GRR Reviews Montana Snowfall (McCutcheon Family S by Caroline Fyffe

Montana Snowfall is a historical "Western" Romance that was sweet, and the plot and motivations appropriate, but also has a lot of extra drama about the entire family that asks you to read the entire series in order for maximum enjoyment.

Sally Stanford had to leave St. Louis. She was raped by her married boss, the newspaper editor, and she's now pregnant, but not showing yet. She went west to "visit" her sister and her husband. But her stagecoach was damaged en route and she was tasked to seek help, and got lost, and she stumbled into a snow cabin and almost froze to death, only to be saved by Roady Guthrie, foreman of the McCutcheon ranch, who was out for his own reasons... Hunting a giant bear only known as "The Behemoth". The snowstorm stranded them together, and Roady fell in love. Sally would love to have a family with Roady, but she hadn't told anyone that secret... And when there was no other alternative, Sally asked Roady to marry her in a marriage of convenience, knowing that the child was not his, only to preserve her honor. But will she realize that he will do anything for her?

The summary above is the main plot but there were several subplots, such as an orphan kid in town kinda adopted by the McCutcheon clan, lots of brothers and their wives, the towns folks, and so on, that at times you almost forgot about Sally and Roady. Those who like the entire family saga will no doubt enjoy the extra bits.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Woman seeking to survive was saved by a man seeking redemption; they are snowed in in a cabin and fell for each other... but she's keeping a dark secret and need a favor from him... 

Tropes: woman in peril, protector, pregnancy, forced proximity, marriage of convenience

Overall Rating:  4.5

GRR Reviews Rugged and Relentless (Husbands for Hire) by Kelly Eileen Hake

Rugged and Relentless is a twist on the standard mail-order bride trope... except this time, it's husbands for hire (i.e. women pick over the men!)

Four women, related by blood or marriage, decided to head West to Hope Falls, Colorado to try to revive the town in order to revive their fortune. One of them was already betrothed, then was told that her fiancee was killed in a mine collapse in the town, then was told he survived but was mostly crippled. They decided to put up a husbands-wanted ad for the three free women, who'd also be setting up a cafe, a mercantile, as well as a library by transferring all their belongings from the city. There is no going back. They put their fortune into starting a sawmill to harvest the trees in the area with railroad already passing through. Evelyn Thompson was the cook and never imagined there could be more than a dozen men waiting for them in the small dead town, including Jacob Granger, who was a logger, but he's hunting for the man who killed his brother, and clues lead him to Hope Falls, where he fell for Evelyn as well. Even as he courts Evelyn, he's checking out the residents to see who can be the scammer and killer...

Suspense and mystery part works, as Jacob tries to spot who can be the suspect he sought, and the end result was a bit of a surprise.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Four Women Trying to Revive a Town with Husband for Hire Ad, Attracting Bachelors, as well as a Bounty Hunter, and a Criminal...

Tropes: mail-order bride (husband), protector, forced proximity, woman in peril, disguise

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Julia: A Sweet Western Historical Romance by Ashley Merrick

Julia (Mail Order Bride Club) is a Western Historical Mail Order Bride Romance that is quite decent, but lack of copy-editing and consistency check across multiple books in the shared universe is troublesome. And the talk of modern problems in 1880's seems to be way ahead of its time.

Julia lost the accounting job when the owner had to take an early retirement and sold the company. Repeated interviews went nowhere, so she took a chance and went West to Wyoming to meet her friend Emma, who became a mail order bride and was now very happy and pregnant. And Emma's husband has EIGHT brothers... One of whom, Liam would very much like Julia to stay around, and perhaps help his family-friendly pub. Then she discovered his secret even as the competing pub's owner started to fight back...

As a suspense, this novel is rather lame. As a romance, it's a little better, but the talk of "depression" in the 1880's seems to be well ahead of its time. The antagonist was just too flat evil, IMHO. Also, it seems this book doesn't match a lot of the details from book 1 in the shared universe. Some names have changed, and background details revised so they don't match any more.

