Carolyn Davidson (1)Rezensionen

I wanted to like this book better than I did. It had elements that seemed really interesting, like the realism of a young girl without a mother who didn't realize she could become pregnant without being married and was clueless about what was happening to her body. So the doctor marries her. If that had been the thrust of the book, the learning to be married thing, then I would have been okay. But about halfway through the father of the baby comes back with his mother for some reason wanting the girl to divorce her husband, like that's likely in 1897, when the boy's family had rushed him away originally when they found out he knocked her up. But she needs the baby for some nefarious doings. Then the heroine is kidnapped. The heroine's father who never loved her, who beat her up and kicked her out when she told him she was pregnant, shows up and does more dirty deeds with the baby's evil grandmother. After she is rescued and the baby is born he apologizes later and all is forgiven. WTF? This book just jumped the shark for me.

Abandoned by Carolyn Davidson - “Abandoned” is a stand-alone novella that almost entirely takes place on a wagon train headed west. Elizabeth was part of a wagon train that was attacked by marauding Indians who killed most of the settlers and burned their possessions. By some miracle, they left her alive and didn’t take her with them. She’s found unconscious by Cameron, one of the scouts for a different wagon train, who takes her back to his group. There he keeps her in his wagon, although him caring for an unmarried young woman sets some busybodies’ tongues wagging. Cameron is a widower who has a piece of land in Colorado, and this is his last trip with the wagon train. He’s brought supplies with him this time, and after they reach Denver, he’s planning to settle down and find another wife. He views it as fortuitous that Elizabeth is basically dropped into his lap and wants to marry her as soon as they find a preacher, but she’s suffering from partial amnesia and doesn’t want to rush into anything until she’s certain there isn’t someone else out there waiting for her.

Sadly Cameron and Elizabeth aren’t very deep characters. Most of what we learn about them I’ve already outlined in the paragraph above. A few more tidbits of Elizabeth’s past come to light as she slowly regains her memory in bits and pieces, but overall, I didn’t get a good sense of what made either of them who they are. Cameron lost his wife, but doesn’t really seem too broken up over it. Even Elizabeth, who suffered through a traumatic event seems to bear few ill effects aside from a couple of minor injuries and one scene where she has a bad dream that’s easily comforted away. That being the case and since she didn’t receive any major knocks on the head, I couldn’t quite figure out why she had amnesia. Maybe the experience was traumatic enough to make her forget, not only the event, but most of her life. However, if that was the case, then I felt that should have been shown through other emotional means such as her being more frightened. Then there was Cameron who got on my nerves with his chauvinistic, patronizing ways. I’ve admittedly read heroes who were worse, but many of his comments made made me roll my eyes at their ridiculousness. Then there’s also the proprietary way in which he treats Elizabeth. Basically from the moment he finds her, he decides she’s his and tells her he’s going to marry her rather than asking. For her part, Elizabeth only puts up a token fuss over his high-handedness, and instead, generally eats it up, even though, when her memory returns, she makes a complaint about a friend of her father’s who was traveling with them doing the exact same thing. So overall, I felt like she was a bit of a marshmallow who didn’t have much of a backbone. I’m all for a man protecting and caring for his woman, but he needs to treat her as his equal and not make silly assumptions that she’ll just roll over and agree to marry him.

In addition to the characterizations being lacking, the plot of “Abandoned” was pretty thin. It mostly consists of them traveling on the wagon train the rest of the way to Denver, which was probably the most interesting thing about the story. I’m always up for a good old west tale about settlers forging their way to a new life and I like the details of pioneer living. However, there’s not much in the way of conflict other than Elizabeth not having all her memories and feeling like she can’t accept Cameron’s suit until she knows for sure whether she has a husband and then her also wanting to see if she can find her father who might still be alive. Also the romance doesn’t have much depth either. It’s pretty much insta-love with little rhyme or reason as to how, why, or when they fell for each other. Additionally there were a couple of other story points that were more minor but nonetheless bothered me. First, Cameron has a line not long after he finds Elizabeth, where he basically insinuates that all Indians are brutes and that they all view white people as their enemies, which wasn’t true and seemed racially insensitive to me. Then toward the end, there’s a brief mention of someone shooting another person for being a coward. Now admittedly the dead person was clearly no prize, but I didn’t feel like his actions warranted the death penalty, especially given that he’d supposedly been friends with the man who shot him. For all these reasons, “Abandoned” ended up being just an OK read for me. I was able to give it three stars, probably due to the short length of the story. If I’d had to put up with Cameron for much longer, though, my rating likely would have dropped even more. It was my first read by Carolyn Davidson, but since I have several more of her books on my TBR pile, I’ll likely give her another chance to wow me at some point. I just may not be in a hurry to do so and I’ll be hoping that her next hero isn’t quite so annoying and that the story and characters have a bit more depth. Star Rating: ***

