Dreams of Finding Mr. Right Go Wrong in the Old West The Bride’s Dilemma by Susan Page Davis Wyoming, 1883 Eve Martin arrives in Cheyenne to learn that man she came to marry is in jail, accused of a violent murder. Should she get on the next eastbound train, or has God brought her here to help save Caleb Blair’s life? Romancing the Rancher by Linda Ford Montana, 1886 Amelia expects a safe … Linda Ford
Montana, 1886
Amelia expects a safe home for herself and her niece as mail-order bride to Zach Taggerty. Only Zach has never heard of her, and the last thing he needs is more complications in his life.
The Marriage Sham by Vickie McDonough
Texas, 1888
Mail-order bride Zola Bryant is devastated. Her newlywed husband is dead. But even worse, they were never truly married because the man who wed them was an outlaw not a preacher. What will she do now that her life and reputation are in tatters?
The Galway Girl by Erica Vetsch
Kansas, 1875
A mail-order mix-up sends Irish lass Maeve O’Reilly to the Swedish community of Lindsborg, Kansas. Will Kaspar Sandberg consider it a happy accident or a disaster to be rectified as soon as possible?
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I’ve really enjoyed reading this novella collection. I read one story per week (that was hard for me!
The mishaps the authors put these poor girls through were certainly entertaining.
I liked how each bride showed some spunk and did the best they could in the situation they found themselves in. Eve gets busy trying to find out what really happened. Amelia takes charge and helps Zach care for his father and sister. Zola, despite all she went through in a few short months, helps Evan with his sister. But she really helps Amy the most. Last but not least, we have Maeve. She escapes a terrible situation by becoming a MOB but is not at all what Kaspar ordered. Maeve gets busy cleaning and cooking and caring for grandmother right away.
It’s not spoiling anything that I say these all have happy endings. It’s how those happy endings come about that I liked so much. One of my favorite quotes is from Romancing the Rancher.
“It’s a shame to let disappointments and challenges rob us of happiness. Life and love and laughter are meant to be enjoyed.”
*I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I was under no obligation to post a review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.
This book included four super cute stories. I think the first two were my favorites, but barely, because I really enjoyed them all.
This book was excellent! When you bring these great authors to compile stories for a book you get greatness! I loved each story and the sweet Clean romance that came with it. Each story is different but you still get a great story that resonates in your heart. I didn’t want the book to end . I loved the characters in each story. The characters showed love and compassion and pulled me into the story. There was nothing in the stories that I would change, each story kept me fully engaged. This is one book you will want to read, history romance and compassion will lighten your heart and have you wishing for more!
Was given a complimentary from Net Galley. All opinions are my own.
My Thoughts on The Bride’s Dilemma: This novella was nice though a little slow and maybe lacking in feeling. I’m not saying that it was boring just slightly slow and hard to get a feel for the characters.
Willy was such a sweet character and. I wish that there had been more of an explanation of what happened after the novella.
My Thoughts on Romancing the Rancher: This was such a cute little novella! I loved every word through the mystery of the rival who wanted the land wasn’t tied up as I wanted. This was a heartbreaking story at first and ended suite sweetly.
My Thoughts on The Marriage Sham: Hmm, I’m not sure what to say about this book, I enjoyed it, but the ending was sudden and too quick. I did love the pranks and Zola and Amy’s relationship. This was my favorite of the collection with the pranks, redemption, and love, I only wish it had been longer.
My Thoughts on The Galway Girl: This little mix up was cute! The beginning wasn’t good for the character and I suggest that you not read it unless you are 18 up, I skimmed for a while because of the boss’s son. It was interesting to see an Irish lass came into a big Swedish community.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review and am truly happy to provide it — all the thoughts are my own.
4 very enjoyable stories, that are easy to get into and hard to put down. All heartwarming and will bring a smile to your face.
The Bride’s Dilemma by Susan Page Davis
Eva is on her way to Cheyenne to meet up with her soon to be husband. Problem is, she finds out he’s in jail when she arrives. As she sets out to question people she finds some aren’t happy with her probing, but also makes an unlikely friend. Lovely story that keeps the pages turning as Eva goes about trying to solve who the real culprit is.