Category: Historical western

Primary Plot: Woman visited her mail order bride friend to frontier town, fell for the pub owner brother who has his own issues...

Tropes: mail order bride, disabled (psychological), bar owner,

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews A Lawman's Reward (Love's a Gamble Bo by Kay P. Dawson

A Lawman's Reward is is a Western Historical Romance set in Abilene Kansas, and is the third book of the series, and features continuing characters. Lydia the sister and Lewis the sheriff are the main characters this time, having been introduced in book 1 as secondary characters.

Lydia had gone off to get her teacher's credentials, and she's heading back to Abilene, Kansas to her family and her town, and to the only man she pined for... Lewis Kincaid, the local sheriff, even though she believed she had nothing to offer to a man. Lydia is physically handicapped having been dumped from a horse when young and the legs never set correctly, and a teaching job seems to be ideal for her, and going home was the logical choice when the last teacher didn't last long. But Abilene now has some unsavory characters and Lewis promised to keep an eye out for her... What Lewis didn't say was he had his eyes on her for a long time... But Lewis has his own problems, when his ex rolled into town on the stagecoach, intending to resume their relationship (after she ran off on him first to chase her own dreams), then after finally getting rid of her, after making certain she understood that he had ZERO interest in resuming that part of his life, his parents rolled into town, trying every which way to force him to go back east and be the rich heir of the family fortune... Can Lewis and Lydia's love survive these trials?

The twist ending was exactly what I expected, but that didn't make it any less delightful. The darkest hour was suitable, and the solution puts the perfect comeuppance on the person who created the darkest hour. It was a delight to read.

Category: Historical western

Primary Plot: Disabled teacher is going home; she and the sheriff have had unrequited love on each other for a while; can they be together despite his ex and his family arriving, and she believed she had nothing to offer him as a wife?

Tropes: disabled, law enforcement, evil ex, family pressure

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Mail Order Bride Delia (Brides Of New Ha by Charity Phillips

I don't know what's inspirational about being duped, but this is another example of what I call "mail order bride abuse" books that really has no plot, the situation made no sense and the resolution not of her doing. She simply accepts whatever comes and it just happens there's a happy ending.

WARNING: THIS SPOILS EVERYTHING

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

Delia convinced friends to all become mail-order brides, and she picked hers and the letters exchanged were literate and thoughtful and even a photo was exchanged. However, upon arrival, Delia found that she had been tricked, the guy she will be marrying was NOT the guy in the letter, but a disgusting older fellow who threatened violence (to put her in her place). But somehow he's giving her one month and then they'll be wed. In the meanwhile, she's to act as his servant, clean his house and stuff, but she's boarded in a different family's house, where she discovered the young lad in the photo (i.e. the real guy she thought she was corresponding with). They fell in love, and the girl refused to marry the scammer and married the young lad instead. THE END.

She got a month to "think about" marrying? In a lawless part of town with no marshall or sheriff to maintain the law? The guy just "gave up" without another word? She did not have to make any decisions? The story was so contrived it made no logical sense whatsoever, and her attitude flipped from happy (before deception) to despair (after deception) to acceptance (maybe I'll have to marry the wretched oaf), THEN back to happy (here's a man I REALLY intended to marry). She made no decisions WHATSOEVER except to be a mail order bride! And this is NOT the first mail order bride story that I've read that happens like this! These brides are basically doormats... Things just happen to them!

Throwing in 25 extra stories to pad out the book doesn't make the garbage any better.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot:  Woman was lured by false info to be mail order bride, ended up happy any way when scammer was thwarted.

Tropes: mail order bride, disguise

Overall Rating:  1/5  (Sorry, that's as low as I can go)

GRR Reviews Dancing in the Dark (Hidden Springs Boo by Kristine Raymond

The Hidden Springs series was one of the better Western Romances that were not afraid of tackling the darker issues, such as conmen, prostitution, and more. And this book took prostitution head on. However, the "evil" in this book was decidedly flat, as their motivation for being so was never explained. They simply... are, as if no other life has any value.

