GRR Reviews Brides of Beckham: The First Four Books by Kirsten Osbourne

Brides of Beckham: First Four Books collection is a nice collection of mail order bride stories that did not break any new ground, but instead, relied on good characters and decent twists on the tropes with proper polish to deliver enjoyable stories.

Mail Order Mayhem -- when Maude was told by her family she must marry a repulsive man, she chose to become a mail order bride and went out west to be wife of an Iowa farmer instead. She fell for the strong handsome farmer, but does he feel the same? When her "fiancee" came calling, will she ever escape?

Mail Order Mama -- Emily's mother is marrying again, and the daughter won't be able to stay. With nowhere to go, Emily chose to marry herself out West, and married Benjamin, who has two children he's trying to raise alone. But Emily didn't know the two kids are hellions who had run off all nannies prior to her, or any prospects... But Emily will whip these two kids into shape... without violence... except she can't forget how Benjamin tricked her...

Mail Order Madness -- Susan can't live with her younger siblings anymore (there's like 11 of them and they are all hellions) so she joined mail-order bride agency and married herself out West to Texas to someone who didn't want kids. Except upon arrival... it wasn't her groom... but his brother... Her groom had died via a stray bullet two weeks prior, while she's on her way. But the brother offered to take his place and marry her... Except he has four kids. And they are NOT nice either. Can this ever work?

Mail Order Mix-up -- Ellen and Malinda had never been apart. When their papa died and the bank is repossessing the farm, they had nowhere to go. It happens that the two brothers in the same town out West in Colorado are both looking for mail order brides... Ellen wanted the sheriff, and Malinda wanted the banker. They arrived in the Colorado town and each immediately fell for one of the brothers... Only to find they each fell for the wrong one! But is the wrong one really the right one for them?

Each of these are definitely 4/5, with good polish in the plot and all the decisions make sense within context of the story, with some genuine agony in the decision-making. All in all, enjoyed it quite a bit.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: N/A, collection, see above for summaries

Tropes: mail order bride, triangle, evil ex, single parent, family pressure, sibling problem, wrong twin/brother

Overall Rating:  4/5