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meezcarrie's review
5.0
Usually in an anthology such as this, there are some stories I like and others I don't care for as much. This pattern was NOT the case in the Mail Order Bride collection. Each of the six stories is well-written, creative, engaging, and entertaining all on its own. Put them together in one grouping and you have a truly fantastic novella anthology.
The characters had chemistry. The dialogue flowed naturally. The kisses were just the right amount of sweet and heat. The plots were all different, each with their own twist, each a solid sampling of their writer's voice.
If you love the classic mail order bride trope, then you will thoroughly enjoy this Mail Order Bride collection! This is a great way to spend your reading time!
(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)
The characters had chemistry. The dialogue flowed naturally. The kisses were just the right amount of sweet and heat. The plots were all different, each with their own twist, each a solid sampling of their writer's voice.
If you love the classic mail order bride trope, then you will thoroughly enjoy this Mail Order Bride collection! This is a great way to spend your reading time!
(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)
momwithareadingproblem's review
5.0
I received an eARC of this book via I Am a Reader in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book or the content of my review.
I absolutely loved this anthology which features one of my favorite authors, Stacy Henrie. The Mail Order Bride Collection includes 6 novellas all featuring the trend of mail order brides during the late 1800s and the Western expansion. I love this time period in America so it was a real treat! I was also impressed with how 6 authors could write about the same topic to such a varying degree. Each had her own unique spin to the topic of being a mail order bride and the outcome.
Written in the Stars by [a:Stacy Henrie|5778153|Stacy Henrie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1340140237p2/5778153.jpg] ★★★★★
I adored this story!!! Georgie is a young woman, an orphan who runs her father’s business with the help of her best friend and childhood crush Cole. Cole works in her house every day, taking his meals with her, yet he doesn’t return the affection she so desires. She’s lonely and this loneliness leads her to place an ad as a mail order bride. When Georgie asks for Cole’s help, he realizes what a fool he’s been. Cole doesn’t want to see her with anyone else. He loves her, but how does he prove it to her. This was such a sweet story about friends growing to love each other. I loved the spin that Henrie took with this topic as well, having Cole answer the ad to see if by chance she would pick him over the other candidates.
WANTED: Midwife Bride by [a:Kristin Holt|7358927|Kristin Holt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1411131819p2/7358927.jpg] ★★★
Dr. Naomi Thornton had it all, breaking the mold of the traditional woman of the late 1800s. She was an educated surgeon, working for her grandfather’s hospital with a huge inheritance she received after marrying. However her husband is resentful and only after the money. A particularly nasty encounter leads to Naomi fleeing her home and answering an ad she’d seen in her medical journal for a midwife bride. Dr. Joe Chandler is the only doctor in a small town out west and he is drowning in work. When Naomi arrives she seems to be an answer to his prayers and more than he asked for. I struggled with this one a bit. I liked it and the premise behind it, but the love was a little too instant for me and I just didn’t buy into it. It’s well-written and I liked the dynamic between Naomi and Joe as it isn’t the traditional marriage you see in these period-pieces. I just wasn’t for me.
The Sound of Home by [a:Annette Lyon|899093|Annette Lyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1445283664p2/899093.jpg] ★★★★
This is such a sweet story! Marilyn answers an ad for a mail order bride after being threatened by Victor, either she was to marry him or be framed for a murder he committed. So she runs, as any sane woman would! However it isn’t what she expected. Harry, the man to whom she is to marry, placed the ad because he wanted a mother, someone to take care of him and his brother. When his brother Thomas learns of the arrangement, he agrees to let Marilyn stay with them until other arrangements can be made. What Thomas doesn’t count on is falling for the girl. I personally adored this one. Harry is older than Thomas but an accident leaves hi disabled and with the mind of an 8 or 10 year old. Marilyn’s dynamic with Harry is perfect. She understands him, knows how to help him and eases Thomas’s burden. Just perfect!
For Better or Worse by [a:Sarah M Eden|14654070|Sarah M Eden|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★
This one is my favorite! Gerald Smith is lonely. He followed his brother on a hare-brained adventure and is stuck settling the debts and making a life for himself in the middle of nowhere. On the advice of his neighbors, he contacts a matchmaking company who sends him a bride. The bride however is the last person he wishes to see. Mary Hill was Gerald’s annoying neighbor who trailed after him everywhere he went. He was glad to leave knowing he would never see her again. Unfortunately she’s his bride. The relationship between these two is funny and butterfly-inducing all at the same time. I loved their ease with each other and how they came to truly know one another. After reading this novella, I can’t wait to read more from this author!