Rusty Flanagan had worked his way across the west after his tough childhood. He wanted to buy a ranch which is being auctioned off, until he met Charlotte Drake. Charlotte ran away from home because her mother refused to allow her to dance. She trusted the wrong person and ended up a prostitute in Ivy's whorehouse in Hidden Springs. Charlotte met Rusty, and they fell in love, and Rusty swore to find a way for her to get out, just as a land baron came to town and wanted to buy the ranch... and also bought Charlotte. Rusty was able to help Charlotte escape, but both will make a sacrifice for each other that may destroy each other...

The land baron was just flat evil, and with plenty of money to burn. Why would he do so when he can live anywhere? Why did he bring his wife, the infamous town poison whose only delight was to turn everybody against everybody else? Why are they back? There's no reason other than to play foil against Rusty and Charlotte. They don't have any purpose in the story except to act as polar opposites of MMC and FMC. For that, I cannot give it 5/5.

Category: Historical western

Primary Plot: hard working ranch hand was forced to choose between ranch of his dreams and girl of his dreams

Tropes: fated mate, prostitution

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up from 3.5/5)

GRR Reviews A Chance on Love (Hidden Springs) by Kristine Raymond

A Chance On Love is a western historical romance about two people, both hurt by their prior relationships, attracted by each other, but not quite ready to commit.

Ben Kincaid is the doc for Hidden Springs, and he was keeping a terrible secret. Ten years ago, his wife took their daughter and just left. Ben vowed never to trust anyone with his heart... Until Shiloh Bishop came into town... to stay, and 8 months pregnant. Shiloh was forced into arranged marriage when young with a much older man who treated her like a servant than a wife. It was to her surprise that she got pregnant, and a few months later he dropped dead of brain aneurysm, she looked forward to a fresh start... on her own. He was not ready to move on, she was not ready to be a wife, yet Ben and Shiloh cannot deny their attraction to each other... When epidemic swept through town, they must rely on each other... But when she decided to help him move on, he was both devastated... betrayed... AND elated... which only made him angry...

The attraction between Shiloh and Ben was not explained well, for Doc was a confirmed bachelor and have basically rebuffed every single lady in town (and a few married ones too). Yet Shiloh's arrival triggered a memory in him that cannot be denied. As for Shiloh, she wasn't used to men being NICE to her... having never really experienced it, though she had definitely fantasized about it. You know the pair will come together, and it's the journey that's the fun

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: The Doctor Who Can't Move On; The Girl Who Doesn't Want a Husband; Can They Be Together?

Tropes: scars, widow, grief

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Reviews To Have and To Hold: Sensuous Western by Charlene Raddon

To Have and To Hold is a Historical Western Romance that combined several tropes, but relied on implied (and actual) violence on women, as well as a pretty plain "heavy" antagonist (whose motivation seem to be mainly due to his mixed heritage and the chip on his shoulder). The chemistry between the FMC Tempest and the MMC Buck was interesting, and the way fighting a marriage of convenience by faking a different marriage was interesting. However, way Buck tries to work around the problem barely makes sense in the context of the problem.

Tempest Whitney has two children, a barely running ranch, and no husband. To make ends meet she had to take out a loan, then a scheming man with a gang of toughs and a huge chip on his shoulder bought up the debt and gave her an ultimatum: get kicked out... or marry him, and he's the kind that'd gladly use fists to force her to comply. Then on the wedding day, a man showed up claiming to be her dead husband... That guy's name was Buck Maddux. He spent two years in jail for a crime he did not commit, and he made a promise to a dying man to take care of his family. He was fleeing his past, and he did not plan to stay, but he was compelled to help defend this feisty beauty from a marriage she did not want. Buck wanted a family, but he felt very undeserving of such from his past sin. But he can offer Tempest safety by helping her locate the mythical treasure in the canyons... If the evil schemer doesn't kill him first...

Buck seems to be no stranger to violence, yet he'd rather romance Tempest than to kill the bad guy, but instead, kept letting the bad guy take shots at him, Tempest, or the kids. And the idea that they can go off to look for the treasure when they knew the bad guy has a whole gang of bad guys backing him, is just ridiculous. I mean, Tempest was nearly raped MULTIPLE times in this book! The end was almost by luck!

