MONTANA CREEDS: TYLER

Author: Linda Lael Miller ISBN: 9780373773640 4/2009 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HQN

Descendants of the legendary McKettrick family, the Creeds are renowned in Stillwater Springs, Montana—for raising hell... Whether winning championship belt buckles or dealing with Hollywood types for endorsement deals, former rodeo star Tyler Creed can handle anything. Except standing on the same patch of land as his estranged brothers. Yet here they are in Stillwater Springs, barely talking but trying to restore the old Creed ranch—and family. Lily Kenyon knows all about family estrangements and secrets. The single mom has come home to set things right, to put down roots for her daughter. What she doesn't expect is Tyler Creed, whom she's loved since childhood. Now the handsome, stubborn cowboy who left home to seek his fortune just might find it was always under the Montana sky....

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Linda Lael Miller sets her western romance, MONTANA CREEDS: TYLER (the third in a series of three about McKettrick relatives), in present day Montana where Tyler Creed returns to claim his third of the family ranch in Stillwater Springs. He and his two half brothers had a falling out the day of their father’s funeral that wasn’t helped when Lily broke up with him. He quickly left town and since then he’s been a rodeo cowboy, movie stuntman and underwear pin-up model. Lily went to college, married a guy she didn’t really love and had a beautiful little girl. She’s returned as a widow to Stillwater Springs to take care of her father after his heart attack, but it’s her own broken heart that needs healing. Will she be able to tame the wild Tyler Creed, or will he help her loosen up instead?

Miller has a real talent for creating sexy, complicated cowboys and I just love them. Tyler has been so battered and bruised by life. His father was a hard-working lumberman who quickly outlived three wives and then decided to commit suicide. Ty has also worked hard and gotten a few breaks financially. If only money could buy happiness… He knows it won’t, and he understands that he should go slowly with Lily, but she’s beyond going slow. Without wanting to acknowledge it, she’s never gotten over losing Ty and she doesn’t want to lose him again. She wants him bad, and can barely wait to get him alone so she can get him out of his cowboy duds.

One of Ty’s biggest complications is a woman named Doreen. She was a waitress twice his age when he was in high school and she taught him everything she knew about pleasuring women. Unfortunately, Lily found out and that was the end of them. Now Doreen’s back in town too, and she has a troubled teenage son, just the right age to be Tyler’s son. Will the DNA match, or is Doreen just scamming him for some of his millions?

MONTANA CREEDS: TYLER is a suspenseful romance with plenty of tender-hearted, yet steamy scenes for the bronc riding cowboy and the love of his life. It really shows the reader how to live without regrets. It is also another of Miller’s vehicles for promoting responsible pet ownership as well as the benefits of adopting rescued animals. This is a satisfying conclusion to the trio of brotherly tales, but it can stand alone if the other two books haven’t been read.

Susan Barton