An Inconvenient Bride by [a:Heather B Moore|8113588|Heather B Moore|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★
I’m not really sure how I feel about Carmela and Samuel’s story. Carmela followed her brother to America after his wife died, helping him with his two boys. After he decides to remarry (and to a girl she doesn’t approve of), Carmela answers an ad for a wife. Samuel has just buried his good-for-nothing brother when his new bride, Carmela, shows up looking for her groom. For me, these characters didn’t mesh and the story didn’t flow well. I had a hard time focusing on them.
The Price of Silver by [a:Sian Ann Bessey|174699|Sian Ann Bessey|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★
Katie ♥︎ Caleb *sigh* I really enjoyed this one! The story begins with Caleb’s mother breaking the news to him that his brother’s mail order bride will be arriving at the train station and Caleb has to get. Why? Because his brother is off on one of his adventures, leaving Caleb to clean up his mess. With no where for the girl to go, Caleb has to bring her back to his ranch, what he doesn’t sound on though is how quickly the girl becomes a part of his life. Katie breaks my heart. She has no choice but to answer a mail order bride ad because her father is gone, his business has left her destitute and her so-called friends stopped coming by. She thinks of this as an adventure, one she’s excited to partake in. She’s hardworking, dedicated, and most of all she’s a perfect fit on the ranch. I loved the dynamic in this particular book. Instead of focusing on the two main characters, it brings in the mom as a third main character, one that Katie becomes attached to just as much as the love interest.
I absolutely loved this anthology which features one of my favorite authors, Stacy Henrie. The Mail Order Bride Collection includes 6 novellas all featuring the trend of mail order brides during the late 1800s and the Western expansion. I love this time period in America so it was a real treat! I was also impressed with how 6 authors could write about the same topic to such a varying degree. Each had her own unique spin to the topic of being a mail order bride and the outcome.
Written in the Stars by [a:Stacy Henrie|5778153|Stacy Henrie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1340140237p2/5778153.jpg] ★★★★★
I adored this story!!! Georgie is a young woman, an orphan who runs her father’s business with the help of her best friend and childhood crush Cole. Cole works in her house every day, taking his meals with her, yet he doesn’t return the affection she so desires. She’s lonely and this loneliness leads her to place an ad as a mail order bride. When Georgie asks for Cole’s help, he realizes what a fool he’s been. Cole doesn’t want to see her with anyone else. He loves her, but how does he prove it to her. This was such a sweet story about friends growing to love each other. I loved the spin that Henrie took with this topic as well, having Cole answer the ad to see if by chance she would pick him over the other candidates.
WANTED: Midwife Bride by [a:Kristin Holt|7358927|Kristin Holt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1411131819p2/7358927.jpg] ★★★
Dr. Naomi Thornton had it all, breaking the mold of the traditional woman of the late 1800s. She was an educated surgeon, working for her grandfather’s hospital with a huge inheritance she received after marrying. However her husband is resentful and only after the money. A particularly nasty encounter leads to Naomi fleeing her home and answering an ad she’d seen in her medical journal for a midwife bride. Dr. Joe Chandler is the only doctor in a small town out west and he is drowning in work. When Naomi arrives she seems to be an answer to his prayers and more than he asked for. I struggled with this one a bit. I liked it and the premise behind it, but the love was a little too instant for me and I just didn’t buy into it. It’s well-written and I liked the dynamic between Naomi and Joe as it isn’t the traditional marriage you see in these period-pieces. I just wasn’t for me.
The Sound of Home by [a:Annette Lyon|899093|Annette Lyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1445283664p2/899093.jpg] ★★★★
This is such a sweet story! Marilyn answers an ad for a mail order bride after being threatened by Victor, either she was to marry him or be framed for a murder he committed. So she runs, as any sane woman would! However it isn’t what she expected. Harry, the man to whom she is to marry, placed the ad because he wanted a mother, someone to take care of him and his brother. When his brother Thomas learns of the arrangement, he agrees to let Marilyn stay with them until other arrangements can be made. What Thomas doesn’t count on is falling for the girl. I personally adored this one. Harry is older than Thomas but an accident leaves hi disabled and with the mind of an 8 or 10 year old. Marilyn’s dynamic with Harry is perfect. She understands him, knows how to help him and eases Thomas’s burden. Just perfect!
For Better or Worse by [a:Sarah M Eden|14654070|Sarah M Eden|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★
This one is my favorite! Gerald Smith is lonely. He followed his brother on a hare-brained adventure and is stuck settling the debts and making a life for himself in the middle of nowhere. On the advice of his neighbors, he contacts a matchmaking company who sends him a bride. The bride however is the last person he wishes to see. Mary Hill was Gerald’s annoying neighbor who trailed after him everywhere he went. He was glad to leave knowing he would never see her again. Unfortunately she’s his bride. The relationship between these two is funny and butterfly-inducing all at the same time. I loved their ease with each other and how they came to truly know one another. After reading this novella, I can’t wait to read more from this author!
