A man no woman wants…Grieving widower John Weaver needs a mother for his five-year-old twin daughters. No woman he knows is willing to take on a ready-made family, so he resorts to advertising for a mail-order bride. He has no intention of ever loving another woman, and as long as his mail-order bride understands that, they can have a good life together.A woman no man wants…Miranda Lowe knows … together.
A woman no man wants…
Miranda Lowe knows she isn’t enough—not pretty enough, not smart enough, not good enough in any way to attract a man. When she loses her family, her home and her job on the same day, she sees no other choice but to become a mail-order bride. Surely a man who’s willing to marry a woman he’s never seen won’t be too picky.
Sometimes, being less than perfect is more than enough.
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Miranda Lowe knows she isn’t the kind of woman men want to marry, but when she loses her family, her home and her job on the same day, she sees no other choice but to offer herself as a mail-order bride to a widower in Sapphire Springs, Texas.
John Weaver needs a mother for his five-year-old twin daughters. He has no intention of falling in love again, and as long as the woman who agrees to marry him understands that, they can have a good life together.
So why is John suddenly thinking about changing the rules? And why is Miranda willing to do whatever it takes to become the kind of woman John could love?
Can John and Miranda find a way to come together and build a real family?’
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2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars.
This book was good, I liked the characters and sympathized with them, but there were things that bothered me and just got in the way of me enjoying it more.
Miranda underwent some trauma at the start of this novella. She is constantly made to feel lesser than her sister by her mother, but she and her sister are close and she does what she can to help support her sister through her own work as a maid. But when tragically loses her sister and then is dismissed from her job for leaving to see her sister when she meets with complications during childbirth. She goes to respond to a young woman who will then connect her with a man seeking a mail-order bride. This woman is incredibly gernerous and kind to Miranda in her time of need, taking her in and providing food and lodging until they find a suitable match. This woman is genuinely so kind and it really bothered me that no mention was made later on of Miranda making any effort to keep in contact, after promising she would. I know there were a lot of changes going on in Miranda’s life and it wasn’t probably her top priority but at least let her know you arrived safely.
I liked John, but I later realized just how weak he was as a character. This man loves his children so much and they are clearly taking well to Miranda and much happier under her care than his aunt’s, but he yet continues to allow his aunt to rule his house by fear while he is at work everyday. Why are you continuing to subject your daughters to a woman who is terrorizing them and belittling them constantly and you can clearly see the negative effects everyday? Just because your aunt helped you get by after your first wife’s death doesn’t mean that you shoud choose avoiding injuring your aunt’s feelings and pride over your children’s mental health. Boo, not here for it.
I liked Miranda, she was sweet. I really felt for her character that her low self-esteem was so instilled in her that she was constantly doubting herself and that it shadowed her every action. She was making growth in having confidence in herself when it came to caring for her new daughters, asserting herself as the woman in the house, and running the home while caring for those around her. So it was disappointing that she then developed an eating disoder because she convinced herself that if she lost weight her husband would finally be able to find her attractive. But she very easily overcomes this eating disorder once she gets some validation from her husband, so then it just felt like a flimsy plot device and undermined the concern I felt for her character.
Overall it was a good read, especially taking into consideration that it all took place within such a limited number of pages. I would consider reading more from this series or author in the future. It’s not something that I’m rushing to do right now, but maybe at some point I’ll revisit this series to read the next book, Audra
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I bought the kindle version of this book when it was being offered for free.
some errors
I really enjoyed this mail Order Bride Book. Miranda and John are both honorable characters. Miranda comes to Texas to help John raise his twin 5 year old girls, only to find out he doesn’t seem to want a real marriage. Mean Aunt Ruth doesn’t help either. Interesting story.