Bride for Keeps by Nicole Helm, book two in the Big Sky Brides series. I enjoyed the storyline and how they bought in family. I've read past books by this author and have always enjoyed her books. Looking to read more by her and more in this series.

Bride for Keeps is a very difficult story to read. I suspect it was also a difficult story to write. You see, we Romance readers love a love story, the great guy meets fantastic girl have a few issues to deal with and eventually settle down with a happy ever after ending. And that’s where we leave them, where everything is wine and roses – but real life isn’t like that. Real life is messy, boring full of mistakes large and small, lots of wondering ‘what if”, secrets at times or at least distance from the truth. Real love is a constant work in progress, it takes time, dedication to sticking to it, it means changing when you don’t want to, compromise when that’s the last thing on your mind. The reality is love is hard work, and those willing to put in the time, effort and work are the ones that get to that 50th anniversary cake.

Bride for Keeps isn’t easy to read because we’re watching a marriage implode. We’re witness to a love that is facing challenges on all sides and this couple aren’t doing the work to make sure it lasts. One doesn’t see the other runs away. In order to survive together Carter and Sierra have to really talk, listen to the words of friends and family, decide what is truly best for them… and they have to want to make this love work, in spite of the fears, doubts and life itself getting in the way., It’s painful to read because it hits so close to home.

There are a lot of reviews out there all across the number range. I’d like to ask you to ignore those reviews and go pick up Bride for Keeps and read it for yourself. On the surface it’s easy to get annoyed with Sierra but beneath she’s falling apart because she loves Carter so much. It’s equally easy to fault Carter for not opening up to his wife, for holding onto that perfect that no one can really find, when his world falls apart he made mistakes. Huge mistakes. And until those mistakes are made right – by talking with his wife – then their marriage really is over. I got caught up in and continued with this story because it is so realistic. It’s not fluffy, love solves every problem. Here love is part of the problem, different views of what love is. Watching Carter and Sierra find their way back to each other is painful, but it’s also beautiful in a way I cannot describe. Sometimes the only way to win is to let go of all the crap around you and just be your true self. That is a very hard lesson to learn, even if it is reality.

Stories that connect featuring all of the siblings you’ll find in Bride for Keeps include:: Kaitlin & Beckett’s romance in Bride by Mistake (#1 in Big Sky Brides & #3 in Montana Born Brides) — Cole & Jess’s romance in Keep Me, Cowboy (#3 in The 77th Copper Mountain Rodeo) — Sierra & Carter in Bride for Keeps (#2 in Big Sky Brides) — Lina & Ace’s romance in Ignite (#3 in Firefighters of Montana)

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I love Montana, specifically Marietta, Montana books. This was the at times heartbreaking story of a married couple having problems. We meet Carter and his wife Sierra who are having communication issues. Both are very much in love but Sierra is calling quits after the behavior towards her by her husband and she learns she is pregnant. The book includes lots of interactions with their siblings as they try to help the couple face their fears and stay together. I loved the storyline and seeing so many characters I’ve previously met. I give this 5 wonderful stars and recommend this story.

I really enjoyed this one. It has a fresh storyline and characters you just can't imagine not being together. The writing is fabulous and the story moves along nicely.

Sierra and Carter may have gotten married quickly but Sierra was certain they could weather anything. Apparently not. After Carter's family drops a bombshell in his lap Sierra tries to be supportive but she finally has to admit that he pulled away from her completely. It takes Sierra leaving him and filing for divorce to snap Carter out of his funk and realize all that he's losing. Now he has his work cut out for him trying to convince Sierra that he's all in and what they have was and is real and will last forever.

I highly recommend this one.

When a family secret comes out, Carter McArthur shuts down. He won’t even want to talk to his wife, Sienna, even though they live in the same house. In a last ditch effort, Sienna tries to revive their relationship with a night of passion, only to wake up and find Carter gone. That’s when she realizes it is over and wants a divorce. When Sienna finds out they created a baby that night, she decides she will raise it on her own.

Carter never intended to hurt Sienna. He just didn’t know how to control his emotions. Carter was raised in a family where everything always had to be perfect. He thought keeping his feelings to himself was the right thing to do. Obviously, he was wrong. When he finds out Sienna is pregnant and wants a divorce, he decides he will do anything to win her back.

This was an emotional story and at times had me tearing up. Like many young people, Carter and Sienna thought marriage would be fun and easy and didn’t realize there would also be difficult times that they would need to work through. The author did a great job writing a story with real life situations and solutions. I liked Sienna and Carter and couldn’t wait to see how they patched up their marriage.

My favorite quote in the book:
“Love is showing each other your cracks. Maybe more than that, maybe it’s trusting each other with your flaws. Your imperfections.”

DNF at 52%.

When I was reading this book I had the distinct impression that it bore very little resemblance to the blurb. Having re-read the blurb it's so non-specific that I probably inferred the plot I wanted to read!

Sierra is the bad girl who married, against the odds, Doctor Carter McArthur, the eldest son of the snobby McArthurs and older man. His brother Cole has been estranged and riding bulls for years but has recently found love and come home.

