3.5 stars. I was going to do full review in the beginning, but I've changed my mind. It's mainly because many things have hindered my reading of this book and it took me a while to finish it. But then "Triumphant Love" was a pretty long book to begin with, and being the last book of Banished Saga, I was eagerly waiting for it until sh!t hit the fan in my personal life, as well as worldwide. Who the hell wants a pandemic tell me? I don't know how to explain my feelings as I read the book but it's been really odd with all that's been affecting my reading life lately. But it's bittersweet to say the least, saying 'goodbye' to a series I've been following since 2013.

If you are a fan of the Saga already, you'll be in for a treat, seeing all of your favorite characters coming together as they gather in Missoula where Gabriel lives. There's also some thrilling moments, suspenseful incidents that are both happy and sad. But everywhere, the tune was the same; it was time to say goodbye. One of the best moments of the story had to be the epilogue of the book. I don't wanna reveal exactly why but it left a big smile on my face. I was so happy for Sophronia and her gang, the girls (Clarissa, Florence, Zylphia, Parthena, Rowena), then felt utterly sad that this maybe the last time I'm going to read about them. It's been raining the whole morning today which kind of reflected my mood as I finished "Triumphant Love".

If I really have to mention it, the only thing that I kind of disliked was Eleanor's character. I didn't precisely hate her but she wasn't the most inspiring person either. I tried my best to sympathize with her due to her past but gosh, it was difficult since she was one of the major characters! I'm still not sure whether she was the correct choice for Jeremy and that kind of affected my enjoyment of the book.

It also occurred to me that another pandemic that happened in 1918, was mentioned in one of the previous installments, where I lost 2 of my favorite characters because of it. Which also almost broke me because I wasn't prepared for it at all. I'm trying hard not to find a connection between that and with our current situation but I can't help myself TBH. Was that a kind of foreshadowing? I don't know. I kept thinking of that the whole time I was reading this book, even if that pandemic isn't mentioned anywhere here. This last story takes place around 2 yrs. after the initial blow of it.

For any newbie to the series, please begin from the very first book that started it all, titled "Banished Love". All the books are very, very much interconnected and needed to be read in order to understand all that have been going on in a tale that spanned almost 20yrs (from 1899-1920).

I'd like to thank Ramona for this wonderful journey that she took us through for the past 7 yrs. It was wonderful and so worth it! I highly recommend this series. Also thanks for sending me a review copy. x

If you’re a fan of Banished Saga by Ramona Flightner as I am, and have read the series so far, you’ll probably know that this series is coming to an end next month with it’s 9^th installment. And although it makes me really emotional, and extremely sad, I know all the good things have to come to an end at one point or the other. I’ve been really enjoying these short snippets of the lives of our favorite characters from the series since Ramona had taken to deliver them to her newsletter subscribers as Christmas gifts for the past few years. Irrepressible Love, being the one before the last installment, makes it even more precious to me.

Irrepressible Love is a short story that focuses on once uppity librarian Hester Loken who has been a recurring character in the Saga for the past few installments. Everybody around her thought she was firmly on the shelf, that she’ll live out her life as a spinster. Even Hester convinced herself that something so magical as the love of a good man is too good to be true for her. She’s not one of those lucky women and never will be, even having friends like Clarissa MacLeod or Araminta Sullivan who have found love in the previous installments of the series. Enter Jim Bailey, a blacksmith who was working for Colin Sullivan, husband to Araminta and brother of Clarissa, and Hester’s life’s plan goes out the window. Only she has no idea whether for better or for worse. Hester longs for this to be a reality, but afraid to hope too much. What will she do?

TBH, I had a hard time remembering Jim from any previous installments so I was a little taken a back with all that has been happening. But it didn’t hinder my enjoyment at all. Hester deserved love and she found someone who adored her back exactly the same, if not more. I couldn’t have been happier for the two.

Irrepressible Love sets the tone for the final installment of the series, Triumphant Love, coming January 2020. I’ll also suggest not reading this story before reading the previous installments because it contains spoilers you may not expect or even like. But highly recommended for the fans of the series.

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Unbridled Montana Passion is the book 6 of Ramona Flightner’s ongoing Bear Grass Springs series. I’ve had quite an ambivalent feeling towards this series since it began, quite unlike Ramona’s Banished Saga. But I think it’s growing on me and I feel like I’m quite invested in the lives of these characters right now to continue on with it. So kudos to her!

Bear Grass Springs is set in 1880s Montana. I’m a big fan of Ramona’s Banished Saga, soon to end after a long run and always recommended from me. Bear Grass Springs is quite different than this series in the sense that the former is more of a family saga spanning generations, rather than your typical story and HEA for one couple per installment. Though Bear Grass Springs does have HEA in each installment for each H and h featured, you still get the vibe of being with a family and getting to know them better while reading about the MacKinnons.

Bear Grass Springs began with the stories of the 3 MacKinnon brothers Cailean, Alistair and Ewan, in the first 3 installments respectively titled Montana Untamed, Montana Grit and Montana Maverick. They also have a younger sister called Sorcha who got her story told in book 5 titled Montana Wrangler. They hailed from Scotland, but have settled in the Bear Grass Springs Montana in search of a better life. Cailean and Alistair own the only livery in town, which they’ve managed to make a successful business out of. Ewan is a carpenter and his business is thriving as well. The brothers were much sought after bachelors until they settled down with the love of their lives, Cailean with the town baker Annabelle, Alistair with Leticia who was a school teacher before she began helping Annabelle with her rapidly growing bakery business. Ewan finally found someone to love in Jessamine, a news reporter at that time newly arrived in Bear Grass Springs. Sorcha had been at odds with Frederick, a recurring character, for much of the series. Then it was revealed that they actually harbored feelings for one another.

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Montana Wrangler is the book 5 in Ramona Flightner’s Bear Grass Springs series. I’ve had quite a love-hate relationship with this series, yet I can’t help but being curious about what the characters are up to, all credit is to the author! I’ve enjoyed this series enough to keep coming back to it.

I keep saying it because it’s the truth. I’m a big fan of Ramona’s Banished Saga series, which will end pretty soon. Bear Grass Springs is quite different than Banished Saga in the sense that the latter is more of a family saga spanning generations, rather than your typical story and HEA for one couple per installment. The Saga always comes highly recommended from me. Though Bear Grass Springs does have HEA in each installment for each H and h featured, you still get the vibe of being with a family and getting to know them better while reading about the MacKinnons.

Bear Grass Springs began with the stories of the 3 MacKinnon brothers Cailean, Alistair and Ewan, in the first 3 installments respectively titled Montana Untamed, Montana Grit and Montana Maverick. They also have a younger sister called Sorcha. They’re from Scotland, but have settled in the Bear Grass Springs Montana in search of a better life. Cailean and Alistair own the only livery in town, which they’ve managed to make a successful business out of. Ewan is a carpenter and his business is thriving as well. The brothers were much sought after bachelors until they settled down with the love of their lives, Cailean with the town baker Annabelle, Alistair with Leticia who was a school teacher before she began helping Annabelle with her rapidly growing bakery business. Ewan finally found someone to love in Jessamine, a news reporter at that time newly arrived in Bear Grass Springs. The backgrounds of all 3 of heroines are told in their books. However my feelings for all 3 books were pretty ambivalent. The first two, the brothers were being obtuse and in turn, there were loads of misunderstanding and frustration that made me wanna kick their a$$. And for book 3, I didn’t like the heroine AT ALL.