About the book: **Amazon #1 Bestselling series in Clean Romance**
Six Award-Winning Authors have contributed new stories to A Timeless Romance Anthology: Mail Order Bride Collection. Six historical romance novellas set in the Old West.
WRITTEN IN HER HEART, a charming novella by Stacy Henrie, Georgeanna is getting desperate. She can’t fund her favorite orphanage unless she marries and secures the rest of her inheritance left by her father. But her father’s financial planner, Clay, can't understand why she's not content with her current situation. Georgie determines to send out a notice as a mail order bride to attract suitors who won’t know her financial situation. Little does she know, Clay takes up the pen and sends her letters of his own under an assumed name. After years of working for Georgie’s father, Clay realizes he isn’t ready to watch her marry another, not when his heart is already claimed by her.
In Kristin Holt’s delightful novella WANTED: MIDWIFE BRIDE Dr. Naomi Thornton thinks she has it all: a beautiful house, a loving husband, and a fulfilling career. But when everything she holds dear is ripped away, Naomi has no choice but to start over. What will she find in the wild and untamed Wyoming Territory? Dr. Joe Chandler has waited years for a wife with the knowledge, skills, and tender heart he yearns for in a medical colleague and lifetime companion. When a midwife arrives with more expertise and secrets than he counted on, Joe quickly discovers there’s more to love and marriage than a simple mail order contract.
In THE SOUND OF HOME, a captivating novella by Annette Lyon, Marilyn is given the choice of either marrying the despicable Victor or being charged with a murder she didn’t commit. Refusing to believe that either is her fate, she finds a third option: she answers a mail order bride advertisement and boards a train to Wyoming to wed a man named Harry. Moments after her arrival, she learns that Harry isn’t who he seemed to be, and the advertisement turns out to be a giant mistake. Harry’s brother Thomas agrees to let her stay until she can figure out what to do next—after all, she simply cannot return to New York—but Marilyn quickly finds herself developing feelings for Thomas.
In Sarah M. Eden’s endearing novella FOR BETTER OR WORSE Gerald Smith, on the advice of his well-meaning neighbors, has decided it’s time to change his lonely existence. Mary Hill, on the advice of her empty pocketbook and non-existent roof over her head, has decided it’s time to secure herself a future. A mail-order marriage, they both realize, is no guarantee of happiness, but it is a risk they are willing to take. However, coming face to face on the train platform, the hapless couple discovers an unexpected truth: marriage to a perfect stranger is sometimes far preferable to the prospect of a lifetime with someone you used to know.
Heather B. Moore’s sweet novella THE INCONVENIENT BRIDE sees Carmela traveling from Boston to Colorado, eager to meet the man she’s been corresponding with and will soon marry. Her brother’s new marriage leaves little room for Carmela in her old life. Upon arrival in Leadville, she faces a rude awakening, and the only one who can understand her predicament is her fiance’s brother, Samuel. But Samuel can’t possibly help her out of an awkward situation, can he? It would be better for all if she returns immediately to Boston and pretends she never traveled to Colorado in the first place.
THE PRICE OF SILVER, an engaging novella by Siân Ann Bessey, Katie leaves New York for Idaho to marry Jake, a man she’s written to a couple of times. But when she steps off the train, his brother Caleb is there to greet her. Jake has gone to take a mining job he couldn’t pass up. Caleb takes Katie back to the family ranch to wait for Jake’s return. The more Caleb gets to know Katie, the more he envies his brother, but he can’t let his heart overrule his head unless Jake changes his mind about his intended bride.
My review: I LOVE these collections and this is one of my favorites that I've read. I loved the variety of stories in the novellas. This was really just a fun topic to read about, maybe because it's something that I've never thought a whole lot about. I wonder what would happen if the did a story that was sent in the present about mail order brides.
