GRR Reviews Mail Order Mistletoe (Brides of Beckham by Kirsten Osbourne

The setup in Mail Order Mistletoe barely makes sense even for this short (70-pages) novelette, but it sure is funny and sweet.

Meg O'Reilly, a teacher, was besieged by the 4 members of "demon horde"... the bunch of spoiled kids that enjoys tormenting her with snakes, frogs, and other critters, and generally making her life miserable in the East. When one of them slapped a copy of the Gazette listing the mail order brides wanted ads and told her she's so ugly she doesn't deserve to be their teacher, she decided enough is enough and married herself out West to a farmer named Lars Borgen... sight unseen. Lars lost his bride and child and swore never to love again. Meg...was nothing like he expected. He didn't want to fall back in love again, but he may not have a choice...

Out of all the mail order bride premises, I'd say this one is the most absurd, yet it sorta makes sense that way too. But really, resign a teacher position to be mail order bride due to kids pranking her? You had to admit, that's kinda... novel. It's just that the rest of romance didn't have that much heat, mostly sweetness.

Category: Historical / Western

Primary Plot:  What would cause a teacher to quit her position and mail order bride herself out west to a widower?

Tropes: mail order bride, fish out of water, different worlds, widower

Overall Rating:  3/5