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.An Impulsive Bride: Haunted by dreams of his past, Steve Peterson has no idea that his bride, impulsive Megan McKinley, will be the key to bringing both him and Briar Cliff, Arizona, back to life. But … him and Briar Cliff, Arizona, back to life. But then danger strikes, and Steve has to save Megan’s own life.
An Orphaned Bride: When Joseph Garner’s mail order bride ad catches Tessa Jameson’s eye, she sets off for Briar Cliff, Arizona, with nothing but the steadfast belief that God is guiding her. But when Tessa walks straight into the mystery plaguing the town, she just may decide this is all more than she bargained for.
A Gentle Bride: When Leah May shows up unexpectedly on Colt Savage’s Arizona doorstep, he’s stunned silent—a miracle for the loud, talkative cowboy! But it will take a true miracle to save Leah when she falls ill and Colt realizes he’s finally found a woman who loves him despite his quirks.
A Stubborn Bride: Eleanor Martin has had to be stubborn to stay alive on the streets of her hometown. But her stubbornness may need to be transformed into trust in Dr. Collin Donnelly, the handsome but distant man who steps up to marry Eleanor when her fiancé dies. When Briar Cliff’s saboteur strikes again, Collin’s skill and God’s hand will be all that can pull Eleanor through.
A Secretive Bride: At the same time that the past reaches out to try and drag Edith Garritty back in, the man she’s always loved, Alan Jessup, is in mortal danger. Edith must trust in God and the mail order brides of Briar Cliff to help her face down her shadows—all while confronting the shocking identity of Briar Cliff’s saboteur.
Read the complete Brides of Briar Cliff series today! Five HEA stories suitable for all ages!
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Each story line flows smoothly and captivates you. The characters are realistic and you’ll easily fall in love with them. The right amount of suspense added to each story line keeps you turning the pages to see how each story ends. Don’t hesitate to grab your copy today.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is an incredible boxset you don’t want to miss out on! All the stories are sweet, and clean and take you on a beautiful journey of love. Courageous women and loyal, honorable men will captivate you and endear you to them. Ms. Abbott does an excellent job of providing details and vividly described scenes that help transport you back to that time and you really get a feel for what’s going on in the story. With some danger and plot twists along the way, the stories kept me on the edge of my seat anxiously turning the pages to find out what happens next. This is a wonderful series that will give you hours of reading pleasure, so don’t miss out!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Nice Mail-Order Bride Box Set
I am so glad that the author put this series together in a box set, as I only discovered it with the last two books. I had some issues with the second-to-last book, but I thoroughly enjoyed the conclusion so I wanted to see what the earlier books were like. I am glad I did, and I was not disappointed. If you enjoy our old west mail-order romances in a series with an overarching theme, you may very well enjoy this series. Here are my full reviews for the two final books in the series.
A Stubborn Bride: The 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 hadn’t read the previous books in the series. 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. 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 couple. 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.
A Secretive Bride: Perfect Conclusion to Series
I didn’t really like the previous book in the series, but I have to say that I am impressed with this final installment. The author handled everything just right. Like many series, this one had some overarching themes and mysteries that needed resolution; the author provided that perfectly. The heroine is actually a character that we have followed through all the other books, so we’ve gotten to know her and some of her woes before this book where she is the star. Though, of course, not everything about her was revealed until this book. Having that slow buildup, which I could even appreciate having only read the last three books, really added depth to her story. The hero and heroine’s path to their HEA was certainly not an easy one, making it even sweeter. If you enjoy historical Western romance, this one will deliver the feels and intrigue that the subgenre is best known for.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
A nice, clean collection of historical western romances. Each story line flows smoothly and captivates you. The characters are realistic and you’ll easily fall in love with them.The right amount of suspense added to each story line keeps you turning the pages to see how each story ends. Don’t hesitate to grab your copy today.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a wonderful, clean historical western MOB romance series. Each couple’s story is wonderful and includes a continuous suspense storyline the wove throughout the whole series. I loved that the author included a 10 years later epilogue so we could know how each couple was doing as well as the town. If you like Western MOB romance, you will love this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I loved all of these books. They were beyond excellent. Keepers, every one of them. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book in exchange for a free copy.
