grew up on Louis L'amour and spent many days of my childhood on a family friend's ranch. Despite all these ranch hands and Montana cowboys walking around, none of them felt overly masculine to me which took me out of the story quite a bit. I think it may have been better suited to be told entirely from the heroine's perspective, based on the strong feminine voice. That would have also played more to the fish-out-of-water our heroine feels once she's been ushered from Boston into Montana territory. But to each their own.

I'll give Debra Holland another try as long as the next title doesn't have the same narrator. I can't imagine sticking with her for a full-length title.

Enjoyed the Story.

Nice story and good intro to the Montana Sky series. Liked the characters a lot. Wasn’t enamored of the narrator. Inflections often wrong- awkward character voices (often with wrong accent) that sometimes changes. She didn’t add to the story.


Look forward to future stories.

Beneath Montana's Sky

This story was enjoyable to read. Carter Cameron is the main character who decides to travel back east to the town of Boston in search of a bride. He feels that having a wife could help him deal with his Godson; Nick who has lost his family in a tragic accident.
Pamela, is the bride that Carter decides will be the best choice. They travel back by train to his ranch, and tries to prepare Pamela for the hardships that she will have to deal with.

A Beautiful Begining to a Wonderful Series!

What did you love best about Beneath Montana's Sky?

I loved the relationship between John and Pamela. She is a quiet "wallflower" who is best friends with one of the most sought after women and yet when she meets John, a handsome ranch owner needs a female guardian for his ward and a wife for himself, she sees what life could be outside of her Boston upbringing. Both knew that they were not in love and yet they committed to each other and their mutual honoring of each other became a wonderful part of their relationship and only benefited everyone around them.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I must say that John was my favorite. He needed to find a bride and yet the one woman who seemed to be the best choice according to society was not the one he chose. John chose the one who he felt would be the best for his ward and himself. His care and the way he treated Pamela was precious and yet not overbearing. You could tell that he was wanting a friend and wife and not just a companion and mother to his future children.

What does Lara Asmundson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I liked some of her inflections and the way she made the story flow.

Any additional comments?

All of the characters dealt with death and loss in one way or another as many would in the 19th century and yet all found that it was love and compassion that soothes the wounds that will take a very long time in healing if at all. Debra was a master at drawing the reader/listener into this undertone of dealing with grief without overwhelming the story with the grief.

I was introduced to Debra Holland through her book: Grace: Bride of Montana. I liked it so much that I decided to try Debra's Montana's Sky series. I was given this audible book for review and am so thankful that I had the chance to listen to it! I also have the book and will be reading this story very soon! I look forward to listening/reading the rest of the series!

Sweet story. very poor narration.

The accents that the narrator attempted to use were so phony that it made it very hard for me to enjoy the story. High society women all had British accents very poorly done. I felt the entire time like a young girl was reading me a story in a very choppy manner. She had a sweet voice, but sounds like she needs a lot more experience before she is ready to be a professional narrator.

Great book!

In Beneath Montana Sky we get to read about one if the ever present families in the series. It was wonderful to see John and Pamela find each other and find love. The narration was excellent, hearing this book after having read it gave me the feeling of discovering it again for the first time.

My First Romance

this is the very first romance novel I've ever read. I've never been too much of a romantic person, at least not as a genre and now I think I am. This is a lovely story about a simple man coming to the realization that his life needs woman in it. At least that's the perspective I latched onto. Either way, this was a well told story they'll probably end up referencing at some point next time I'm planning something romantic for me and that special someone.

It makes me want more.

I loved the story. And it only makes me want to hear more. Great narration.