GRR Reviews Always in Albuquerque by Kirsten Osbourne

Alexis has achieved everything she wanted... Except finding a life partner. She's a trained and certified life coach with an established clientele, but her training doesn't cover finding a date that she'd want a second date with, much less getting married. Desperate for a solution, she went to her old mentor, Dr. Lachele, who agreed to find her a match... AT THE ALTAR, much like a modern-day mail-order bride. // Dirk is a college professor (and vegetarian) who's way too serious about his image, yet he knew he couldn't date to save his life. Being matched to Alexis AT THE ALTAR seems to be an epic mismatch... She's way too... flamboyant for him, and he's too straight-laced for her. But can they see through their surface difference to their HEA?

Hmmm... this series is about some apparently epic MIS-matches that turn out to be... not mismatches at all, usually with some hidden truth revealed about why is each person the way s/he is. So it's deeper than it seems, but you're not going to find a surprising twist or super-angst-y emotion here. 4/5

GRR Reviews Short-Order Sheriff by Kirsten Osbourne

Kelsi Weston, youngest of the Weston siblings, cant' seem to keep a proper chef, or heck, cook in the family cafe. The latest one just ran off with a boyfriend. Then her long-time BF decided he will move to California and work as a pop-corn vendor at Disneyland and hope to be discovered. WTF?! However, she'll handle it... she'll help in the kitchen, AND get her twin to cover the kitchen when she had to be out front... // Sheriff Shane Clapper wanted Kelsi for years, but he's not a guy who goes after committed woman. When he got news that Kelsi's BF is leaving town, he moved in quickly... by taking an early lunch. He's there every day anyway... However, Kelsi's mother wants Kelsi to marry Kelsi's old classmate Bobby, now just "Bob," who will also be the new cook at the cafe. When Kelsi's mom doesn't take no for an answer, Shane came up with a plan to save Kelsi... Get married before Bob shows up...

Awww... sweet, funny, and clean. Nice setup. It's a bit short (150 pages plus previews and whatnot), and it's satisfying.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Sheriff wants the cafe owner, and now is his chance, even as her family wanted to set her up with someone else...

Overall Rating:

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Adam (Seven Sons Book 1) by Kirsten Osbourne

Adam tries to infuse some supernatural elements (each of the seven sons is "gifted" in some way, like empathy with people empathy with plants, and so on) into a romance but it seems to lack the charm and humor from the author's other works.

Adam McClain and his six brothers run the McClain Boys' Ranch, where wayward boys, whose own parents gave up on them, find redemption. What they don't tell people is each of them has special... talent. Father has occasional visions of the future. Adam is an empath... he can sense emotions. Other brothers have power of healing, power of green thumb (plants), animal whisperer, and so on and so forth. When they need a new fundraising coordinator, they interviewed Tiffani Simpson, who recently lost her job. What Adam can't tell Tiffani is he will marry her. It was in his father's vision. But when he left on a date with Tiffani, and something bad happened back on the ranch, he's having seconds thoughts about romance...

Honestly, I just don't get this series. It's way too talkative, and the "darkest hour" was really dumb, and fixed with a simple change of heart. It just didn't read like the author's work at all.

Category: Contemporary / Paranormal

Primary Plot: Can the oldest of seven sons, all of whom have unusual gifts, find love even as he is torn between his duty and romance?

Overall Rating: 2/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

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

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

GRR Reviews Rocky Mountain Mornings by Kirsten Osbourne

Rocky Mountain Mornings is the start of a new series, but the trope alpha male teaser and the trope FMC who can't help but fall for such a teaser despite the behavior would otherwise drive her up the wall were just way too cliche. At least the teasing was clean.

Bri Roberts and her sister had always wanted to turn their grandma's house in Silver Springs, CO into a bed and breakfast, and they needed a contractor to help realize their dreams. What they got is Anthony Black, the new guy in town, that drives Bri up the wall with his teases / flirting about how he will marry her and all that. Can such a romance work?

The teasing and flirting are relentless. I honestly got bored listening to the teases. Do women really respond to being teased mercilessly?