Stacy Henrie's Written in Her Heart was adorable. I loved Georgeanna and Clay! Clay works for Georgie and she doesn't think that there's any way he could see her as anything other than a responsibility that her father left him and she would love to help some orphans with the money she's supposed to get when she gets married. So she asks Clay to help her find a husband by having her be a mail order bride. I love that he doesn't want to see her fall in love and get married to someone else, but he doesn't want to declare his love for her either. So he decides to write his own love letters to her, disguising his handwriting and changing his name. So cute!
Next is Wanted: Midwife Bride by Kristin Holt. This is the first I've read by her and it's a good one. I'll have to find more books by her soon! Naomi Thornton is happy with her life. She's a respected doctor, married to a doctor. Everything is good until she sees her husband with another woman who is obviously pregnant by her husband. Then things get bad and keep getting worse with her husband and her boss scheming against her. Soon she's lost both her husband and her job with her good-standing about to be gone as well. She does the only thing she feels she can do. She answers an ad for a mail order bride and soon she finds herself in Wyoming marrying Doc Joe. She's concerned about her honesty though, he thinks she's simply a midwife and an unmarried one at that. This is a cute one as well. I thought that the story and the characters were really well done.
The Sound of Home by Annette Lyon was so cute as well. I loved Marilyn. She's a plucky young orphan working in a bakery to get by. She's told Victor that she wants nothing to do with marrying him, but instead of listening to her, he decides that he's going to frame her for a murder that he committed. Unsure of what to do, she reads the newspaper that he left and realizes that there's an ad for a mail order bride in it. So off she goes to Wyoming to marry Harry. What she doesn't realize is that Harry is basically a child living in a man's body. He thinks she'll be a mother figure to take care of him and read him stories. His brother, Thomas, is not thrilled that Harry has spent their meager funds on a mail order bride but determines there's nothing he can really do about that. I loved the way that Marilyn was able to be just what Harry needed and basically help tame him, and the way that she was open to seeing Thomas as a man that was an option for her.
Sarah M Eden's For Better or Worse was a fun one too. When Gerald's neighbor basically goads him into using a mail order bride service, he never expects that he's going to end up with a blast from his past. Mary Hill was a young woman who followed him around during several years of their childhood because he helped her feel safe. She knew that he didn't love having him around, but she wasn't sure what else she could do. Now she's his mail order bride and neither of them really wants to marry the other for different reasons. Gerald because she annoyed him to no end before and Mary because she knows that Gerald doesn't really like her. But they determine to make a go of it, because there's really not a better choice. I loved watching Gerald come to care for Mary in this novella. Such a cute, sweet love story.
The Inconvenient Bride by Heather B Moore was so fun! I loved Carmela. She and her brother came from Italy together. When he gets remarried, Carmela decides to become a mail order bride to not be in his way and travels to Leadville to marry, but the day she gets there happens to have been the day of her intendeds funeral, and his brother Samuel has to share that sad fact with her. It becomes very obvious that Leadville is not any place for a lady and that she either needs to go back to Boston or find another solution. I loved the way that Samuel cared for Carmela in this book. He always treats her like a lady and is constantly looking out for her so that others will treat he that way as well. Such a cute love story.
And last but not least is Siân Ann Bessey's The Price of Silver. Katie has agreed to go to Idaho to become Jake's bride. The only problem is that Jake has headed for a silver mine and left his brother Caleb and his mom Eliza to deal with the farm and Katie all on their own. Caleb grudgingly goes to collect Katie from the train and is stunned when he realizes not only how lovely Katie is, but also just how hard she's willing to work on their farm. Soon he realizes that he's falling in love with her. But she's supposed to be Jake's! This story was so cute. Katie was a cute character. I loved the way that she had Eliza to sort of become her mother and teach her the things that need to be done around their farm. I loved the concern that Caleb shows for both Katie and for Jake when he realizes that he's falling for Katie.
Such a cute collection. I loved everyone of these, there's no way I could pick a favorite one!
I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Labels: Annette Lyon, Clean Romance, Heather B Moore, Kristin Holt, Sarah M Eden, Sian Ann Bessey, Stacy Henrie, Timeless Romance Anthology
