Welcome to Briar Cliff, Arizona! Women are scarce and the town is in need of babies if it’s going to survive. Five desperate men put out ads in the paper in search of wives. These are their stories.
Eleanor Martin has had a rough go of it the last few years. Then, on the worst day of her life, salvation appears in the form of James Savage’s mail order bride ad. After a month-long correspondence, … correspondence, the Briar Cliff veterinarian proposes and Eleanor accepts, immediately heading west to begin a new life. But when she arrives, it’s to a horrific shock. Everything has changed in a blink, but Eleanor stubbornly refuses to lose faith in the plan God has for her.
Collin Donnelly is too busy tending to three towns’ medical needs to be bothered with romance. Keeping busy constantly allows him to forget his painful past, so he doesn’t mind always being on the go. When Eleanor shows up on the same day that James Savage dies, however, Collin offers to do the right thing and marry the bereft mail order bride because Collin was next in line to send away for a bride anyway. He doesn’t expect to swiftly fall in love with Eleanor, and when he does, it terrifies him so deeply, he neglects his promise to wed Eleanor and leaves her feeling unwanted and lost. In turn, she walks out on him, stubbornly determined to make her own way. Alone.
When the danger plaguing Briar Cliff strikes again, the reality that he may lose this brave, headstrong woman suddenly snaps everything into focus for Collin, showing him that his priorities are out of alignment. But he fears he may be too late—both in saving Eleanor’s life and winning her heart. If Eleanor survives, Collin can only pray he’ll be able to convince his would-be bride that he’s worth taking a chance on.
This is Book #4 in a series of five novellas. Clean HEA romances suitable for all ages!
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This is the fourth book of the series, and Ms. Abbott has once again given us a sweet, clean, and heartwarming story. This book brings us mystery and intrigue with plenty of action and romance. The characters were wonderful with personality and depth that gives them an authentic quality. Eleanor is a strong woman, determined to make a good life for herself. She comes to town as a mail order bride trying to find that life and upon her arrival, she learns her intended has been murdered. Collin is the town doctor and a noble man, and he offers to marry Eleanor. However, they have quite the road to their happy ending. With plenty of plot twists and turns, this book will keep you engaged till the end. This is a great addition to the series and I am looking forward to the next one!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a great, sweet story. I loved the way the relationship between Eleanor and Collins progressed and their hea was so touching.
Pacing Felt Off
I think that pacing is one of the trickiest things in a novella. There often just isn’t a lot of time to let everything that needs to take place happen with the correct timing. That was the flaw of this book. I can’t remember if I read any of the other books in this series or not (though covers looked familiar), but I found the book confusing with a prologue that didn’t really seem to relate to the future romance and introduced a lot of characters and relationships between them. That made for a bit of a jumble at the beginning since I didn’t recall these characters. Things start after this with a bang or seven, as our mail order bride finds out that her fiance has been murdered. I won’t go into a lot of plot details here. But my pacing issue is that I didn’t really feel like the ultimate romantic couple had much page time together. The book seemed to really focus on all the external happenings going on in the area rather than the coup. I noticed I was at about the 33% mark, but not much had actually happened with the couple aside from their meeting and one or two very brief discussions. Especially when a novella is so short like this one, there just needs to be more page time for the couple to make the romance believable, including early on in the story. The romance doesn’t start until the meet-cute, at least in my book. I like both halves of a couple, and there certainly are some interesting characters in town. The overarching theme of the series with somebody having it in for the town and the mail-order brides continues. While I did like the characters, I ultimately felt unsatisfied with this book.
I received a free copy of this book, but that didn’t affect my review.
A great addition to the mail order bride series. Each book in the series is a great romance set in a small western town. A bit of danger, murder and mystery just add captivating elements to the story. Great characters you can’t help but fall in love with as you get to know them throughout the story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Mail order bride books are my favorite stories. You get romance, intrigue, sadness and you feel everything that happens to the character. I enjoyed this book about Eleanor and her journey to marry James Savage but instead is going to get married to Collin.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Eleanor agreed to marry James Savage because she had been living on the streets and had no where else to go. When she arrives in Briar Cliff and discovers James has been murdered, Dr. Collin Donnelly offers her his hand by default. That wasn’t very romantic especially since the man she thought she was marrying had just died. Collin was bumbling and inattentive in this book, but when Eleanor and his mother’s Maisel’s lives are on the line it shakes him up. It was funny how Collin kept wearing Steve’s clothes that were way too big on him rather than taking the time to have new made after he lost everything in a house fire. I was surprised the stores didn’t sell anything ready made. The person who is terrorizing the town strikes again first with murder and then poison, but it is not revealed who the culprit is leaving the reader to have to wait for the next book.
A Stubborn Bride is the fourth book in The Brides of Briar Cliff series and is a great historical western romance.