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman trying to start a bed and breakfast can't decide to love or strangle her contractor who's teasing her mercilessly

Tropes: small town, B&B, fling to a thing

Overall Rating: 3/5 (rounded up)

GRR Reviews Dreaming in Dairyland (At the Altar Book by Kirsten Osbourne

Dreaming in Dairyland is a modern take on mail order bride, where the bride and groom meet at the altar and marry without having ever seen each other until at the altar. In this book, we have a sheriff's deputy Bob Anderson, paired up with bowling alley owner / karaoke singer Cissie Rivers. And it proved to be an interesting variation on the theme, as it's about keeping secrets and what it does to a relationship.

To recap, Cissie Rivers celebrated her best friend Cindy's wedding (Wishing in Wisconsin (At the Altar Book 3)) not too long ago, and now she's a little jealous. Cissie wanted a tall, dark, handsome man... preferably in uniform, for herself. She went to the same matchmaker Cindy used... Dr. Lachele. And soon, she's scheduled for a wedding, where she will meet her match at the altar, and immediately marry him. What she didn't know is her match was Deputy Sheriff Bob Anderson in the next town, and he was very much aware of her. One look at her and he already knew she's the one, but he... can't approach her. So he set himself up with Dr. Lachele as well... and with more tests than others... Bob was confirmed to be a match for Cissie, and the first days of the wedding actually went well, But will Cissie forgive Bob when she found out that Bob actually engineered this match?

Being a short novel, there wasn't major angst here. It's mainly sweet, with dashes of anger when the deception (or "neglect to mention") was revealed, but both are basically good people who wanted each other. It was a fun and fast read.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Girl dreaming of a tall and handsome man in uniform gets exactly what she wanted; except for one secret...

Tropes: mail order bride, family secrets

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Wyoming Wedding (Culpepper Cowboys by Kirsten Osbourne

Wyoming Wedding is basically related to the author's "At the Altar" series except this time it's Quadruplets for Four Brothers (and this is book 1). The story was sweet though a bit of "insta-chemistry" that was somewhat unexplained.

The Culpepper brothers want to inherit the ranch, but their grandpa's will ordered that all four brothers have to get married within six months and one of them had to have a baby on the way within the year, or the ranch will go to their cousin (and nobody wants that... except that cousin). Desperate to find mates, they turned to professional matchmaker Dr. Lachele Simpson (ref: At the Altar series), and Lachele delivered again: locating the Quinlan Quadruplets for them, the quads in a small town brought up on a very conservative family but desperate to make an impact on the world their own way. The oldest Culpepper is Karlan, and he matched up perfectly with Hope Quinlan, the oldest sister, and Karlan even got Hope to agree to marry him that very day, even as he promised to not consummate the marriage just yet. But can such a hurried marriage work for them?

Kristen Osbourne chose to tell this story in a sweet yet somber tone about how Karlan claimed Hope first, and proceed to seduce her slowly. I find this book rather average, and a bit childish at times. But it was not too distracting. The author had to balance world building with a romance, and I think the romance suffered somewhat. 

Category: Contemporary / Western

Primary Plot: Oldest of the clan need to marry, and may have found the woman of his dreams... but can they really live with each other even if they really just met each other hours earlier?

Tropes: mail order bride (in essence), family pressure, weird will, matchmaker, cowboy

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Reviews Roberta: Bride of Wisconsin by Kirsten Osbourne

Roberta was a mail order bride story with a bit of sass and attitude, which was certainly fresh air when most mail order bride stories are about weak women forced by circumstances!

Roberta McDaniel felt responsible after the factory she managed was burned down by the owner to cover up embezzling. With dozens of women out of job, she recommended those with no family to go back to become mail order brides, and she lead the way. She went west to Wisconsin to become new wife of a widower, Jakob, with two kids, but both Jakob and Roberta found neither is what the other expected. Jakob was not ready for a competent and independent woman with a temper, while Bobbie wasn't ready for a hostile kid, Jakob's continue pining for his dead wife, and Jakob's fortune (he's known locally as the lumber baron). Can such a pairing work?