I’ve read several books written by Kelli Abbott; she has done a great job at writing a good set of books; she is becoming one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to read more of books her books.
The story lines 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 boxset via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
Boxset: This is a wonderful boxset of Mail Order Brides of Briar Cliff. There’s nothing like a scheme to help populate your town! Join the 5 lucky men and the women who respond to their ads as they find friendship, family and love in the midst of danger.
Impulsive Bride
This was a sweet and clean romance story about Megan and Steve. Megan is left at the altar and has had enough. She’s willing to leave everything behind even if it means marriage to a total stranger. She just wants an honest hardworking man. Steve lives in Briar Cliff Arizona where the summers are hot and the women are um….2, yeah only two. The town knows if they don’t get some of their men married off, their town is as good as dead. So, mail order brides are worth a try, but Steve didn’t expect an answer. Especially not so soon.
I enjoyed this book and the writing. I liked the pacing. There were mentions of going to church, a few prayers muttered, but no scripture references if I recall. The book leaves you with a bit of “who dunnit” mystery that sets you up for the next book. This is a book I would allow my teen daughters to read. 4 stars
Orphaned Bride
Tessa and Joe’s story was a nice follow-up to the first book. The story was quick, but enough for the reader to see that Tessa and Joe work well together and that Tessa is patient. It was nice to see many of the old characters again. The unsolved mystery increases as the book progresses. I liked how Tessa handled the “Test” though I had a mind to handle a few of those situations much differently. I am truly enjoying the absence of foul language and sex. It is nice to read a book where unmarried people refrain from living together and sex until after marriage. Nice, refreshingly clean read that I would let my daughters read. The pacing was appropriate, but I’m left wanting more, which is the problem of most short reads. 3.5 stars
Gentle Bride
This is the third book to the Briar Cliff series. Leah has lost everyone dear to her and is hopeful about starting over in Arizona with Colt, based on their correspondence. Only when she arrives, Colt doesn’t seem to know anything about her. What’s worse? Her ailing stomach chooses to flair up and all she can do is cry. Colt Savage can’t believe the beauty that stands in front of him with hopeful eyes, but his mouth won’t stop moving. Now he’s made her cry. He realizes he might want her to stick around, but he must keep her safe with al that has been happening.
I liked Colt and Leah. They work well together and added depth to the overall story. The mystery is unnerving! This is a wonderful clean read that I am enjoying. There were a few editing issues, wrong name used, switched word, but there weren’t many issues in the writing. 3.5 stars
Stubborn Bride
I really liked Eleanor, no fear, strong and a force to be reckoned with. Collin needed his neck rung, but his back story made sense. I liked how things unfolded and I didn’t want to put this one down. I am usually not surprised in books, but I was surprised by this one since I didn’t read the summary. I’m expecting James Savage and couldn’t believe what happened. How would a mail order bride handle using all she had to move and then losing her fiance before things could happen? This book upped the mystery because the “accidents” are aimed to kill. I think I know who the culprit is, but the next book will reveal it all. 4 stars
Secretive Bride
This is Edith and Alan’s story. It is also my favorite in the series. Everything is unraveled and there are several lessons that culminate with this story; lessons of true friendship, trusting in God, truth and freedom, grace, redeeming love, etc. I did not want to put this book down because I had to know if I correctly chose the culprit. There was a twist of two that I did not anticipate. I enjoyed the brides rallying around each other with support. Edith and Alan deserved their happy ending along with everyone else, but the road they took to get there was incredibly challenging.
The book is easy to read and the writing flows nicely. The pacing is steady and kept me engaged. There were small issues with editing but nothing too blaring. I enjoyed this book and give it 4 stars.
I received this book as part of an Arc boxset from BookSprout in exchange for my honest opinion. I will review each book separately then combine them for the Boxset review.