An Inconvenient Bride by [a:Heather B Moore|8113588|Heather B Moore|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★
I’m not really sure how I feel about Carmela and Samuel’s story. Carmela followed her brother to America after his wife died, helping him with his two boys. After he decides to remarry (and to a girl she doesn’t approve of), Carmela answers an ad for a wife. Samuel has just buried his good-for-nothing brother when his new bride, Carmela, shows up looking for her groom. For me, these characters didn’t mesh and the story didn’t flow well. I had a hard time focusing on them.
The Price of Silver by [a:Sian Ann Bessey|174699|Sian Ann Bessey|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★
Katie ♥︎ Caleb *sigh* I really enjoyed this one! The story begins with Caleb’s mother breaking the news to him that his brother’s mail order bride will be arriving at the train station and Caleb has to get. Why? Because his brother is off on one of his adventures, leaving Caleb to clean up his mess. With no where for the girl to go, Caleb has to bring her back to his ranch, what he doesn’t sound on though is how quickly the girl becomes a part of his life. Katie breaks my heart. She has no choice but to answer a mail order bride ad because her father is gone, his business has left her destitute and her so-called friends stopped coming by. She thinks of this as an adventure, one she’s excited to partake in. She’s hardworking, dedicated, and most of all she’s a perfect fit on the ranch. I loved the dynamic in this particular book. Instead of focusing on the two main characters, it brings in the mom as a third main character, one that Katie becomes attached to just as much as the love interest.
ghumpherys's review
5.0
I say it every time, but I'll say it again - I absolutely love these collections! I love the authors -- both the "regulars" and the new ones featured each collection. I love getting six stories that have a common thread and yet are all each unique. I love being able to read each story in a sitting and yet get enough of the story that I feel like I've come to know the characters. I love the happy endings and the smile each story leaves on my face. Love, love, love!
The six stories in this collection all feature a mail order bride. I thought it was interesting that at least half of the stories involved two brothers, yet I didn't feel like any of the stories were too similar. I thought it was fun too that Heather Moore's story "The Inconvenient Bride" had the same setting and a brief tie-in to one of her previous stories in a different collection. I don't think I can pick a favorite in this collection - I loved them all!
I received a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The six stories in this collection all feature a mail order bride. I thought it was interesting that at least half of the stories involved two brothers, yet I didn't feel like any of the stories were too similar. I thought it was fun too that Heather Moore's story "The Inconvenient Bride" had the same setting and a brief tie-in to one of her previous stories in a different collection. I don't think I can pick a favorite in this collection - I loved them all!
I received a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
nicolepeck's review
4.0
Written in Her Heart by Stacy Henrie: Interesting concept of writing letters after advertising in a magazine/newspaper strictly to find a spouse (although I guess the personals -- do they still have those?? -- would be the same idea in more modern day). I really enjoyed Georgie's personality and how she was determined to help the orphans and was just tired of waiting for Clay. I also enjoyed how the chapters alternated between the "current" story line and flashbacks over the previous few years of Clay and Georgie's relationship. Very entertaining. Would have loved to read more with these characters!
WANTED: Midwife Bride by Kristin Holt: Another unique approach, advertising for a wife who is a midwife to help in his medical practice in rural Wyoming, with the ad running for 2 years. I was right away angry about Naomi's awful, manipulative circumstances just because she was a strong, knowledgeable, capable woman and a doctor, so Joe was a breath of fresh air for her, and she for him as she jumped right into helping him and his patients as soon as she arrives, makes a difference, and grows to be accepted and at home in a short time. I really enjoyed the characters and the setting and would have loved to have read this as a longer, more developed story line!
The Sound of Home by Annette Lyon: This was a cute, touching story of a disabled brother trying to find a mom by sending for a mail order bride. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions with each other and how Thomas was able to solve Marilyn's problem back east so that she could stay and become a family with Thomas and Harry.
For Better or Worse by Sarah M. Eden: What happens when the mail order bride you send for is someone you thought you'd never see again? Mary and Gerald are hoping for a fresh start and to build a companionship with someone new so they're not alone, but when Mary steps off the train, Gerald isn't happy that his new bride is the girl who was a thorn in his side when they were teenagers a few years before. Mary just wants someone to love her and treat her well, after she escaped her childhood home that held fear and pain for her. Can they now learn to get along and work side beside and maybe even love each other? This was a story with great characters and so well developed in its short length, that definitely could have been expanded into a full-length book and still held my attention. Great read!