Almost a Bride by Cheryl St. John - “Almost a Bride” is the third and final story in Cheryl St. John’s Copper Creek Brides series. It features Charmaine, who is a cousin to Annie from the first book, Sweet Annie, and a friend to Kate from the second book, His Secondhand Wife. Charmaine has been waiting for four long years for her beau to propose and decides that maybe it’s time to look toward greener pastures. While filling in for another cousin on a float-building committee for the upcoming Founder’s Day parade, she starts getting to know Jack who is new in town. Jack used to live in the mountains, but he moved closer to town for the sake of his young son, Daniel. However, he’s mostly been keeping to himself, until he volunteers his barn as a site for building the float. As they work on the project together, an attraction begins to form, but Jack may have trouble getting past his preconceived notions of the type of woman he thinks Charmaine is.

Charmaine watched while her cousin, Annie, and all her friends got married. As the last single woman of marriageable age in Copper Creek, she’s starting to feel left out and also wondering what’s wrong with her that her long-time beau hasn’t yet proposed after such a long time of courting. Thinking that maybe he needs a little push in the right direction, she considers the idea of using another man to try to make him jealous. Then she meets Jack who would be the perfect candidate, except that she begins to develop real feelings for the single dad and his charming young son. Charmaine is an only child, and although I wouldn’t exactly call her spoiled, she has had a pretty good life and has come to enjoy fanciful things. She views those around her like Annie and Kate as special but doesn’t feel like others view her as special, so she’s a perfectionist who’s driven to try to be the best at everything she does and to present a flawless image of herself. Yet, deep down, she has an independent streak that makes her very special indeed if only someone would take notice of her. I really liked Charmaine in the other two books for her kindness toward Annie and Kate, and I still liked her very much in this story. She continues to show that kindness and generosity toward Jack and Daniel, and it’s Jack who in turn helps her see that’s she’s special just the way she is without any of the trappings she sometimes puts on.

Jack used to live in the mountains where he was married to a half-Cheyenne woman who passed away when Daniel was just an infant, leaving him a single father. He has a business making saddles and tack for horses and decided to move closer to town, both to attract more business and so Daniel could attend school. He meets Charmine briefly at a tea party at Kate’s and then again later, at the schoolhouse, where she volunteers to help build the school’s float, after which he insists upon escorting her home. When she come to his farm to work on the float, they start getting to know one another, but after seeing her seemingly put on airs when interacting with fancier folks in town, he thinks that she may be two-faced. However, when he has some rather direct words for her about that, he realizes that he’s hurt her and that she’s actually far more than he originally thought. Jack is a good hero and a great father. Although his directness may have stung Charmaine a little, it also opened her eyes to a few things in her life that needed a bit of changing. Not to mention, his more passionate side and the attention he gives her makes her realize that she shouldn’t settle for anything less in a husband than what Annie and Kate have.