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Guy Poses As Woman's Husband to Protect the Family; and Came to Love Her and Must Protect Her From Evil Men

Tropes: woman in peril, protector

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Reviews A Will of Her Own (Hidden Springs Book by Kristine Raymond

A Will of Her Own is another novel set in the Hidden Springs Western Historical Romance series, between two reluctant characters, neither of which wanted to fall in love, but did so anyway.

She is Carly Fitzpatrick, who married for love, had two beautiful kids, only to lose him in a tragic accident. And she was not ready for love. He is Will Buchanon, who is on a mission to reclaim his family heritage and get justice from a con man that had scammed his way across the country. He was not ready for love either. Yet when the two meet, there is no denying the sparks between the two. But Carly knew Will will be leaving... But Will may be ready to settle down and abandon his quest, for he can't live peacefully with vengeance in his heart... but someone in Hidden Springs is watching... And he's closer than everyone thinks...

The mystery part was well done as the characters are careful in releasing what info they know, and there were lots of red herrings. And yes, they did get the bad guy. And there is an HEA. That's not much of a spoiler, right?

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Guy who's on a mission; Single Mom who Lost Her Mate; Is he leaving? Does she take a chance with her heart?

Tropes: single parent, disguise, fated mate, scars

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews The Sinful Bride by Rebecca Elyon

The Sinful Bride is a story about sin, and redemption. While it followed a pretty typical formula (as I've read a contemporary romance with essentially the same plot including the twist) with proper karma payoff at the end (the bad guys get their comeuppance) and the HEA.

Cassie was engaged to the man of her dreams until he disappeared on her wedding day... and left her pregnant, and this was 1902. Cassie was bundled up and sent to a faraway conservative town to aunts that hated her for being a sinner, always being whispered about. She had been studying to become a nurse, but that's obviously no longer possible. She can only be menial help. And the only one kind to her in town was the young doctor, Will, who even offered to train her to be his nurse. But can love survive when the entire town is against them?

Good twists at the end, even though the plot was somewhat tropish. And the religious intolerance in this book was... devastating, though again, a bit stereotypical.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Pregnant girl in age of intolerance was exiled to small town with her only friend the town doctor

Tropes: small town, hot for boss, evil ex

Overall Rating:  3 / 5

GRR Reviews Cassie (Brides of the Rockies Book 1) by Carré White

Cassie is a Western Romance that falls back to the basic reformed rake/enemies into lovers formula, and the attraction was a bit vague.

Cassie Bjorn had always hated Nathan Carroll since they were kids. He dipped her blonde braids in ink, poured honey in her school bag, and more. When he grew up, he was a womanizer and drunkard with appalling manners. Unfortunately, he's also son of the sheriff, and their mothers were best friends, so despite Cassie's utter hatred for Nathan, their families want them to marry. When a shootout caused an unexpected kiss between the two, the town soon was flooded with rumors... But if Nathan is willing to change for Cassie, can Cassie change her mind about Nathan?

Frankly, with the amount of hatred that Cassie displayed toward Nathan (and how her parents were discouraging her other suitor) Cassie should be piping mad refusing all contact with Nathan. Instead, she seems to be secretly enjoying the attention of the alpha male / reformed rake, and there really was not much of a hint of this half-sweetness and conflicting emotions in the first half of the book (she's too busy running around being mad). Being left with only one choice is not a choice. It's being forced into it. And the "jail wagon" idea was the most stupid thing ever.

The whole thing just felt too long, the chemistry is unexplained, and thus, the romance feels... forced.

Category: Western historical

Primary Plot: Woman HATED the man she was paired up with since they were kids. When a shootout caused to to kiss him (fearing imminent death), can she change for him, and he for her?

Tropes: reformed rake, enemies to lovers

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Reviews Mail Order Bride: A Bride for the Deputy ( by Emily Woods

A Bride for the Deputy is a good twist on the mail order bride, by remixing it with a couple different romance tropes: mistaken identity, and stalker.

