Bella Devereaux dreamed of being a restaurateur, not a thief. But life had other plans. Forced to compromise her principles to survive, Bella alwaysgives half of her ill-gotten gains to the French émigrés in New Orleans and saves the other half to fulfill her lifelong goal of opening her own French café. A priceless cache of jewels was supposed to be her last job, but the police are on to her, … her, and so is another criminal—Jack Pasquin. He’s more than a thief, he’s a murderer, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to force Bella’s hand—including kill her. Taking the jewels and fleeing to Oregon City as a mail-order bride seems to be her only hope.
Marshal Robert McCauley never forgave himself for being on the job when his first wife passed away. Guilt has kept him from falling in love again, but a mail-order bride seems to be the perfect answer. When Bella arrives, not only is she beautiful and intelligent, but her mysterious ways intrigue him more than he cares to admit. Neither of them wants to admit they have fallen in love, but when Bella’s past catches up to them, Robert will have to choose—once more—between the woman he loves and the duty he serves.
Can Bella save the husband she’d fallen in love with? Or will she become a widow before she becomes a real wife?
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Robert and Bella have an adventure to go on to get to their HEA. Bella comes from a colorful background that doesn’t mush well with Roberts. They have to work together to clear her from her past.
Bella married Sheriff Robert McCauley by proxy after
she barely escaped being shot for robbing the English
she thought they would all be at the The New Years Eve Ball in New Orleans. Bella gave most of the money and jewelry to the French emigre’s. Her people were treated horribly by the English. But she had a dream of a French restaurant in San Francisco so she kept some of the money and jewels for herself. Bella bought her passage to Oregon on a wagon train for mail order brides heading west. When Bella met her new husband and he kissed her, she had to be careful because her husband was very handsome and she had never been kissed like that..she almost melted he kissed so good, she never felt like that before. This is the Very Basic Beginning and I just loved this book!! Romantic suspenseful thriller mystery you just can’t put down. I was given this arc and I voluntarily leave this review.
The thief and the lawman, who could have dreamed that such a match would be possible. Having to escape her home after being discovered stealing, Bella is married by proxy to lawman Marshall Robert McCauley. Robert isn’t at all sure that he intends going through with the marriage, but after seeing Bella, knows that he cannot turn his back on her. However, things are not as they at first seem and discovering that his wife is actually a thief is a shock to him. It takes Bella being put at risk for Robert to consider what is really important to him. The story is suspenseful and romantic and comes to a happy conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Robert is the marshal of Oregon City, Bella is a thief from New Orleans, together they are the perfect couple.
Both have a past that they have to overcome and both have secrets that they bring into their marriage. This story has mystery, love, passion, adventure, and visits from past characters which makes it a quick, fun, and very enjoyable read.
Cynthia Woolf is a writer that grabs your attention and keeps it not only through one book, but the entire series. One thing I love is that you can read her books in the series as a series or as a standalone book. This allows for people who haven’t read previous books to read new books as they are published.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a romance that has mystery built in. It was a great read that I was able to finish in less than three hours.
I received an ARC from the author via Bookfunnel for an honest review.