Overall, “Almost a Bride” was a nice wrap-up to this series. I was happy to finally read Charmaine’s story and I think Jack was a good match for her. Theirs is a sweet romance with a few tender moments and no objectionable content to speak of, making it appropriate for most audiences. My only real complaint is that the story just didn’t seem quite long enough. A large part of the plot focuses on Charmaine and her coming to the realization that she’s good enough just the way she is and that she doesn’t have to try so hard. In this regard, her characterization was well done, but I couldn’t help feeling like Jack got a little bit lost in the shuffle. He’s a good and likable character as well, but his characterization doesn’t go quite as deep. Their romance mostly consists of getting to know you moments and a couple of passionate kisses. Because Charmaine waits until close to the end of the story to officially break things off with her other beau, the ending felt rather rushed with Jack’s proposal seemingly coming from out of nowhere. But in spite of the perceived weaknesses, I did still enjoy this novella, and now that I’ve finished the Copper Creek Brides, I look forward to delving into Cheryl St. John’s backlist. Star Rating: ****

*His Brother’s Bride by Jenna Kernan - “His Brother’s Bride” is a western romance novella about two people who are grieving the death of the same man. As the black sheep of his family, Nate set out to make his fortune on the western frontier, where he now owns the saloon and hardware store in Colorado City. Before his beloved older brother, Jacob, passed away, Jacob asked Nate to look after his wife, Clara, and daughter, Kitty. Although he has misgivings about bringing the paragon of virtue his brother described in his letters to the wild west and marrying her, Nate ends up going through with it anyway, but he doesn’t feel worthy of her. Little does he know, though, that Clara has a past of her own that she’s not proud of. She agreed to marry Jacob’s brother, because she had no other way to provide for her daughter, but she fears he would reject her if he knew the truth about her. The two must find a way to get past their feelings of inadequacy in order to make a life together.

Nate was frequently the object of his father’s harsh beatings, but Jacob often stood up for him, leaving Nate forever grateful to the big brother whom he idolized. But the kind Jacob became a minister in New York, while Nate went west in search of a different sort of life. He managed to make his fortune by setting up shop in mining towns and now owns the saloon and hardware store in the booming town of Colorado City. Although he’s perhaps engaged in some questionable business practices to get ahead, deep down, he’s a good man who cares about kids and stray cats. However, because of his past and the constant put-downs he received growing up, he doesn’t feel worthy of Clara, whom Jacob described in nothing but the most glowing terms. He also doesn’t think he knows anything about being a husband, so when Clara arrives, he marries her, but keeps his distance even though he’s strongly attracted to her. I generally liked Nate, but felt like he spent a little too much time beating himself up over the past rather than trying to move forward into the future with Clara. Even when she finally comes clean about her own past, he doesn’t really believe her and thinks it’s just a story she concocted to make him feel better. I’m all for a good tortured hero, but he has to be willing to listen to his heroine and have a believable story arc and I didn’t entirely feel that way about Nate.

Clara came from a large family. Her father left them destitute, and in a rather desperate state, she was hoodwinked as a teenager by a smooth talking stranger who promised marriage, but only wanted her to be a prostitute in a brothel he was planning to build. Although we don’t get the details about how it happened, Jacob rescued her from that future and married her himself. Before Jacob died, he told her to go to Nate, that he needed her and would take care of her and Kitty. She arrives in Colorado City to find her prospective groom drunk (Nate isn’t given to drinking as a habit, though. He was just nervous and having second thoughts about marrying her.), which doesn’t leave a great first impression. However, there is sexual chemistry between them, something she’d never really experienced with Jacob, even though she loved him. But when she finds out that Nate was planning to rescind his proposal before she arrived, she thinks he doesn’t want her, and because of her past, she feels just as unworthy of him as he does of her. A part of me sympathized with Clara for all that she’d been through in the past, but much like with Nate, I felt like she was engaging in a little to much self-flagellation. She’d been married to Jacob for several years and he’d never once judged her, so the idea that she seemingly hadn’t experienced any emotional healing at all during that time was a bit too much to be believed. I also didn’t care for her getting the reverend involved in her and Nate’s personal life, and I didn’t necessarily feel like she’d grown much by the end of the story. On the up side, though, she’s a good mother to Kitty.