Claire fled west from the ruffians that killed her fiancee to collect on a debt, then tried to squeeze money out of her. Upon arriving in Bozeman, Montana, she was mistaken for the mail-order bride by a handsome man. She made the snap decision to embrace the mistake... only to find that her "intended" Wesley, is a deputy in town, having had his own heart broken back in Texas and is not kind toward liars. Can Claire confess before Wesley finds out that she's a liar? Can Wesley accept a liar, but only forced by circumstance?

There was a twist later which I will not spoil, but the novelette was a good change of pace without too much angst. There was a bit of suspense at the beginning and the end, and some tension about the potential discovery of the lie. Good pace and read overall.

Category: historical western, mail order bride

Primary Plot:  Girl on the run was mistaken as a deputy's mail-order bride; Can she confess before he finds out?

Tropes: woman in peril, mail order bride, stalker, mistaken identity, law enforcement

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Mail Order Mishap: Book 1 Kansas Brides by Barbara Goss

For a mail-order bride story, Mail Order Mishap sure has twists upon twists.

Amber Wakefield traveled to Huner's Grove Kansas to marry a hotel owner, only to find her betrothed, Charles Turner, to be rather NOT attracted to her, but to her dowry. Charles' brother, Garrett Turner, was downright hostile to her. When Amber's chaperone in town fell ill, Amber was forced to stay in town, and learned Charles and Garrett were keeping a secret... and Amber found herself liking Garrett instead. When Charles sent Garrett pretending to be Charles to consummate the marriage, Amber was very tempted to let Garrett (pretending to be Charles) take advantage of her, but he got to the 2nd base, then ran off. What was the secret and why are they behaving this way?

The twist was, well, let's just say Charles has different leanings, while Garrett has the hots for Amber. So how's this triangle going to resolve? For that, read the novel.

Category: Western Historical, mail order bride

Primary Plot:  Just arrived mail order bride prefers her intended's brother instead...

Tropes: triangle, sibling problem, mail order bride, disguise

Overall Rating: 4/5 (rounded up from 3.5/5)

GRR Reviews The Convenient Mail Order Bride (Chance by Ruth Ann Nordin

The Convenient Mail Order Bride was a pretty "cozy" western mail order bride story that started with a deception and ended up with proper karma for all.

Phoebe answered a mail order bride advertisement when she and her mother was about to be tossed into the street. They arrived only to find that her intended groom, Abe, did not place the ad... It was written by his rival hoping to "distract" Abe from pursuing the disputed land. What's worse, Abe is half-Native American, and he had been looked down upon in town. His prickly exterior was the way he had to deal with life, and the Eastern proper lady and her mom would never understand the harsh realities of frontier life, not when his own mother was raped and his uncle killed in front of him. He was determined to send the little lady and her mom back on the stagecoach back East when it comes back. However, Phoebe turned out to be tougher than expected and had NO reservations about taking a half-breed as a husband and learning the frontier life. But with danger everywhere, can there be love as well?

Both characters are nicely written. Phoebe is both innocent AND tough (but perhaps not as tough as she imagined to be), while Abe... well, Cranky Abe would be accurate, yet there's a soft interior that well hidden, and with Phoebe's persistence, she managed to get inside. This is NOT a Christian romance (i.e. clean) but sex scenes are minimal. All in all, a pretty good variation on mail order bride that started with an oops. The ending seems a little convenient though. Mother didn't play much of a role though.

Category:  Western historical, mail order bride, romantic suspense

Primary Plot:  Woman and her mother arrived in frontier town only to find her intended groom did not place the ad... it was placed by his rival as a "distraction". Can she still love him? Does he want to be loved?

Tropes: mail order bride, different worlds

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up from 3.5/5)

GRR Reviews Nellie (The Brides of San Francisco Book by Cynthia Woolf

Nellie is a decent variation on the mail order bride trope that sends a widow with two kids from the East all the way to San Francisco... as the wife of a saloon owner.

