Healing Montana Sky

Written by Debra Holland

Narrated by Natalie Ross

After a grizzly bear kills Antonia Valleau’s trapper husband, she packs her few worldly possessions, leaves her home in the mountains of Montana, and treks to nearby Sweetwater Springs, seeking work to provide for her two young sons.

Reeling from the loss of his wife during childbirth, Erik Muth must find a nursing mother for his newborn daughter to survive. For their children’s sake, Erik and Antonia wed, starting a new life together on his farm on the prairie. But it’s no easy union. Antonia misunderstands Erik’s quiet personality. He finds her independence disconcerting. Both hide secrets that challenge their growing intimacy.

When Indians steal livestock from farms around Sweetwater Springs to feed their starving tribe, the outraged townsfolk demand retaliation. Erik and Antonia must work together to prevent a massacre. Will a marriage forged in loss blossom into love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781511320962

Debra Holland

Debra Holland received a master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapyand Ph.D in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern California, and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. For twenty-three years, she’s counseled individuals, couples, and groups. She specializes in communication and relationship issues.Debra is a three time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist and one time winner. She has also finaled in the Orange Rose several times.Debra is currently writing The Essential Guide to Grief and Grieving for Alpha Books a subsidiary of Penguin, which will be out in November 2011.Debra's Golden Heart Winner, Wild Montana Sky, and the next in the series, Starry Montana Sky, are available on ebooks.She lives in Southern California with two dogs, two cats, and one boyfriend.Look for more books in the Montana Sky Series, as well as some Science Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, and nonfiction books.

Reviews for Healing Montana Sky

[buffalogr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ms Holland did a wonderful job creating an emotional story of two people and three young children dealing with loss, heartbreak and learning to love again. While I thought that this might be a historical novel, it's more of a chick book. I found it most interesting that the couple spent quite a bit of time getting over the cultural differences that existed between a farmer and a trapper's wife. Both main characters showed a lot of integrity and dealt with situations in different ways. This is not my genre, but I managed to finish and enjoy it. Regardless, I can spend my time with other stories.

[bette_hansen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a truly beautiful story of two people and three young children coming together during horrible times and struggling to find a new life and form a family together. While that description doesn't really make the story sound beautiful, Ms. Holland did such a wonderful job crafting the story you felt the joy of each step forward the newly formed family makes. Antonia and Erik are two very different people but with compromise and patience a strong bond and love flourish. What started out as a marriage of convenience turns into a true loving union and a young family thrives.

I don't read a lot of historicals but there are a few authors I truly enjoy. Ms Holland is definitely one of them. I highly recommend this book!

[vera_mallard-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the heart-wrenching story of two families from totally different backgrounds and social standings thrown into desperate circumstances by the death of their spouses and how through perseverance, patience, and love those families will form a new family unit made of love from forces beyond their control. Emotions roll through this book from beginning to end. I felt sorrow, amazement at the resilience of the human spirit, and admiration. Ms. Holland’s talent as an author shines through. I could feel the sorrow running off the pages as I read of the death of the beloved spouses and felt each one’s desperation as they tried to find a solution to survival.

Antonia Valleau is an illiterate young woman, her speech is backwoods, her clothing is animal skin, poor in goods, but rich in spirit. She has buried her beloved trapper husband in the mountains and must now get her two young children to town to survive. Somehow she had to find a way for them to survive without her husband.

Erk Muth has just delivered twin calves when he finds his beloved wife, Daisy in hard labor, no time to fetch help, and must deliver the babe himself. Sadly, Daisy dies immediately after the birth. Erk rushes to town to find help for his barely living daughter. A wet-nurse is needed immediately but none is found until they discover Antonia has come from the mountains with a young son still nursing.

It's decided due to gossip and others ungodly opinions that they must marry for Antonia to stay and wet-nurse his child. The farm and home Antonia is introduced to is a wonder, as she has never seen such things; glass windows in the house, huge fancy barns, fancy cook stoves, and glass windows in the chicken house of all things. Antonia is a simple woman, but she has a good heart and is wise in the ways of living and raising children with love and confidence. Antonia’s oldest son, Henri’ will have many adjustments to make in his new life in the civilized world.

This is beginning of the greatest journey of their lives. From this beginning will come love, security and a new family, but they will have to overcome many obstacles before that can occur. Grief is so very heavy in this family, and grief does not go away overnight. Erk must also learn to forgive himself for not finding his wife in time to save her.

Ms. Holland did a wonderful job of reconciling their feelings for each other while still honoring their deceased beloved spouses. God is in his heaven and gave the human spirit the ability to overcome grief in His time and hour. The pacing of this story was excellent; I could not put the book down. This is a marvelous story of strength, redemption, and love.

I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an honest opinion.