I am loving this series of mail-order bride romances. The author has given us wonderful stories about romance set in a growing small town but there is also danger happening. The arsonist has advanced his game to murder. This book has great characters, murder, mystery, and a chance for romance, as long as Collin doesn’t mess up his chance with Eleanor.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I’ve read several books written by Kellie Abbott; she has done a great job at writing a good book; she is becoming one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to read more of books her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the chemistry between the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
This one is so sad.
What started off as another gentleman from Briar Cliff getting his bride turned into something else and we have the first twist in our tale. This one is so sad in the beginning there will be a bit of happiness mix in later but this is the darkest of the whole series. There are twists right and left and a mystery villain. There will be fingers being pointed and things assumed the question is the town right. The one theme in this series is the danger the town is in and even with the town thinking one thing I think in the end there will be a completely different answer. I enjoyed the book and glad things worked out for Collin and Eleanor but there are still some unanswered questions and I am looking forward to the next book. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
This is another book in the Briar Cliff mail order bride series. Eleanor as no choice but to sign up as a mail order bride and James who is the vet in this small town is her intended. The day she arrives she finds out that he has been murdered so the next man in line for a bride is Collin the town’s doctor. Collin stays busy with his practice and he is happy that way but when he takes on Eleanor as his bride to be he begins to get cold feet which turns Eleanor off and she decides to walk away. Collin knows he has in made a mistake with her and he is afraid that she could be in danger. This is a sweet mail order bride romance with suspense and danger.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Briar Cliff was a town short on women, so interested men in starting families sent ads out to encourage communication and possible marriages. The town veterinarian, James Savage, sent for his mail order bride, Eleanor Martin. But when she arrives, her husband-to-be is murdered, shot in the back!
Collin Donnelly is the town’s doctor and is quite busy with his patients. Although he was planning on a bride eventually, he offers to marry Eleanor instead. Finding himself falling for her so quickly, he was terrified and backed out of his offer, leaving her on her own. But when she is in danger, he realizes his mistake. Can he save her life? Will he be able to convince her that he had been wrong and wants to make a new life with her?
This was a good book with a believable story line. I liked that Eleanor, like many of these courageous brides, was a strong woman, determined to make a life for herself regardless of how difficult it becomes. I was glad Collin finally came to his senses – but is he too late? Grab your copy and see what Fate has in store for these two.
Book four in The Brides of Briar Cliff series a well written story but it does leave you with a question., I hope it is answered in the next book. Eleanor Martin a mail order bride comes to Briar Cliff to find that James Savage the man who was to marry her has died. Dr. Collin Donnelly offers to marry her but then before they can he distances himself, but things will happen that will bring them together. I want to read the next book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Eleanor Martin, who has experience a hard life until now, is a mail order bride who arrives in Briar Cliff, AZ to find out that her future husband has been killed. The town doctor, Collin Donnelly, steps up and offers to marry her. He turns out to be apprehensive as well as too busy with his practice, and he neglects Eleanor to the point of almost not talking to her. She questions God about his plan for her and she LMOAT abandons hope of her marriage.
Mysteriously Eleanor and Collin’s mother are poisoned and Collin steps up and both women recover. During the recovery Collin determines that he is in love with Eleanor and they develop a real romance when Collin proposes to Eleanor. As the story closed, this poisoning appears to be part of the ongoing attack on the town and particularly the mail order brides that have come to town.
This is the fourth book in this Christian Briar Cliff Brides series and is a great addition. I eagerly await the next book. It is highly recommended and Ms. Abbott’s work is not to be missed.
Book four in The Brides of Briar Cliff series brings Eleanor and Collin’s story. The author once again does a great job taking you back to the old west with her detailed and descriptive writing and weaves another great mail order bride romance filled with drama,mystery and intrigue. She had me hooked from start to finish reading. I’m looking forward to the next book.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
This was a great, clean story and a great addition to the series. I hate what happened to James. Eleanor and Collin’s story was wonderful. I loved seeing characters from previous stories. The background story is full of mystery and suspense. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was fourth book of this series each book can be read as standalone. The men of Briar Cliff, Arizona all got together and decided it they wanted their town to grow, they needed to bring women to town and the only way to do that was to obtain mail order brides. It was now James Savage’s turn to marry and his bride was on the way to town, but trouble was still brewing with no answers in sight.
The romance continues with this story, first with James’ letters, but by the time Eleanor gets to town James has been killed. Now the the Doctor steps up as the next in line to take James’ place. The plot gets more complex with each book as we have added more people and situations. We really are no closer to solving the mystery of all the problems around Briar Bluff. The characters are well developed throughout and enter act with each other well. The mystery and intrigue you feel from the very first page will hold your attention until the end. I cannot wait for the next as I want to know who is causing all the trouble.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This historical Western is simply said wonderful. It is a part of this mail order brides series of this author and they are so far all quite wonderful. This one opened up my waterworks quite literally and I felt so bad but then again, I am a total wuss when it comes to sad matters and mistreatments. Overall this one is just really good, it is not long, could easily be made longer, but is quite suffiecient as is. Fabulous four stars is my end result of this story and the story is well deserving of those.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.