Nellie, the namesake of the novel, was married and bore two kids for her husband despite her husband being somewhat of a sadist in bed. But after the husband died in the Civil War, her in-laws don't really want her around. She married herself off to the West Coast to Blake Malone, a saloon owner in San Francisco. Nellie had a hard time loving the guy because she thought sex equals pain and she didn't want to confuse the kids.  Blake, despite being a saloon owner (who also employed a lot of "working girls") loved the kids, but his previous marriage didn't work out (not spoiling it here) and have a current woman after him (who's a bit psycho)...

The book was just slow as heck at times. Blake is just a little too perfect in the present despite his past actions, and Nellie, despite her marriage and kids, is about as shy as an ingenue. The tension started to creep up when the psycho ex of Blake started to plan her dastardly deeds, but that was drawn out for a LONG while with other characters introduced possibly for subsequent volumes. There were TWO separate darkest hours, one from her ex-in-laws, and one from the psycho-ex, and thus there were two endings.

All in all, the setup and the time period does make a different type of mail-order bride story, but the diffused threat from two fronts as well as some excess of plot points made the book less enjoyable than it could be.

Category: Historical western / mail order bride

Primary Plot: Widow with two kids married herself to San Francisco to a saloon owner with "working girls"... Can he show her that sex is actually wonderful and she can be loved?

Tropes: mail order bride, different worlds, scars, evil in-laws, single parent, widow, bar owner

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Review Katie: Clover Springs Mail Order Brides by Rachel Wesson

Katie started off with pretty standard mail order bride tropes (bad circumstances and/or evil relatives forcing the bride to take a chance at a husband sight unseen) but this book managed to milk the trope for all its worth by using Irish background for all its worth.

Katie arrived in the United States full of hope, but after 8 months of getting nowhere, and with a greedy uncle ready to force her into something unpleasant, she chose her own fate by marrying herself out West as a mail order bride. Daniel Sullivan needs to be married to get a loan from the bank, but the only girl that caught his eyes... was the girl already taken, Katie. When Daniel saved her during a train robbery, she fell for him, but she's determined to go through her vows... 

It also added a train robbery and the bride getting stuck in a different town and falling for a different man. As for how the plot was resolved, well, that's the surprise! Add a sister as well. It's a good variation on the mail order bride story.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Girl married herself west when her train was robbed. She fell for the man who saved her, but she's already promised to someone else...

Tropes: mail order bride, different worlds,

Overall Rating:  4/5  (rounded up from 3.5/5)

GRR Review The Hunter Bride (Hope's Crossing Book by Cynthia Woolf

The Hunter Bride puts a new spin on the Western mail-order bride story by making her as tough as any male... a bounty hunter! Unfortunately, the chemistry between the two was a bit lacking, and while the bad guy's in town and traces of him can be found all the time, there was a bit too much of a tease, as the bad guy had been in town for WEEKS and made no overtly threatening moves until the final pages of the book. Is this supposed to be horror or suspense?

Josephine "Jo" Shafter, after five long years of being one of the very few female bounty hunters in the West, finally put the man who killed her father and brother behind bars. She did not stay for the trial, but instead, married herself off to Montana as a mail order bride, because no one in the East would marry a woman tougher than they are. And the sheriff, Sam Longworth, seem to be a good match, as long as she can pass herself off as a decent cook. and do laundry. But Sam was keeping a few secrets as well. When Jo's nemesis escaped from prison, and is out to seek revenge upon her for taking down his brothers, can Jo and Sam trust each other to have a happily ever after?

The setup is fine, and the story between Jo and Sam worked right up to about midpoint, as by that time, Sam knew exactly who Jo is, and can guess pretty much why she wouldn't want to talk about it, but Jo's feeling fairly possessive over her greatest catch (and feeling responsible for putting Sam at risk, even though he's the sheriff!) that she ain't sharing until confronted with the truth. Sam's needs were much simpler... keep his wife safe, keep his town safe, keep himself safe. That's about it. Adding the extra character about Sam's secret dad was just extra complications that diluted the plot points even further, as is the idea that the bad guy was skulking around Sam's cabin or walking around in town for weeks at a time. The characters just seem too talkative for exposition's sake.

