Montana Cherries

Law is so focused on telling a cautionary tale that her latest contemporary romance falls a bit short in the romance department. The rather forgettable protagonists deal with their internal demons but have scant time for love. Worldly, wealthy photographer Ben learns he’s the father of a four-year-old girl when her mother dumps her on his doorstep. So he drops everything and brings his daughter, Haley, to the only place he associates with home: the Wilde family’s Montana orchard. It’s not really his home, but after his mother abandoned him when he was an adolescent, the Wildes became his friends—and sweet Dani Wilde took him to bed, once. Then she fled, he went on to pursue his work, and she gave up her career hopes in order to parent her brothers after their mother died. It’s been 10 years and she’s still there, now acting as mother to her brother’s daughter, Jenna. The romance and characterization are all but lost under a story that’s overwhelmingly drenched in mommy issues. Agent: Nalini Akolekar, Spencerhill Associates. (Aug.)