Overall, “His Brother’s Bride” was a decent story, but it did fall down into the okay range for me. Like I mentioned, I greatly enjoy a good tortured hero or heroine, but I felt like Nate and Clara’s issues were a little too much to address in this short format. Therefore, they didn’t genuinely grow as characters by the end. I felt like they spent too much time mired in their own personal problems and fears of what the other would think about them instead of getting to know one another, given that they were complete strangers who’d just entered into a marriage of convenience. They don’t really communicate well either, tending to make assumptions about the other rather than simply asking questions or engaging in discussion. A part of me understood their fears, but at some point, you just have to man up. Then when Clara finally worked up the courage to tell Nate, he doesn’t want to listen and interrupts her with sexual overtures to try to shut her up, merely continuing on with his false assumptions. Their first (and only) love scene started out with Nate being angry (and rightfully so IMHO) with Clara for going to the reverend behind his back, which was just not to my taste. The scene lacked any real tenderness or emotion, yet Clara likes it more than she’s ever liked sex before, which didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m okay with first love scenes not going perfectly, if I know there will be more to make up for it, but that was it, and it left me very unsatisfied. In addition, the dialogue and emotion throughout were very stilted. The dialog needed more contractions, because as written, it was far too formal for a western setting. And because Nate and Clara spend a large part of this fairly short novella keeping each other at arm’s length, I just didn’t feel much of an emotional connection between them.

“His Brother’s Bride” wasn’t a bad story per se, but it simply didn’t float my boat the way I wanted it to. This novella is the second in Jenna Kernan’s Winter Wild West Weddings Christmas novella series, but as far as I can tell, this is a themed series rather than one with common character connections. I’m also guessing that the author rewrote parts of it before releasing it as a separate ebook, because the version I read in this anthology has neither a winter setting nor a Christmas theme. Star Rating: ***1/2½

rabck from rubyrebel; not one of the author's better stories. Isabella is captured from the convent by Rafael, who needs a bride to come into his inheritance before his father dies.
this one will move along in the June Brides challenge

Three stories set in the historic West. Abandoned wasn't very good, so skimmed mostly; In Almost a Bride, Charmaine is the only single young woman left when she by chance meets newcomer widowed single father rancher Jack Easton, who draws her attention because he's so different; In His Brother's Bride, his late brother spoke of Clara as a saint and black sheep Nate feels he doesn't deserve her.

Not one of this author's best books. Story rather contrived. Rancher sends away for mail order bride, who decides that she wants her independence, and takes up with a local widow to starts a boardinghouse. But hubby won't be beaten, so he takes a room at the boarding house to change her mind

Another refreshing HR with a lead heroine that’s a bit older, plainer, and bigger in body proportions than your usual lead. It’s nice to see this as it says that women can find true love and happiness in her relationships and in life no matter her outer looks. I liked seeing Alicia’s personality and strength of will shine out as she butts heads with Jake.

I also liked that the main struggle in the book was the building up of these guys’ relationship. There weren’t any murky individuals from the past or another person trying to break them up. Overcoming stubborn pride and low self-esteem to create a beautiful romance and family was the star of the book. Even the bits with Jason trying to accept Alicia as his new mother didn’t detract from the main focus of the relationship building; it just added to it.

And I gotta say the emotions in this book are something else. I don’t think I’ve cried more while reading a book in a while. It was painful to read about Jake’s struggle to overcome his body issues from his war experiences and Alicia’s to see herself as a beautiful women just as she is. I liked that they started out their relationship as a practical arrangement to meet mutual goals and that it grew into something truly beautiful. Watching that growth in my mind’s eye was quite a journey.

I wish more historical romances were like this: characters more true to life and emphasis more on emotions and relationship building rather than outside conflict. I’ll be looking for more HR’s by this author as I think she’s done a swell job in creating a fantastic one in this book.

Ordered from BWB, and started reading this when I registered it. So, just had to finish it! Tommy took advantage of Ellie's innocence, and then skipped town quickly when his mama realized she was pregnant. She's so innocent, she doesn't realize that it's pregnancy, not cancer like her mother died of, when she seeks help from the new doc in town. He hires her as a housekeeper, but quickly marries her when the tongues in the 1890's town start to wag quickly. And even though she's his "convenient" wife, he quickly falls in love with her, and she with him.

rabck from jmsmom; nice late 1800's western romance. Katherine is left alone on her ranch after her father dies. Roan was in the war with her father, so he's looking him up after the war. When he finds Katherine barely holding on to the ranch, he stays to put things straight in honor of her father. And when a sleazy neighbor starts sniffing around, he marries Katherine and takes her & her horses down to his family's home in Louisiana, with adventures along the way.