Their parents have landed a family bombshell on Carter, Cole and their sister Lina which has devastated Carter and he has been left floundering, estranged even from Sierra.

At first Sierra acts like a good time girl, when she doesn't get attention she makes a scene. When that stops working she tries to fit in with the McArthurs and become a Stepford Wife, when that doesn't work she asks for a divorce.

Carter is left bereft AGAIN. Brought up with the heavy expectations that he would be a doctor, marry a nice girl, have 2.5 children an SUV and a dog etc, etc. Basically his parents wanted a perfect automatron. The only thing he ever did for himself was to marry the beautiful, wild child Sierra and now his one shining light is leaving him. In desperation he wrangles an agreement that Sierra will allow him to have a conversation with her for five minutes every day for a month.

I had to double-check that this wasn't a re-release because it had such an old-fashioned feel for me. The older husband, the professional man who marries a younger woman with a chequered past. The rigid 1950s style family, even the 'we're getting divorced but I'm pregnant' plot feels like a throw-back. Cole gives Carter advice and Carter genuinely thinks about it AND DOES THE OPPOSITE. Now I get that it's hard to open up and let people see the weaknesses you have, but if someone says, for example, tell the truth and you think about it and decide to tell a lie ... hmmm.

Curiouser and curiouser, I knew I had read a book by Nicole Helm before and assumed it was as part of the American Extreme Bull Riders Tour series, in fact it was actually Sierra's good girl sister Kaitlin's story and I loved it!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Bride for Keeps is about a married couple who maybe never quite found their footing. The story focuses in on them hitting a rocky patch and how they find their way to listening and living with their whole selves. It is well written and not a steamy romance although there is a sex scene.

This felt a lot like a women’s fiction read although the characters appear to be in their late 20s to early 30s, so a better categorization is probably, new adult women’s fiction. If you like both genres, you’ll really enjoy this story.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a second chance romance... and in order to work we need to root for them...Had some trouble connecting with these two.

A sweet and interesting story!It was different from what I have read so far! Both characters Sierra and Carter are very well developed, and they felt realistic!However, I got a little frustrated with Sierra's lack of self-confidence !This was my main reason why I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted!

Bride for Keeps, by Nicole Helm is a contemporary romance that focuses on a recently married couple.

Sierra never imagined that Carter McArthur would be interested in her. However, they fell in love and married, yet some McArthur family secrets threaten to destroy their relationship.

Carter loves Sierra and wants forever with her, yet he struggles to share his feelings and thoughts with her, especially during this difficult time. Sierra is dealing with insecurity, and she's desperate for Carter to acknowledge her. Eventually, Sierra decides to file for divorce, but her husband refuses and decides to fight to save their marriage.

It's the second book in the Big Sky Brides series, yet it's easily read as a standalone for those that haven't read the first book in the series.

Bride for Keeps is geared towards those who prefer reading modern romances, which focus on family and drama.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Back to Marietta, Montana.

What I liked:
The writing style
Part of a series: Big Sky Brides
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

I didn't really love this story though I tend to love marriage in trouble stories. I think its that I did not like Carter much and I felt he treated Sierra horribly. Carter and Sierra are married and his family hates her and treats her awfully and he does nothing to help her. Then he gets some news and keeps it from her and then treats her worse, at this point she still sticks by him and I was ready to throw the book at her.

Finally she leaves him and he finally decides to fight for her. But he never did anything worthy enough to win her back in my opinion.

This is not your usual romance. Bride for Keeps digs deep into a relationship under duress and on the bath to dissolution. The characters of Sierra and Carter are very well developed and consistently true to the series of emotions they feel and try to cope with, evaluate and improve. You can literally feel their confusion, fear, sorrows and doubts as they work to restore a broken relationship, a faltering marriage.

A delicious romance of regaining trust and reconciliation between a married couple. I really enjoyed reading about Carter and Sierra’s troubles and how they tried to overcome the wedge in their relationship. Carter is a wonderful guarded hero, who finds it difficult to express his feelings and vulnerabilities, but is so earnest and willing to try and correct his mistakes;
“He didn’t know how to explain love, to put into words this big, horrible thing inside him. It was too messy. Too unpredictable.” (Quote from ARC)
His utter ignorance about the need for communication and for things that are not rational was fun to read, as was his willingness to learn this new foreign language and use it in all his relationships (he feels like he has woken from a decades-long coma).
These dimensions, together with a great cast of secondary characters, make “Bride for Keeps” a very enjoyable read.

Bride for Keeps is my first book by this author. The cover is boring looking, but sometimes you shouldn’t base a book by the cover. Or so the saying goes. The description of this book made me want to read it – sounded very interesting. And it didn’t disappoint!
Carter and Sierra met and married quickly. So in love! Both are very happy until Carter gets some unexpected news from his parents and no longer feels as if he knows who he is. He feels lost. Because of this, he cuts out his wife and she tries to be what she thinks he needs.
One night of passion which Carter says was mistake ends in pregnancy and she files for divorce (because he said the night was a mistake). Carter doesn’t want a divorce and tries to win his wife (and family back). Such a good book!

