Finding Hope
Grace never thought that she would find love because she was plain with a homely figure. A friend gives her a copy of the Mail Order Bride newspaper, and Grace things that she might be able to find a husband who really loves her for her personality. When a prospective husband asks for a picture, she thinks that the only way to get him to like her would be for her to paint her face, add padding, and wear a wig so that she seems like a beauty. When she arrives in Montana, he sees her true self at the train station and leaves her immediately. An older woman has pity on her and decides to give her a room on her farm, and she helps both her and her nephew by cooking meals for them. As she gets closer to the nephew, she wonders if he is going to be her second chance at happiness.
I love Ruby Hill’s mail-order bride romances, and this one does not disappoint. This time, the main character Grace is not comfortable in her own skin, and doesn’t believe that she is worthy of happiness because she is too plain. She has to learn to love herself and get over how her prospective husband hurt her before she can love someone else. This plot was different from the others I had read, and I loved how it focused on the fact that girls were insecure about themselves throughout history. Most of the other brides had other issues, not necessarily issues of body image.
The plot moved smoothly, and it was fast-paced as usual because it was a short story. Nevertheless, it was still a decent amount of character development. Unlike the other mail-order romances, this one actually focuses a lot on Grace’s relationship with the Aunt rather than Grace’s romance with the nephew. I felt that this gave me the chance to really understand what type of person she was. The only thing that I wished I had known was more of her story before she became a bride.
There was also quite a bit of worldbuilding in this novel. I loved the scene with the sunset. I won’t say too much about it, but I thought that it really embodied small town life where people can just sit down and relax.
There were no editing errors that I noticed, even though I was reading an advance copy of the novel.
I received an advance copy of this novel and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 5/5
The Bride’s Heart
Hazel thought that she was going to marry Christopher. He decides that he only wants to court her secretly, and when she doesn’t want to give him what he wants, he decides to take it. Hazel fights him off, running away, but before she knows it the entire town has heard and feels sorry for her. She knows that she doesn’t want this to be her entire life, living in the shadow of one event, and so she decides to be a Mail Order Bride. Most advertisements are simply people like Christopher, but one stands out to her. She decides to take a chance and move to a ranch with the owner Stephen.
Stephen likes to keep things in order and he expects Hazel to follow his few rules. Neither plan to be romantic with each other in the slightest, but soon, feelings start to emerge.
I have never read a Mail Order Bride novel, and so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised with this novel. Even though the historical elements weren’t necessarily the focus of the novel, they weren’t butchered or forgotten about. The romance seemed realistic, with people falling in love with each other’s personality rather than just insta-love. I also thought that this book would be a very short read, as most of the historical romance.
Hazel was also a character who was strong and did not need a husband to be happy. She fought off her attacker and wasn’t afraid to tell anyone, instead allowing the whole town to go after the boy. She married so that she could move away in life, but she still kept her head about her and wanted to be as independent as possible. She was truly a role model within this story.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a Historical Fiction Western Romance/Mail Order Bride Romance with a female character who values her independence and a realistic storyline.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Love’s Chance
Charlotte has grown up wealthy, never wanting for anything. She doesn’t know how to cook, clean, work on a farm, or do any of the typical housewife skills. Always thinking that she would marry a rich man, she never thought to learn any of these skills. Suddenly, her father loses the family’s fortune, and they are in danger of losing everything. Being married would solve the issue of having an extra person to take care of, but everyone in the town knows that she would not be a useful wife due to not having any skills. Charlotte decides to apply be a mail-order-bride in order to find a way to get married outside of her city. All she hopes is that she will be able to learn the skills she will need to be useful to her husband so that she won’t simply be sent back home in disgrace.
This is the second mail-order-bride romance that I remember reading, and this is definitely my favorite of the two. Charlotte had a really unique reason for wanting to be an anonymous bride, she had no house-wife skills! This made for an interesting story, as Charlotte tries to hide from her new husband that she can’t do any of the “normal” household chores.
The romantic growth in this story was slow, but as it was short it did not drag out. In fact, the plot was fast-paced, and I found myself flying through the book in almost one complete sitting. These short romance stories are perfect for just sitting down one afternoon and relaxing. They are all clean, and the characters are so unique.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet, clean historical fiction romance novel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Overall Rating: 5/5
