GRR Reviews Giovanna: The Cowboy's Calabrese Mail O by Lorena Dove

Giovanna, the cowboy's Calabrese mail order bride is a historical 'western' romance that managed to squeeze a bit more detail and personality by focusing on the vastly different kinds of people that made up American on the western frontier.

It is 1892, and Giovanna was newly widowed. Her daughter, young Rosa, was quite sick. With nowhere to go, she had to head West as a mail-order bride. But she didn't realize her transcriber had left out a few details like she has a daughter or that her daughter was sick. Laars broke his ties with his Norwegian family to start his own ranch in South Dakota, and he realized he can't do it all and needed a wife. He had it all planned, with money saved for the expansion of his ranch in the next few years. But when Giovanna arrived with the kid, and little Rosa's sickness took a turn for the worse, is he ready to sacrifice his future for his new family?

Billed as a clean romance, there is indeed no sex and barely any kissing. However, the emotional impact was quite good, and the plot itself wasn't half bad either. Definitely a head above the typical mail order bride stories.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Italian-American widow w/ daughter headed west as mail-order bride to marry a Norwegian-American rancher who left everything behind to start anew

Tropes: mail order bride, different worlds, single parent, fish out of water, sick/comfort, disguise

Overall Rating: 4/5 (rounded up)