Anyone who was absolutely anyone knew the story of how Julie Anne Baptiste’s parents met: the blue-blood Union cavalry officer and the freedwoman on her way North fell madly in love at first sight, all in the midst of the Civil War. It was legendary within New York City’s Four Hundred, and from girlhood, Julie daydreamed of her finding own true love match. But now, as a well-seasoned debutante of … of twenty-one years, Julie only dreams of teaching and much prefers the vibrant world of her books over the company of society’s most eligible bachelors.
Julie is content to perform the role of affluent debutante until she realizes all of her tomorrows have horrifyingly become occupied by a gamut of social engagements, and they will remain so until she marries. Desperate and knowing only a wedding will put a stop to the madness of living as a debutante, Julie does the unthinkable: she responds to a mail order advert in the Heart and Hand Matrimonial Times. No longer a girl fantasizing of love, Julie did not anticipate forming a genuine romantic connection with the man she corresponds with, but when ex-Union soldier Forrest Wickes writes her, Julie loses her heart.
All seems well with Julie’s plan to leave the city and marry, until the society pages intercept one of her letters and within the hour all of New York knows of Julie’s decision to become a mail-order bride. However, the New York City society pages don’t know they only reported half the truth about Julie Baptiste. The debutante intends to marry not only Forrest Wickes but also his best friend, William Barnes. Her secret of taking two husbands safe, Julie sets out for the Montana Territory before the papers can learn the truth. But how will a debutante-turned-teacher manage frontier life with two husbands?
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[Before I begin – this story involves a lot of talk and emotions about babies and pregnancy and eagerness to get the heroine pregnant, and the importance of it, and so on. If that is at all difficult for you to read, you should tread carefully or avoid completely.]
This book has one of the best covers of all time (don’t argue with me) so I was already excited to read it. Then I figured out it was a mail-order bride story, so my excitement doubled. THEN I realised it was MFM and my excitement TRIPLED. And you know what? Every giddy hope I had for this book, it thoroughly delivered.
Julie Ann is a mixed-race (black and white) New York socialite type person who wants more from life, so she answers an ad by a man looking for a wife and a school teacher. He’s from wherever it is in America that had mail-order brides because no-one wanted to go there. (No I don’t know geography or whatever, leave me alone.) The thing is, he’s not the only one who wants to marry Julie. He also wants her to marry his best friend. I mean SUPER best friend. They were in The War (no I don’t know which war, leave me alone) together and it Changed Them and now they do everything together.
So Julie goes and they just… get married. All three of them. In the church. And everyone in town shows up and celebrates. LMAO. It was delightful.
I have multiple things to say about it:
1. I always say that I prefer MMF, where everyone in the threesome is making out and whatever. That doesn’t happen in this book, but it doesn’t actually matter, because though the heroes aren’t together sexually (note: they do have sex with Julie at the same time, they just don’t get with each other) they do love each other. It feels like they are in the relationship together, all three of them, which is what I prefer, rather than two guys being in two separate relationships with one woman. That’s fine too, it’s just not what I prefer to read. Is this making sense? TL;DR: the heroes love each other and look after each other and need each other and I adore it.
2. The fact that they are openly and legally a throuple was so much fun. People even double-barrel Julie’s last name, so she has both her husbands’ names. And though she acknowledges the arrangement is unusual, the book doesn’t bother to angst over it much. This meant we could focus on the actual romance rather than societal views OF the romance, if you see what I mean, which, again, I prefer.
3. No, I don’t know if that was legal, socially acceptable in certain areas, likely to happen, or even possible. And I honestly do not care either way. Maybe it’s factually impossible. Maybe it should’ve been impossible, but there are historical cases of it somehow happening. Maybe this is a BOOK, and books are for FUN, and they follow INTERESTING, UNLIKELY, AND EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENINGS, and the real point is the story and how it makes you FEEL. Perhaps.
So! Moving on!
This book was more romantic than sexy, though there were definitely sexy times! But they weren’t super explicit. I still very much enjoyed the whole story, but I wanted to make a note since I know most of my followers are big horny demons like me. You have been warned.
Honestly, I just found this story so thoroughly satisfying. It made me happy, it made me melty, it made me anxious to see what would kick off next. I’m so glad to have discovered this author and I cannot wait for more. Especially because that epilogue was very… *eye emoji*. Soooo. You want this book, is what I’m saying.
I fell in love with the characters and the love they had for one another. Ms. Carter writes beautifully and it captures your heart and imagination.
I loved the characters in this story. Forrest and Will were opposites but complemented each other well. I wished we saw more of them alone to explain why they wanted to share a wife. Julie had such a determination about her to find her own way and accept what most would not have. This triad worked for me as the emotions felt strong and real. I recommend this story.
I received an ARC of this story through Enticing Journey Promotions, and this is my unsolicited review.
This book was truly a wonderful surprise! This is a new to me author, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the blurb caught my attention and I just couldn’t resist! An interesting story line, fun characters, and explosive plot twists kept this story moving from the beginning to the very last page!
Julie is a New York City debutante, with an adventurous spirit. She isn’t one to conform, just for propriety’s sake. She decides that she doesn’t want that life and sets about finding one that will make her happy. She answers a letter for a mail order bride, and gets a whole lot more than she ever could have imagined! Will and Forrest grew up together. Joined the war together when they were still mostly children. After the war, they became law men together in a small town. It only makes sense for them to take a bride together, right?!? Only, Will is still fighting demons left behind by the war.
This was a fun story. Julie is such a likeable character, and the guys were perfect for her. The chemistry between them was crazy hot. I really enjoyed this book, and will be sure to look for more from this author in the future!