Wow, Roberta was basically super frontier woman, who make bake, cook, make clothes, read / write, manage a business, do figures, and raise kids! Jakob was no slouch to have made his fortune, but how can he NOT fall in love with superwoman? But it's also a bit... over the top? Still, the polish made this worth a read.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Woman forced by circumstances married herself out west to be widower's new wife and mother to two kids

Tropes: scars, different worlds, mail order bride, widower, super woman, single parent

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

GRR Reviews Ranch's Retreat (River's End Ranch Book by Kirsten Osbourne

Ranch's Retreat is a contemporary Western romance involving River's End Ranch's cowboys, and the visiting guest. It's short, sweet, and a bit of fourth wall breaking which added to the fun.

Five Romance Authors decided to do some writing at River's End Ranch in Riston, Idaho. But for Kaya Taylor, her life will never be the same. Her life was rather lonely despite the words she put into the novels, but one look at Glen Johnson at the ranch and she found herself lost. But Glen can't commit to a relationship. He's about to get his doctorate and turn his uncle's old ranch into an equine therapy center. While he felt a connection to Kaya, he couldn't change his life plan for her... Or can he?

The theme is for love, both have to make sacrifices. While Kaya can write almost anywhere, can Glen sacrifice part of his plan for love? Fun read, from an affair to true love of the heart.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can a romance writer on vacation fall for a cowboy soon leaving for veterinarian school?

Tropes: romance writer, commitment-phobe, fling to a thing

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

GRR Reviews Lazy Love by Kirsten Osbourne

Lazy Love is a sweet love story about two TV stars that portrayed a couple but are not really in love... or are they?

Valerie is the star of popular TV series "Lazy Love" and her chemistry with her onscreen BF Jesse was off the charts. Offscreen, Valerie has a boyfriend of 8 years... but that's just on the surface. In reality, Valerie was terrified of her boyfriend, who had physically and emotionally abused her, basically taken over her life, often in a jealous rage, then contrite and asked to be forgiven the next day. When she finally had enough (after he threw a vase just missing her head) and broke up, her co-star Jesse dragged her off to Vegas and get married, partly to head off any negative publicity the ex-BF could generate at the tabloids, but partly because Jesse had pined after his co-star for YEARS, and those on-screen kisses aren't fake, at least on his part. Can such a relationship work? Will Val realize how much Jess loved her?

While the Ex was bad, he barely made an appearance in the story and thus there wasn't much tension in the story, once they got married, and then it's Val slowly realizing that perhaps this marriage wasn't as fake as she'd thought... For a demi-novel (about 150 pages) it's short and sweet, and not much else.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Actor rescued actress being abused by her BF, and hauled her off to get married in Vegas for PR, but he's actually quite fond of her for real... will she return the attention?

Tropes: performer, friends to lovers, triangle, evil ex

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews Wishing in Wisconsin (At the Altar) by Kirsten Osbourne

A modern variation of mail-order bride, the At the Altar series is an interesting scenario... marriage first, love later.

Cindy, the owner of a B&B in Wisconsin, was blindly matched with Trey, a web developer from Texas. The premise is the psychologist prescreen the candidates and match them up, but neither knew about the other and they meet at the altar, where they get married immediately. Cindy grew up in the town and there are no eligible bachelors around she'd marry while running her B&B. Trey, on the other hand, was tired of his crazy sister's plan to match him up with every OTHER crazy girl she can get her hands on back in Texas, and she had been doing this since she was a teenager. So as Trey settled into his life in Wisconsin (as a web developer he can work anywhere) Cindy started to learn about the quirks (like Trey prefers to work in just his boxers). Then Trey's crazy sister showed up with a girl in tow insisting that's the right girl for Trey, despite Trey having already married...

There really isn't much of the darkest hour or grand gesture, and the sister really needs psychological help, but the story was sweet and interesting otherwise. It's like having dating life and married life compressed into a few short weeks.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Trey, eager to get away from his crazy sister, married Cindy sight-unseen and moved to Wisconsin; can such a match actually work? 

Tropes: different worlds, mail order bride, sibling problem

Overall Rating:  4/5