Romancing the Rancher by Linda Ford
Amelia arrives in Broken Arrow planning to marry Zach. Problem is, he’s telling her he didn’t write the letters. He convinces her to write to another person seeking a mail order bride but at the same time he is convinced by the postmaster to take Amelia and her little girl Daisy back to his ranch so she has a place to stay in the interim. Loved the characters and an easy to read story.
The Marriage Sham by Vickie McDonough
Zola’s marriage wasn’t what she hoped. When she learns her husband of 4 months is dead, and he was a robber on top of that, she despairs of what to do. When Evan comes into town looking for a new caretaker for his sister as well as someone to keep house, he decides to risk bringing Zola into the fold. Beautiful story with likeable characters.
The Galway Girl by Erica Vetsch
Maeve has hired on for the kitchen help, but has troubles with the bosses son. She sends in a reply to a grocer in Chicago looking for a wife, but gets tickets from another man, written to a lady named Trudy. Things get interesting and the story keeps moving along. A fitting conclusion to an enjoyable series.
This is a nice collection of mail order bride stories gone wrong. If you like Christian lit and mail order bride stories you are likely to enjoy these. I liked that in each story the mishap was very different from the others. Each novella was a unique story. And each was enjoyable. Plus I love the cover.
The Bride’s Dilemma by Susan Page Davis
Likable characters though it feels that we spend most of the time with Eve. Caleb spends most of the story in jail but we learned quickly in the first chapter or so what his character is made of. He’s obviously a good man in a stinky situation. There is a little mystery to figure out who really dunnit and I didn’t figure it out until the reveal. Probably not enough clues in the story but the mystery isn’t the point of the story anyway. It is just the means to tell the story.
Romancing the Rancher by Linda Ford
This one also has a bit of a mystery of how they got in this position. Again I didn’t figure it out until the reveal. But I enjoyed the characters and could relate with Zach stresses about taking care of his father with dementia. It was pretty realistic from my experience. Amelia was very sweet with Pa and I enjoyed Daisy as well.
The Marriage Sham by Vickie McDonough
I can’t imagine going through what Zola went through in the premise of this story. I’m grateful to live in a time and society that would be more accepting of such things because how she was treated was totally unfair. I loved how she was able to navigate the difficulties she endured even with the obnoxious little sister she was caring for.
The Galway Girl by Erica Vetsch
Fun story. I’m Swedish so it was fun for me that they were dealing with a town settled by Swedes and then throwing in an Irish woman. I liked these characters too. I would have liked for her to confess the reason she arrived as she did so she didn’t look quite so flaky but other than that it was good.
Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: attempted sexual attack, references to previous abuse, kidnapping, threatening situations
I’m a sucker for a good mail order bride story. For me, they never get old as long as they are well written. Mail Order Mishaps is definitely well written! There are four stories in this book and each one held an aspect that I fell in love with. I did NOT feel as if I was reading the same story over and over. All four of these storytellers bring something fun and interesting to the table. The historic details were characters within themselves. Give this fun book a read and add it to your keeper shelf!
This book is wonderful!! All of the stories are very well written and hold your attention. If you like good clean christian books, you will love this one. This book has everything that makes a book great. I highly recommend this book to everybody. Thank you Barbour Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC copy. This is my honest opinion.
Knowing that with four authors I was being offered novellas, and I can take a break for a while and consume one, which I love, well, let me warn you, once you finish one you will begin cheating and before you know it you engaged in the next.
I love how these author’s minds worked and these all seem to have a different twist to them, and meant page-turning for answers and sure to get your attention.
A don’t miss sweet read!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Barbour, and was not required to give a positive review.
Great book about using the situations God puts you in for good 🙂
The fisrt story in this book is about a bride who steps off the trail and finds her soon to be husband in jail. Definitely a mishap. I loved how the lead character wasn’t afraid to help and go out of her comfort zone.
The second book is one of my favorite books in the series. Its about a young couple set upon by a matchmaker. A wonderful about healing families.
The third book is about a bride who was tricked and had to make her way again, a great story.
Finally the forth book, what a lovely way to end a series!!! A fiery Irish red head who needs to escape her situation and uses the opportunity God gave her to escape. When she gets there she meets a Swedish man …. so cool.
I would highly recommend reading this book 🙂
I volunteered to read this book from Barbour Publishing in return for my honest feed back. The opinions expressed within are my own.