A Family for Christmas - Carolyn Davidson
When a handsome widower and his young boy are stranded at Joy Watson's Missouri homestead just before Christmas, the true meaning of love and family is revealed.

Sweet story about a man and his son who end up at Joy and her grandfather's farm just before Christmas. Gideon and his son are headed west looking for a new start after the death of his wife. He doesn't expect to find a young woman who is so right for both him and his son. Joy hasn't been around many men, spending her time helping her grandfather with their farm. There's something about Gideon and his son that has made a home for them in her heart. I enjoyed the story, though the only problem they had to overcome was the weather. I liked Gideon's determination to be of help to Joy even though she was a little wary at first. He was also a wonderful father and I found Joseph to be a pretty neat little boy. I liked seeing how quickly Joy took to little Joseph. I would have liked to see a little more passion in her personality.

A Christmas Miracle - Carol Arens
Laira Lynne is striving to save her beloved town. New arrival Rayne Lantree is the only man with the power to make her dream come true…if he'll just believe in a little Christmas magic!

Good story. Laira Lynee came to Snow Apple Woods the year before when her cousin and her husband died to become the guardian of her five nieces. Now the land that the town has been built on has been sold to the railroad and the residents are to be evicted on Christmas Eve. Rayne is the grandson of the man who owns the land and has been sent with a last offer to pay the townspeople for their homes. Rayne was raised by his grandfather who didn't believe in Christmas and treated it like just another day. When he arrived in town he stayed at Laira's who earned extra money by taking in boarders. He was surprised by her belief that everything would work out. As he spent the next days trying to talk the townspeople into taking the money he was also exposed to Laira and her nieces' joy in the season of Christmas. It didn't take long for it to rub off on him. He also found Laira and her nieces have taken up residence in his heart. Laira had to believe that a miracle would happen and her home and town would be saved. Having Rayne in her home gave her the opportunity to show him just how special the season could be. I liked the way that she didn't talk him to death about it, she just showed him how it was for them. I loved the part that the little girls took in showing him the love that he could have. The ending, with Rayne's grandfather's appearance, was terrific to see.

Christmas With Her Cowboy - Lauri Robinson
Ranch hand Tanner Maxwell is not pleased that Anna Hagan has returned to the Double Bar for Christmas. But the little girl he once knew is now all grown up….

Anna had grown up on the ranch but left with her father when she was fourteen. Now she has finally been able to return, but Tanner is not happy about it. He remembers how much her grandfather had missed her and how upset he was every time her promised visits didn't happen. He is worried that her selfish attitude will cause Walter more pain. When she shows up with a citified lawyer fiance, he feels his worries are justified. He doesn't expect to be even more drawn to her now than he was before she left. As he is tasked with showing her around the ranch so she can see the changes he begins to see a different side of her. I really liked his surprise when she took control of the situation with the injured ranch hand and how he stood behind her. Anna had left with her father because she thought he needed her, but she always missed the ranch. Now that her father has remarried she feels free to return home, though she is stuck with a fiance she doesn't want. Seeing Tanner again makes her realize that her feelings for him hadn't gone away as she grew up, but there is animosity between them right now. I loved her strength of will and the way she stood up for what she wanted. I especially loved her actions when faced with the injured ranch hand and the way that Tanner supported her. I loved the twist at the end when she went to him at the line cabin. This was my favorite of the three stories.

**3.5**

The mail-order marriages aspect immediately appealed to me and was the reason why I bought this book. I wanted to see how the various authors would handle the subject. I was a little surprised at how repetitious the stories felt, considering there were only three of them. The first two stories both include a "heroine inherits a lot of money and a man from her past chases after her" subplot, and both of them handle it in pretty much the same way.

“Rocky Mountain Wedding” by Jillian Hart

Synopsis:

Melody traveled to Montana with the intention of marrying the man whose mail-order bride ad she'd answered. However, when she got there she learned that the man she thought she'd be marrying had fallen in love with someone else. It's not really his fault – he had no idea his mother had been corresponding with a mail-order bride for him – but now Melody is stuck with no place to stay, very little money, and no job.

Gabe, the older brother of the man she was supposed to marry, reluctantly helps her. He's sure that his mother will try to set him and Melody up next. Melody doesn't seem like the kind of practical woman he's interested in marrying, and Melody isn't happy about the way he keeps insulting her. That doesn't stop them from being attracted to each other, and Gabe's protective instincts kick in when he learns that Melody is possibly being pursued by an abusive man from her past.

Review:

It's a good thing that the man Melody was supposed to marry was in love with someone else when she got there, or I predict that her marriage to him would soon have soured due to her and Gabe's instantaneous attraction to each other. I couldn't really understand why she was so attracted to him, considering how often he insulted her. He made it clear that he viewed her as some kind of gold digger and, even after he revealed that he was trying to push her away in order to avoid his mother's match-making efforts, I never really warmed to him.

This story didn't really work for me. I didn't hate it, but so much about it had me rolling my eyes. Although Gabe spent the beginning of the book mulishly determined to avoid being matched up with Melody, the instant he found out she might be in danger, he changed his mind and decided that they should get married. And Melody went right along with it, despite having previously been abused by a man she'd thought of as a family friend. How does any of that make sense?

Hart's writing was a little overwrought: lots of infernos of feeling, rising tides of need, Gabe's voice booming and thundering, etc. Also, there was some head-hopping - there were a few times when the story switched, without warning, from Gabe's POV to Melody's or vice versa.

“Married in Missouri” by Carolyn Davidson

Synopsis:

It's been several years since Lucas's wife died, and he has decided his home needs a woman's touch again. He puts out an ad for a mail-order bride and chooses Elizabeth – she is almost 30 and therefore more mature, and her volunteer work at an orphanage has given her plenty of experience with children.

Elizabeth, for her part, wants to get away from Amos, the man she thought she'd end up marrying but who chose her prettier sister instead. Life with Lucas and his sons suits her just fine. The boys like her, she's good at housework and enjoys having a home she can arrange as she wishes, and Lucas finds her attractive, even though she's tall and a little on the hefty side. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, trouble is brewing back at her old home in Boston.

Review:

This story suffered from too little conflict. Elizabeth was the perfect housewife who, at least in the eyes of her new family, had no failings (I, on the other hand, was bugged by the number of times she thought about how much better her marriage to Lucas was than her sister's marriage to Amos – she had a right to be bitter, but still). Although the boys didn't instantly consider her to be their new mother, they liked her right away and grew to love her. Lucas and Elizabeth's first time in bed went pretty smoothly, and, outside the bedroom, they lived together so well that it was almost liked they'd been together for years.

When trouble finally entered the picture, it was trouble of the wrong sort. This was a relatively sedate story – lots of what, to me, were very interesting paragraphs on the nitty gritty details of maintaining a rural home during this time period. After a while, though, it became a little boring because, like I said, there were almost no snags in Lucas and Elizabeth's new marriage. Absolutely everything went perfectly. It would have been nice to see a few things go really wrong and then see how the two of them handled it. Unfortunately, even the slightest snags were easily dealt with.

The arrival of Amos, the man Elizabeth had once thought she would marry, was the one thing that livened this story up, but his appearance and the danger her added was all wrong for this story, which practically cried out for quieter, more domestic complications. It didn't help that Hart's story went in that exact same direction.

One thing that was a little unusual: there were more mentions of religion than one usually finds in stories that aren't published in Harlequin's Love Inspired line. I'm a very secular reader, but I didn't think the mentions of religion in this story were too much, and they fit in well with the time period.

“Her Alaskan Groom” by Kate Bridges

Synopsis:

John is the successful owner of three livery stables. He thinks it's time for him to get married, but single women are few and far between in Alaska, so he finally takes the plunge and puts out an ad for a mail-order bride. He corresponds with Paulette, likes her, and believes they would suit. Unfortunately, the woman who arrives is not the woman he expects. Paulette has backed out, and the agency has sent Sophie as her replacement.

John's pride is hurt, and he unthinkingly insults Sophie, who is so upset that she walks off. It's not long before Sophie realizes that she could make a decent life for herself in Alaska, with or without John – there are plenty of potential husbands around, and she'd finally get to fulfill her dream of being a practicing midwife.

Review:

I loved the beginning of this story, but overall this was just too rushed to work as a romance.

The spark was definitely there. I liked that Sophie, despite being attracted to John, walked off after he said that marrying her would be like settling for a ham sandwich after expecting roast beef. I became more excited when Sophie realized that life in Alaska gave her options, that she didn't have to settle either. I wanted to see her make John work hard to win her back, but, unfortunately, she didn't.

I ended up feeling kind of “meh” about this story. They married and enjoyed having sex, but Sophie was worried because there didn't seem to be much more to their relationship, especially when she found herself really tied up in a patient's difficult pregnancy. I never became very emotionally invested in John and Sophie's relationship, and so I didn't fret when things were a bit rocky between them, and I didn't breathe a sigh of relief when they smoothed things over.

Overall:

I didn't hate this collection, but I didn't like it either. As with a lot of anthologies, there were some things I enjoyed and some things I didn't. Out of the three, “Rocky Mountain Wedding” worked best as a story. I liked the feel of “Married in Missouri” better, but the lack of decent conflict meant it rapidly became boring. “Her Alaskan Groom” started off really strong but needed a lot more fleshing out to be effective as a romance.

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted at A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)½

Amazon preorder

Good book. Glory had come to Green River after the deaths of her parents caused her to leave a wagon train headed west. With no means of support she ended up in a platonic marriage with Harvey Clark to care for his kids and his home. Three years later he's been hanged for his part in a long ago bank robbery and she's alone with the kids trying to keep the farm running and away from people looking for the stolen gold. When Cade shows up, supposedly looking for a farm to buy, she's inclined to trust him. Besides that feeling of trust there is something about him that draws her to him.

I really liked both Glory and Cade. Glory had an incredible amount of inner strength, first when she set out on her own to find a better life, and then when she took charge of keeping the farm running after her husband's death. I loved the way she was such a good mother to Buddy and Essie, giving them both the love and the discipline that they needed. When Cade showed up she was cautious at first, but she soon got the sense that she could trust him. There was something about him that also worried her a little because she didn't understand the feelings he was bringing out. I liked the way that she listened to his reasoning on why they should get married but then took the time to think about it. I could see that her insistence on waiting for the physical wasn't going to last long. I really liked the way that their love grew in a slow realistic manner. She was frequently surprised by his care of her and the little things he would do to make her happy. I also liked the way that she made Cade an important part of the family from the beginning. I loved her courage at the end.

I thought Cade was a pretty terrific hero. When he arrived and met her it was under false pretenses because he didn't know if he could trust her. He did know as soon as he met her that he wanted her in his life. As he talked her into marrying him, one eye was on the search for the missing gold, but the rest of his attention was on Glory and the children. I really enjoyed seeing how much time he spent with the kids and how good he was with them. He was just the role model that Buddy needed and had a wonderful way of being able to talk to him. And I loved the way that little Essie had him wrapped around her finger. I really liked the way that he was determined to make the farm into something worthwhile. His easy care of Glory and the way he treated her was wonderful. It was easy to see how e fell so quickly in love with her. He realized he was tired of the life that he had been living and that being with Glory was just what his heart and soul needed. I liked the fact that he felt guilty about keeping his secret from Glory, but was also afraid of what telling it might do to their relationship. Except for this one thing I really liked the way that he was honest with Glory and the kids about his thoughts and feelings. I loved how things ended up. I'd love to see stories for Buddy and Essie and how their lives turn out.

Written at a 5th grade reading level, full of anachronisms and way too over-reliant on external conflict. The romance is pretty much concluded by page 90. All that holds off the end of the book is a half-baked kidnapping plot and the birth of the baby.

I should knock this down to one star for its shameless treatment of American Indian themes. The secondary character Ruth is some kind of magical healer, mind-reader and future-seer, natch, and is used as a focal point of a patently ridiculous prejudice/tolerance morality play. All the good characters made a point of rejecting society's bias against Indians while only the unlikeable characters held any hard feelings toward Ruth. Would that racial bias actually worked that way! Wouldn't it be lovely if racism wasn't something otherwise nice, agreeable people who are kind to animals participated in? We might actually be able to talk about it then.

3 short stories about mail order brides. normally I don't read short stories, there's not enough time to get to know the characters and form relationships with them, but this sounded interesting enough I gave it a try. sadly, it was only "meh" for me. the first story was apparently the last in a series and you had no idea what was going on most of the time. the male main character was a jerk and the female annoying. I did like the second story. it reminded me of Hattie Big Sky (for adults) or a western version of Mrs. Mike. the random murder at the end was odd, and pretty unnecessary though. the third story was even more annoying than the first for me. a mail order bride sent to Alaska changed her mind so the agency sent a replacement. who just conveniently happened to be a midwife that the town desperately needed. I felt like the characters were flat and didn't like any of them very much.
I apparently need to stay away from short stories from now on, since they apparently leave me feeling cranky

It was a sweet and solid story

Loved this story it was engaging and sweet all at the same time

not a bad compilation of short stories...was a quick read and very enjoyable

the characters were well developed and the story was engaging

Was not well written was choppy and lacked no feeling I have read non fiction with more passion

1863 - Kent Corners, Oklahoma - Being pregnant and not by her fiancée Connor Webster but by his own brother James, Loris Peterson found herself put out by her parents on a cold January night. Finding the only shelter she could, Loris became a squatter in an abandoned home on the outskirts of town. Knowing the man that she loved would never forgive her for betraying him, she started to make plans for her and her child’s future. Feeling that he was to tough on Loris, Connor went to her home to check on her only to be told she had been thrown out the night before. Following the tracks with worry for the women that had betrayed him, Connor knew he would help her anyway he could especially since her own parents wouldn’t be there for her. Finding the love still grew between them, Connor made the decision to forgive without knowing the consequences that decision would cause. Making a life together, learning to love the child she carried and all sorts of calamities befall the couple threatening not only their happiness but their lives.

This Harlequin Historical - Western series fit’s the basic mold. I typically don’t like pre-existing relationships, but this is about redemption, forgiveness and learning to love each other again. I have read several of Carolyn Davidson books and basically like her stories, this one fits in with her style. I enjoyed the story and each of the characters but I had a difficult time connecting to some of them. Still, an enjoyable time spent with an easy read.

Chloe Biddleton has a quite a suprise coming with JT Flannery show up on her ranch. He's recently acquired the rights to half her ranch...winning them from her scalawag of a brother in a game of cards. It would be an understatement to say that the Chloe, who has been running the ranch since her father's death, is furious. As the two are trying to get used to their new business arrangement a gang of cattle rustlers show up and starts stealing thieves from several of the ranches in the area...including Chloe's precious Double B. And the suprises keep coming...along with a marriage proposal.

I loved Chloe. She was outspoken and not afraid to voice her opinions. She fights tooth and nail to maintain her place as co-owner of the Double B. JT is a gentleman all the way. A gentleman that sees his future finally lined up before him when he wins the rights to half the ranch. He's ready to settle down and he thinks Chloe will be the best part of it.

The romance takes second stage to the daily goings on at the Double B Ranch, which is why I enjoyed this story so much. The characters interact in a very real way and their emotions come off the page very well. This book was a great read.

4/5

The book was pretty good, although some of the plot elements seemed forced and unnecessary to me. The main character also waffled too much for my liking - at first she was a spitfire, and by the end of the book she was crying all of the time. Blah. Either my tastes are changing, or Carolyn Davidson didn't have her usual "spark" in this one.½

WHY do all the romance novels have WEAK women in them. This one has by far been the worst of them all and was about as much as I could stand. Its a historical romance, set in 1878. I really like that part of the book. The author did well to keep the romance parts the way they would have been and the lingo the same. BUT this main character would not stop crying! Sheesh! She started out as a strong woman, and her personality crumbled all of the sudden into this blubbering BABY! Most of the time the Male character keeping her in check. She would cry, pout and make a fool of herself and then her lover would keep her in check by pointing out her mistakes.
gagg.. oh well