To sum it all up, like the setup, liked the first half of the book. The rest was a confused mess between domestic bliss, weird tension, and denial.

Category: historical western, romantic suspense

Primary Plot: female bounty hunter put away the criminal who killed her family and married herself out west as a mail-order bride to the sheriff; the criminal escaped and came after her...

Tropes: law enforcement, mail order bride, different worlds, disguise

Overall Rating:  3/5  (rounded up from 2.5)

GRR Reviews Mail Order Mystery: Chance City Series B by Robin Deeter

Mail Order Mystery tries to pair up a detective with a mail order bride story, but the pairing had some problems as neither really have too much conflict to prevent them from falling in love.

Cyrus Decker, formerly of Pinkertons, was fired for breaking rules, and after losing his parents, tried to run the family ranch with his sister. However, their partly Comanche heritage made it difficult to live around town, even as the town sheriff needed Cyrus' experience in solving local crimes (and thus get the hate of the rest of the deputies). Cyrus figured the only way he can live is to find a wife who can actually help run the ranch... and low and behold, a farmer's widow, Leigh Hawthron is available. So she heads out, and single-handed turned over the ranch into profitability within a year... but she had a secret that almost caused Cyrus to cancel the engagement, even as they realize they like each other very much.

It was pretty obvious that Cyrus really wanted to be a detective rather than rancher, and his heart wasn't really into the marriage, but he'd welcome it. Leigh, on the other hand, wanted a chance to prove herself as a capable owner of a farm/ranch and she got one. There really isn't much that keep them apart as both quickly acknowledged each other's tough circumstances. There are some further adventures such as murder and hostage negotiation and other stuff but nothing that really threatened their love other than that secret mentioned before. There is no recognizable darkest hour or grand gesture before the HEA ending.

Category: historical western

Primary Plot: Outcast detective needed a mail order bride to run his family ranch with his sister, found someone who he actually liked.

Tropes: mail order bride, law enforcement, different worlds, scars

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Review Christmas Mail-Order Brides: Four Mail- by Susan Page Davis

Christmas Mail Order Brides is a collection of four very clean Christian Christmas Romances about how love and trust in God saw each of the brides through their respective crisis.

Annika arrived in Wyoming only to find her intended didn't intend to marry her (but his brother does).

Jolie's trip to Nevada was interrupted by a stagecoach robbery and was forced to marry and different man upon arrival...

Elizabeth went to Nebraska with a lot of secrets, like she doesn't know how to sew or cook (but can read and do figures) as well as she's still in contact with her ex-lover...

Amelia, who is going to California for one final matchmaking, but her client has a different candidate in mind.

They are all sweet, short, clean, and while they may sound a bit too religious, they seem to be the right tone for Christmas tales. I rather enjoyed them despite my mostly agnostic attitude.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Collection

Trope: Holiday, mail order bride, clean, Christian

Overall Rating:  4/5  (rounded up from 3.5/5)

GRR Review A Gambler's Heart (Love's A Gamble Boo by Kay P. Dawson

Gambler's Heart is a new wrinkle on "historical western mail order bride romance". And it was definitely better than generic mail order bride stories.

Fiona sent herself across the ocean, far away from her London home because she was no longer a debutante and nobody wanted to marry her. So she agreed to be a mail-order bride. However, she did not count on being used to satisfy a wager between two gamblers. Brooks is a gambling man bent on revenge by finding Virgil, the man who ruined his family. Brooks farmed in the morning and gambled in the afternoon, always only targeting the scammers and gamblers, not people who can't afford to lose. He did not count on his opponent fobbing his "just-arrived bride" on him to satisfy a debt, but he knew he had to protect her... even if he had to marry her. But will revenge blind him to love?

Brooks came off a guy with a chip on his shoulder but still have a good heart. Fiona... is almost a paper cutout, not much personality there. Neither did the two "heavies". Even Sheriff had more personality, IMHO, of course. But it's clean romance.

Category: Historical western

Primary Plot: Mail-order bride found herself "winnings" of a gambler who's bent on revenge, but will protect her from harm

Overall Rating: 4/5