An Inconvenient Bride by Heather B. Moore: Carmella is helping to raise her widowed brother's sons, until he falls in love. Now she's in a strange new country without a purpose or a home. She answers an ad for a mail order bride, exchanges letters with Gideon, and off she sets to Colorado to marry him. Samuel doesn't know what to do with the foreign woman who turns up after his brother's funeral claiming she's there to marry his no-good, drunk, womanizing, illiterate, now-dead brother. Two fun characters who seem unlikely to fall in love with interesting action along the way of their romance.
The Price of Silver by Sian Ann Bessey: I enjoyed Katie and Caleb's story. I loved the setting of a rural ranch in Idaho, far from town. I thought Eliza, Caleb's mom, was a great character. The background of Katie needing to become a mail order bride to escape her situation and how that background led to some of her capabilities and abilities in adapting to ranch life was great. The way Katie and Caleb gradual fell in love with each other was so cute (and I'm tired, so this review isn't sounding so hot; I may re-write this later...ha ha). I really enjoyed this story and this author's writing. This story definitely made me want more!
Overall, with the theme of these stories all lending themselves to the same time period, whereas the other anthologies seem to span such different settings, the stories were quite similar and so I had to get past how similar they were, but they were all still well written and entertaining. I really enjoy these anthologies, getting to read 6 authors' short stories in 1 book!
***I received a copy of this book from one of the authors in exchange for my honest review.***
WANTED: Midwife Bride by Kristin Holt: Another unique approach, advertising for a wife who is a midwife to help in his medical practice in rural Wyoming, with the ad running for 2 years. I was right away angry about Naomi's awful, manipulative circumstances just because she was a strong, knowledgeable, capable woman and a doctor, so Joe was a breath of fresh air for her, and she for him as she jumped right into helping him and his patients as soon as she arrives, makes a difference, and grows to be accepted and at home in a short time. I really enjoyed the characters and the setting and would have loved to have read this as a longer, more developed story line!
The Sound of Home by Annette Lyon: This was a cute, touching story of a disabled brother trying to find a mom by sending for a mail order bride. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions with each other and how Thomas was able to solve Marilyn's problem back east so that she could stay and become a family with Thomas and Harry.
For Better or Worse by Sarah M. Eden: What happens when the mail order bride you send for is someone you thought you'd never see again? Mary and Gerald are hoping for a fresh start and to build a companionship with someone new so they're not alone, but when Mary steps off the train, Gerald isn't happy that his new bride is the girl who was a thorn in his side when they were teenagers a few years before. Mary just wants someone to love her and treat her well, after she escaped her childhood home that held fear and pain for her. Can they now learn to get along and work side beside and maybe even love each other? This was a story with great characters and so well developed in its short length, that definitely could have been expanded into a full-length book and still held my attention. Great read!
An Inconvenient Bride by Heather B. Moore: Carmella is helping to raise her widowed brother's sons, until he falls in love. Now she's in a strange new country without a purpose or a home. She answers an ad for a mail order bride, exchanges letters with Gideon, and off she sets to Colorado to marry him. Samuel doesn't know what to do with the foreign woman who turns up after his brother's funeral claiming she's there to marry his no-good, drunk, womanizing, illiterate, now-dead brother. Two fun characters who seem unlikely to fall in love with interesting action along the way of their romance.
The Price of Silver by Sian Ann Bessey: I enjoyed Katie and Caleb's story. I loved the setting of a rural ranch in Idaho, far from town. I thought Eliza, Caleb's mom, was a great character. The background of Katie needing to become a mail order bride to escape her situation and how that background led to some of her capabilities and abilities in adapting to ranch life was great. The way Katie and Caleb gradual fell in love with each other was so cute (and I'm tired, so this review isn't sounding so hot; I may re-write this later...ha ha). I really enjoyed this story and this author's writing. This story definitely made me want more!
Overall, with the theme of these stories all lending themselves to the same time period, whereas the other anthologies seem to span such different settings, the stories were quite similar and so I had to get past how similar they were, but they were all still well written and entertaining. I really enjoy these anthologies, getting to read 6 authors' short stories in 1 book!
***I received a copy of this book from one of the authors in exchange for my honest review.***
jamiegc's review
3.0
Cute anthology of six stories about mail order brides. All are squeaky clean. Good fluff read. Each story had their own little quirk, but after reading six in a row, I felt like I was reading the same story over and over. (Probably because I read it in one day because I was home with a sick child who didn't want me to leave them.)
mcorinne's review
4.0
Okay this one was actually pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised. Except for the 5th short story. That one was bad.
rachearl's review
4.0
Cute stories, I just wish they were full novels instead of novellas, just when they get good they are over.
wannabe_bibliothecary's review
4.0
Sweet romance novellas that kept me reading
These novellas are the perfect length to read in a sitting. The problem was I'd read one, then not be able to stop myself from starting the next.
These novellas are the perfect length to read in a sitting. The problem was I'd read one, then not be able to stop myself from starting the next.
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