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had recently purchased and read the first book in this series - Bride by Mistake and enjoyed reading it (except for all of the typos). When I saw this title was available for request I wanted to give this series another chance. I can honestly say that I didn't come across any typos in this book - that's a huge + in my eyes!

As for the story - I got a little frustrated with Sierra's lack of self-confidence and both her and Carter's lack of communicating. Towards the end of the story I realized that this was the main point the author was trying to teach - love and marriage isn't always easy and fun, it takes both partners giving their all and working hard! If it's worth fighting for, never back down! Use your words, express yourself - spouses are not mind readers!

This was an interesting read, We are dropped right into the middle of a marriage on the brink of divorce. Neither party is acting like a well-adjusted adult and we aren't really shown their actual connection, just a lot of pain they inflict on themselves and each other for a myriad of reasons. There is family drama and baby drama and we are supposed to be rooting for these two people to find their way back to each other amidst it all. To be honest, I just didn't. I did not see much care or concern for each other or understand what made them work together. I thought the resolution was rushed, Helm is a hit or miss author for me and this one was a miss.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was different from a lot of romance novels. It starts at the point that most romances take off - after the marriage. Here we have a marriage between the too-good-to-be-true Dr. Carter McArthur who has always done the right thing for what his parents wanted except when he married the free spirited Sierra.

Now, a half a year into his marriage he gets news about his family that rocks his world. He retreats into a depressive, solitary state ignoring his wife. He doesn’t realize that sierra has her own insecurities that she will never be good enough to be a wife to Carter. So when he shuts her out, she leaves him and demands a divorce.

Both have to learn to communicate and to adjust their self-images in order to make sure their happily ever after actually is one. I enjoyed the perspective of what happens after the wedding. Usually, when there is a romance about an unlikely couple, we get all the build-up to their coming together and deciding to marry and, if we’re lucky, an epilogue to tell us how happy they are. It was refreshing to examine such a couple from the other view.

I hadn’t read the other books in this series, but there was enough information given that it made sense.

I was given a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Carter and Sierra McArthur: I've been waiting for this book ever since Cole and Jess's book. So glad it finally got here. After the shock announcement that stick-in-the-mud, straitlaced, just like Daddy Carter is not really a McArthur in that book and Carter's and Sierra's obvious distress in a later book, this second story for Carter and Sierra was necessary.

I enjoyed both Carter's and Sierra's journeys to greater understanding of themselves, each other, and love. But of them needed to learn how to be vulnerable and when they did, they reaped the rewards of their love. But, they both got some hard advice from people they normally wouldn't have listened to (Cole and Kaitlin). Seeing the entire McArthur clan and seeing the Shullers again was fun. They are both dysfunctional families and seeing some of that smooth over and fix itself was a nice touch.

But... Sierra's starting point was so terrible - it's all about how I feel - and her seeming lack of empathy for her devastated husband was tough to swallow. That she remained mired in it for so long is also tough to deal with. It showed her in a particularly negative light and I hadn't thought that much of her to begin with. She had the hardest road to walk for me because she was so unsympathetic.

That's not to say that Carter was a prince. He had been a total tool in earlier books and the announcement had genuinely taken the ground out from under him. He struggled to accept that not everything had to be perfect and had to learn to connect with his brother and sister, neither of whom were close to him in any way.

On the other hand, both Cole and Kaitlin, who had been hurt in the past by their siblings took active and sympathetic roles in helping Carter and Sierra grow. While the Shuller and McArthur parents both began to unbend a bit and appear, if not sympathetic, at least not so horrible as before.

What ended up knocking the rating down on this was less the characterization (which was difficult) but the complete lack of curiosity on Carter's part about his father. It also didn't help that Carter has not resolved precisely who he is by the end of the book. I almost feel like we need a third book for Sierra and Carter because these are significant unresolved issues.

Bride for Keeps,  Nicole Helm

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance

I was looking forward to this, I have a weakness for a second chance romance.
It didn't start well for me though, they're already at break point when we meet them and TBH I didn't like either character. They seemed so opposite I wondered how they ever could have been the couple who were so in love they ignored everyone else. Sierra is like a big spoiled kid, throwing a tantrum when she doesn't get her own way and as for Carter. Well, he's so closed of he barely speaks to her, for days, stays at hos parents home for days...They've been married months, together less than a year and I found it hard to like either of them.
Didn't like Carters parents either, though they and the shock they reveal about him made me see why he was so introverted, so able to be single minded to the point he ignores Sierra.
I guess if maybe I'd seen the love I'd have been rooting harder for them, but it took a long while for me to warm up to either of them, and the whole breakup/get back together seemed very superficial.
Its not a bad book, just one where the story and characters don't work for me. Nicole has written many stories and I'd be happy to read another, hoping its just tis one that doesn't suit.

Stars: Two, a book I just didn't connect with.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers