The Husband Tree by Mary Connealy

So I just realized that this is actually the second book in the Montana Marriages series. The first book is Montana Rose and the last is Wildflower Bride. I don't think you really need to read them in order since I read this book and figured there had to be a second book since there is a side story that has nothing really to do with the rest of the book. So Wildflower Bride will be about an white girl brought up by an indian tribe and a white man falls in love with her, but she is promised to another indian. You are left in the book with the white indian girl being kidnapped by white trapper and saved by the man that falls in love with her who returns her to her tribe.

Anyway, so back to the original book, The Husband Tree. I wasn't so sure about this book, however, my mother/father-in-law book read this book and loved it. So I figured why not, it's short. It has some subtle humor and matter-of-fact phrasing instead of the flowery, lovey type writing a lot of romance novels have. I would consider this a slight romance novel, but not the heavy kind in any way. Belle Tanner has an issue keeping her good-for-nothing husbands alive and after burying her third husband she is through. She has 4 capable daughters who must help her cattle drive 100o cattle through a treacherous trail before winter sets in. Her youngest is only a baby and is strapped to her back through her trip. She hires Silas, a wandering wrangler who swears he's done with women after almost being forced into a marriage by gun-point. He has no idea he's going on this cattle drive with only girls, but finds himself in love with the family. A pleasant, short read for an afternoon.