The Great Montana Cowboy Auction

I just finished "The Great Montana Cowboy Auction", and I couldn't put it down! It was a great mix of romance, comedy and reality. I love how Sloan loved her his whole life, how her son was getting rich off selling "authentic Elmer rabbits", and the realisim of the closeness that a small town has. It had me laughing and cheering Sloan on the entire time. I can't wait to read "A Cowboys Pursuit", the next book in the series!

This is the kind of book I know I should hate, but I don't. This book is thoroughly enjoyable entertainment. What is wonderful is that many plotlines run through it, with love stories for all generations, ranging from 19 year old Sara to 60 year old Joyce.The real thrust of the story is about Polly and Sloane, the former Montana cowboy turned George Cloony superstar. Suspend your disbelief and wallow in wonderful story of how Sloan courts Polly and wins her over, ostensibly by agreeing to be a bid in a cowboy auction! Cool or what.Actually, the best story to my mind was that of Celie and Jace - I found myself skipping the Polly and Sloane parts to get back to those two. Thankfully Ann McAllister is taking up the threads in her next book - she has left a great cliffhanger.I really recommend this book - I am sure you will love it.

Elmer, Montana temporarily transforms from a quiet ranching community into a media feeding frenzy with the announcement of THE GREAT MONTANA COWBOY AUCTION. The town elects Polly McMaster to organize the fund raising event that aims to provide relief for a Maddie Fletcher, owner of a neighboring ranch threatened with reposition. As if Polly does not have enough to do as mayor, post mistress, part-time college student and single mother of four, she adds yet another committee to her resume. When someone volunteers to invite Sloan Gallagher home for the auction, as the top prize, Polly remains skeptical that the small town trouble maker turned Hollywood star will put in an appearance. She hopes he will not, with the memory of him catching her in a compromising position eighteen years ago still burning a searing memory in the back of her mind. When a buddy asks him to return to aid Maddie, Sloan jumps at the opportunity to repay the kindness done him by the Fletchers during his teen years. With his mother deceased his father descending into emotional and financial devastation, as well as the family ranch being sold, Sloan had been placed in foster care for two years. Maddie her husband gave him a home, providing the frightened teen stability and instilling confidence and self-worth. As a fourteen-year-old, Sloan's curiosity got him in trouble one afternoon when he peaked into the barn to see the most glorious vision of his young life. Of course Sloan buried the memory, reserving it for fantasy. But this opportunity to return to Elmer reawakens the memory, and Sloan is anxious to see Polly, particularly when he learns she has been widowed for the last six years.THE GREAT MONTANA COWBOY AUCTION weaves numerous subplots with Polly and Sloan's story to create a dazzling tale filled with angst, humor and passion. Anne McAllister is master storyteller, using a long ago memory to bind Polly and Sloan and boldly bring them together. Polly's reticence to become involved with Sloan makes her believable and sparks the reader's compassion even as the reader also cheers Sloan's determination to change her mind. Polly's creative mother and mastermind of the idea for a cowboy auction, inspired by Elmer's surplus of cowboys, gives the novel an added sparkle, as do her children and sister. Indeed, sister Celie's story begins here, and will continue in the June release of the Silhouette Desire entitled A COWBOY'S PURSUIT. A marvelous tale that should not be missed, THE GREAT MONTANA COWBOY AUCTION comes very highly recommended.

A small town in Montana decides to help out a neighbor whose ranch is about to go into foreclosure by holding an auction of artwork by local artists, services by local businesses, and dates with local bachelors. The twist in this story is that one of the foster children raised on that ranch is now an extremely famous movie actor, Sloan Gallagher (who seems to be a actor in the Harrison Ford mold). After a call from an old buddy, Sloan agrees to be one of the items in the auction. Naturally, his involvement in the auction turns it into a national three-ring circus, with fans, groupies, and the news media descending on the unprepared town of Elmer MT.Polly McMaster is the mayor, the postmaster, and a widowed mother of four in the town of Elmer. She's been picked to organize the auction and adds it to the many other duties that she has. She's a woman who's pulled in many directions but seems to be able to handle what comes along (with the exception of forgetting a child here or an appointment there). She's also a woman who hasn't taken an interest in other men since her husband, her soulmate and best friend, was killed in an airplane crash 6 years ago. That's about to change, big time.Sloan and Polly have a history, but it was more on his part than hers - she is his "golden memory" of something he saw when he was 14. She's always been the standard that he's compared the other women in his life. When he finds out that Polly has been widowed, he's determined to renew their acquaintance and find out if his memory has held true.This was a thoroughly enjoyable story, with multiple subplots. I've never read anything by this author, but from the number of people mentioned in the book, I got the impression that there are other books out there telling their stories. The characters, their actions, and their emotions were believable. The children in the story were realistic, without being cloying or wiser than their years. The scene with Sloan sharing a bedroom with a 9 year old beautifully captured the child's thrill of being in the presence of his movie hero, and the frustration of an adult male sleeping in a bottom bunk when there was someplace else he'd much rather be. There are multiple romances in the book - tender, wishful, unrequited, and sexy. Sloan and Polly's developing romance was filled with aggravation, humor and sexual tension. This is one of those books that once you read it, you want more, to find out the full stories of the other characters that were mentioned. From the threads left hanging on this one, hopefully another book set in Elmer MT will arrive soon.

This page turner isn't technically a part of McAllister's "Code of the West" series for Silhouette, but several of the characters from those books make wonderful cameo apearances in the GREAT MONTANA COWBOY AUCTION! The hero and heroine of the AUCTION are well worth the pages themselves. Sloan is sexy and charismatic--a cowboy turned actor who's never lost his Montana roots. Polly is sensible and down-to-earth--mom, postmistress and reluctant cowboy auction organizer--the last person to ever see herself as the object of a Hollywood hunk's affections. Up for bids in front of a throng of adoring women, Sloan Gallagher only has eyes for the role of his life--sharing his world with Polly McMaster. A definite keeper!