After her mother’s tragic death, Dani Wilde had no choice but to abandon her dreams. She left Columbia University and returned to her family’s Montana cherry farm, intent on being a maternal figure to her brothers. Now the kids are grown, and it’s finally her time to fly. Her sights are on New York City, and nothing will stop her—not even an old flame with gorgeous green eyes.Celebrity … photographer Ben Denton hasn’t seen Montana in years—and hasn’t spoken to Dani since “that night” so long ago. When he discovers he’s a dad to a four-year-old—and the child’s mother refuses to care for her—Montana and the Wilde farm spring to mind. The orchard is the only place that’s ever felt like home, but will the warmth of the Wilde family be enough to help Ben figure out how to be a father?
As the Wilde family gathers for the yearly cherry harvest and Dani struggles to figure out what she really wants in life, she discovers the shocking truth about her own mother—and learns that following her heart may lead her to her dreams after all.
more
I enjoyed reading this story! I was emotional reading about what happened to Dani and Ben I kept reading to find out what is happening with them and I wish there was more to the ending. I recommend this book!
4.5 stars
This book is an emotional roller coaster. Kim Law is a new-to-me author and I cannot wait to read more. She did a great job of navigating some really complex issues, and then made it a point to talk more about those issues in her “Acknowledgments” at the end of the book. Knowing someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder helped me to see how well the author handled this subject.
On top of writing about the way NPD can really mess with a family and all of the individuals in that family, the author also gives us a very sweet and touching love story. Dani is broken and doesn’t even know she is until almost halfway through this story. But regardless of how her family views Dani and tries to protect her, Ben always sees her true spirit. Once Dani learns the truth about her upbringing and starts finally remembering things the real way, Ben tries to help her understand that she is a good person down to the core despite her upbringing.
As for Ben and his little daughter, I love that once Dani points out how things would look from his daughter’s point of view he makes such an effort to turn their relationship around. Since Ben has spent his life as an only child and then as a bachelor, it’s quite a change to suddenly be a single father. Yet he jumps in with both feet and works his way up from the trenches.
What is so wonderful about this story is not just that it deals with a very emotional issue or that it has a sweet love story. What I enjoyed so much was the author giving us a peek at the aftermath and healing. Especially when it comes to Dani’s father and his part on the things that happened in Dani’s childhood. I am so glad the author didn’t take the easy way out and that, even at the end of the book. I know the other books will continue to show the growth this family still has ahead of them.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/16/montana-cherries-book-review/
Montana Cherries is one of Kim Law’s best! A heartwarming tear jerker, and HEA all rolled into one. I couldn’t put it down! She wraps the story around in unexpected ways and keeps being real while she does it.
It is a story about love found and lost and found again. Dani felt driven to keep her family together at all costs after her mother’s death. So she dropped out of school and went back home to make sure all her siblings finished college. Once they did, she was going to return herself but life intervened as always. Her first lover/guy (also her brother’s BFF) returned with a daughter. Ben was photographer and a playboy would had gotten custody of his daughter and came back to his hometown for help. Of course Dani would help but when it came time to go back to school, she was torn apart with emotions.
Old memories of her mother came back to her and she ran to get away from them. But she couldn’t run far enough and love won out when she returned home to Ben, his daughter, and her family.
This book is so unlike anything that I have ever read in this genre and I really liked it. While it is also a sweet, sweet love story, Montana Cherries addresses something very, very serious, but is so beautifully written that it never feels too heavy or too overwhelming. I have to admit to being completely floored when the big reveal happened, and wanting to hug the main character.
I loved the children in this book. So often I will read a book and wonder if the author had ever even met a child, but Jenna and Haley were SO perfectly written that I couldn’t help but grin whenever they were mentioned.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD – there is no way to talk about this book without spoilers.
Despite all of her issues, Dani is an incredibly likable character. When she finally and realized what was happening in her life and the things that she’d repressed, I couldn’t help but want her to get her happily ever after. I wanted her to get help so that she could find a way to let her family and Ben back into her life, and Kim Law made all of that happen in a beautiful way (yes, it was accelerated due to this being a novel and not a text book on proper recovery methods and time periods). I thought it was fabulous that she went to NYC and found herself, even though I will admit to questioning whether or not she would ever return to Montana. I love love love that she went back on her terms and figured her life out instead of just running back to let Ben take care of her.
And Ben. Oh my gosh. I loved watching him progress in his relationship with Haley, and the loving, protective streak. I also loved that he took care of Dani, whether she felt like she needed it or not, he was always there for her. There is nothing sexier in a book than a man who loves the females in his life unashamedly. Although I was rooting for he and Dani to get back together, I thought it was great that he was trying to move on when she left him behind. Even if it didn’t take. Kim Law has a way of writing really, really swoon-worthy men in her books, and Ben fit right into the list of her great male characters.
I will admit to being a little overwhelmed by the amount of Wilde siblings. I struggled to keep them all straight (thank goodness for Kindle bookmarks), but that is a really, really good problem to have because they were all so well-written and very likable. I am very much looking forward to getting to know them all.
If you enjoy a book that makes you feel and think while it also makes you laugh and swoon, you should give this one a read.
I am a fan of Kim Law and I expected this book to be similar to other books of hers that I have read… but found it to be atypical of those books. The book deals with the sensitive issue of mental illness but this does not become evident until several chapters into the book.
Dani Wilde is the only girl in a family of 6 siblings and she took over the role of caring for her younger brothers when their mother died in a car accident. She gave up her goal of moving to New York City to go to school in order to become the “woman of the household.”
Now that her brothers are adults and have moved on with their lives, Dani has an opportunity to pursue that dream and move to New York. But as the time for her to leave grows closer, she begins to question her motives for moving and she wonders if she is doing the right thing. Complicating the matter is the presence of Ben who was a big part of her life in the past and who is making her wonder how she really feels about him and his daughter. Secrets are revealed and Dani is shaken to the core by what she discovers about her family.
The book is well written and I found myself being drawn into the dynamics of the Wilde family. It is not a happy-go-lucky “boy meets girl.. boy gets girl… boy loses girl…kind of romance.” But is rather, a story of self- discovery.. of healing.. of forgiving… and of loving.
Montana Cherries (The Wildes of Birch Bay)
I received a free, advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. I loved this book from the cover through the story and even the Acknowledgements. Dani Wilde has sacrificed her college education and desire to move to NYC after her mother’s death, to help her father raise her younger brothers. After 10 years, her brothers are all grown and she is finally reaching her goal with a dream job in NYC. Then Ben Denton, her first and only love, returns for a visit with his newly acknowledged 4 year old daughter. As she starts to pack up, she starts having repressed memories, that her mother was not the paragon that she had thought. The book introduces the reader to Narcissistic Personality Disorder. How her family comes to recognize and deal with it and how she realizes that she can love herself and Ben. I had a hard time putting this one down and stayed up way too late last night to finish it.