This series of books was well worth the read. They are clean western romance with lots of exciting mystery and intrigue of the old west. The men of Briar Cliff are like a family of brothers as they work together to bring women to their town. Then then the women work together as a family to improve the town. Still they had all these things keep happening all around them bringing darkness to their happy world. Who was the villain among them tarnishing their happiness, killing their friend, kidnapping their friends, poisoning their friends, killing their stock, burning their homes, and rustling their stock? The brides came to town and found good men with an abundance of love all around them. Together they were determined to build a successful town with lots of children. Plan lots of time when you start this set of books, because you will want to read them all straight through to get to the end to find out who the villain was. Hope you enjoy these books as much as I did.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a box set of 5 stories set in Briar Cliff, Arizona where women are scarce and the town needs more births if it’s going to survive. Five men put ads in the paper in search of a wife to start a family and find a HEA. The stories include: An Impulsive Bride; An Orphaned Bride; A Gentle Bride; A Stubborn Bride; and A Secretive Bride. Below is a review of one of these so you have an idea of what’s inside.
*** Reviewing “A STUBBORN BRIDE” ***
Briar Cliff was a town short on women, so men interested in starting families sent ads out to encourage communication and a possible match. 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.
This is a great book set that will give you hours of reading pleasure. The author brings the men from Briar Cliff sending for and marrying their mail order brides. Each couple has their own story to tell yet all relate to each other. She pulls you in with all the intrigue and mystery with the crimes being committed along with a bit of humor and love along the way. Book five answers your questions and ties up the series. It’s a well written collection with detailed scenes,moves fluidly and is an entertaining set.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
ONE HEARTWARMING SERIES!!!
Fantastic! Kellie rocks this baby from start to finish, with these engaging storylines and captivating plots, bringing this impressive bundle together seamlessly. Shenanigans, escapades and mayhem rule the roost displaying the drama, turmoil, intrigue, sizzling suspense and intense situations, along with a double dose of moxie, you have one intoxicating masterpiece. Quirky mishaps and surprising happenstance swirl with the steaming trials and sensual tribulations, spinning alongside the simmering twists and wicked turns, putting our characters through their paces, testing them in ways they could have never imagined. Blurred lines and crossed boundaries, expectations are weighed and balanced, throwing this baby forward without a hitch, kicking it into overdrive, propelling it into a frenzy with an life-changing realization. The characters, banter, dialogue, interactions and charged atmosphere along with relatable qualities and individual traits, blend and flow, transforming into genuinely charismatic personalities. The scenes are so colorfully described it gives the illusion you were right there in the middle of ground zero with them. Remarkable job Kellie, thanks for sharing this bad boy with us.
The boxed set, main characters from one book appear in others so it feels like staying in touch with friends. very entertaining with a touch of humor and a dash of love with some mystery, and change.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
An Impulsive Bride – Who is Steve Peterson? What does he do for a living? Where is Briar Cliff? We find ourselves starting out in 1869. Who is Jack Andrews & what do we see him in the middle of doing? The results of the meeting are amusing. Who is Megan? Where is she from? Oh my, Megan truly does change the world in Briar Cliff, doesn’t she?
An Orphaned Bride – We get to know more about Joseph Garner in this second story. What does he do for a living? Why does he want a bride? Who are Jeremy, Betty Anne, and Sarah? Who is Tessa? What is one of her favorite things to do? Who is behind what is happening in town?
A Gentle Bride – What is happening with Colt & James? Why does Colt kick up a blue stream of profanity? Who is Leah? Who is Jane and how does Leah know her? What is going on with Leah’s tummy troubles? What happens while Doc Collins goes to get Doc Mitchell? Who is behind what’s happening in Briar Cliff?
A Stubborn Bride – Ah, we get James’ bride Eleanor in this story! Oh my, what happens just before Eleanor shows up in Briar Cliff? Who is the town all ‘het’ up about and what do they think this person did? What mysterious thing happens by ‘him’ in this story? Who is ‘him’? Who is affected this time?
A Secretive Bride – With Doc Collin married, and James gone, who will be our 5th bachelor to get married? Who is Rosalie and where is she from? Who is Mark Campbell? Oh my!!!!!! Talk about some real surprises in this 5th story!!! Oh help me, I did NOT expect what I read that wrapped this boxed set up! Read and see what I mean.
RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT from Booksprout FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin’ With M. Brennan.