Jake Marcum’s busy ranch leaves him no time for courting, and his wounded heart has no place for love. When battlefield nightmares disturb his peace and his tomboy niece, Juliet, needs taming, somehow a mail-order bride seems like a logical solution. Dr. Evangeline Olson has no idea her niece is writing to a rancher on her behalf, and she sure isn’t interested in abandoning her medical practice … practice for a stranger. But when an inheritance threatens to reveal a long-buried secret, she travels west to become Jake’s wife.
Jake soon realizes Evangeline is more than he bargained for, especially when her arrival causes a stir in the community. As the two try to find their way in a marriage of convenience, their fragile relationship is further tested by cattle rustling and kidnapping. Can their hearts overcome past hurts to create a real marriage?
Written for the General Market (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations, violence, or strong language. May also contain some content of an inspirational/religious nature. Similar romance novels in this genre may be categorized as: christian romance, inspirational romance, christian fiction, and clean, wholesome romance.
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Audio review from 2018
This is a period romance set in the 1870’s.
This is not my normal genre of preference but gave it a shot.
I really enjoyed the story. It really flowed. There was drama and secrets and family time and love.
The romance that blossoms between the male and female lead is slow and sweet.
I would highly recommend
This book was given to me by the narrator, I knew nothing about the author and I quite enjoyed the performance as much as the story
My favorite kind of romance and a new author to love!! I was very happy with Meghan’s narration and so happy to have discovered this book!
Jake is a cowboy in every sense of the word. He works hard on his piece of land, tending to the cattle and raising his wild niece Juliet. Between keeping his ranch hands in line, turning a profit on his herd, and the limited number of eligible women in his corner of the desert, he’s out of luck when it comes to love…until a letter answering his matrimonial ad changes everything.
Evangeline is a no-nonsense doctor In Missouri that is far less interested in marriage than most women her age. She’s content to tend to her patients and recover from a small scandal that hit her medical practice. But her niece Maggie has other ideas. Maggie, pretending to be Evangeline, answered an ad for a wife in the matrimonial times and had been corresponding with a man named Jake for quite some time before coming clean to her aunt. Initially scandalized, Evangeline soon thinks that maybe a marriage of convenience and a fresh start is just what she needs to shake off her past. Besides, she believes the Lord works in mysterious ways and perhaps marrying Jake is all in the plan.
Her new home is desolate, warm, but far from the conveniences she has grown up with, and armed with her hefty dowry, she settles into life at the ranch. But when it comes to Jake, she’s not entirely ready to begin her widely duties and puts the fate of the marriage into God’s hands. But aside from the physical aspects, Evangeline is hiding many secrets from her new husband and isn’t sure if he will even want to keep her when she finally does come clean.
While they sort out their life together, cattle’s thieves roam the area, taking not only their livelihood, but sense of security. Bandits are not unheard of and two-faced ranch hands complicate matters when secrets become unraveled. As time goes on and her feelings for Jake deepen, Evangeline must both come clean about her past and keep her new home from falling into ruin. Okay, so I’ll start with the story first. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Because there was no physicality or overt romance scenes, the plot had to carry the book completely. In that, it did not disappoint. It had everything you would expect in a western, and more. There was the fallout from the civil war, cattle thieves, racist shop owners in a dusty town, men on the run, and the ramifications of women’s rights and breaking the glass ceiling of what is expected of a woman and a wife. As a historian, the story was vastly believable as well and I didn’t find any inaccuracies that might ruin it for another history buff.
The bulk of the book relied on Christian values, from the themes of forgiveness and grace to the cornerstones of Evangeline and Jake’s marriage. While I normally do not read Christian books, it’s nice to have a clean read that one can share with Grandma without feeling the need to skip Sunday dinner out of shame.
As for the narration, I was pleased as punch (whatever that means!) at how Meghan handled things. Her voice was clear and sharp and she gave life to each character as she spoke. You could always tell when Jake was calling out from the barn or Juliet was speaking about her beloved dog, even without using “he said/she said” after every sentence. You would never know she was a one woman show, recording and editing herself. Overall, I highly recommend Secrets and Charades in audiobook and highly highly recommend Meghan Kelly as a narrator.