|
This anthology contains three inventive stories about
three intrepid mail-order brides and the men who prove worthy enough
to claim their love.
In Satin and Snakeskin by Michele Ann Young,
London-born mail-order bride Tess Dalton is dozing by the side of
the road, awaiting the stranger who sent for her, when she’s
awakened by a blast from a shotgun. That her “fiancé” has fired the
shot is alarming enough. That it was to kill a near-by rattler
seems a bad omen. So she’s not all that surprised when handsome,
hard-scrabbled rancher Jake Redmond takes one look at her scrawny
form and declares she won’t do. Actually, she should consider it a
blessing since she only answered the mail-order bride advertisement
to obtain paid passage out to the San Antonio area in order to find
her brother and had no intention of marrying her postal suitor. So
why isn’t she relieved? For his part, Jake finds Tess appealing
enough, maybe too appealing, but her slight frame and eastern ways
makes him doubt her ability to handle the rugged life of the Texas
frontier, especially with two rambunctious nephews to raise who have
already been disappointed by a fancy, eastern-bred mother. In just a
few days, Jake will take her to San Antonio. A lot can happen in a
few days.
With great characters, an intriguing plot and dashes
of humor, Ms. Young has deftly created a sensual romance that
reminds us that first impressions aren’t always right.
In Gray Wolf’s Bride by Kimberly Ivey,
half-breed Wolf McKinnon has purposely selected his old flame, the
widowed Evangeline Payne, from the “A Bride for All” mail order
catalog. He’s changed his name in order to own property and now
he’s ready to extract revenge from the woman he believes betrayed
him to her father all those years ago. A betrayal that nearly got
him killed and left him with a visible scar across his neck to match
the invisible scar across his heart. Evangeline’s reaction when
she’s confronted with her first love and how she will explain the
young boy trailing behind her who looks exactly like Wolf is only
part of the story. There is someone threatening Evangeline and her
son, which is why she’s sought the safety of a new life, and now
they are threatening Wolf as well.
Ms Ivy’s story provides equal parts action, adventure
and simmering romance while examining the cost of betrayal, the
brutality of bigotry and the endurance of love in a heart-warming
story of survival.
In The Chances Are Bride by Billie Warren Chai,
Annabelle Yeager has come west, expecting to be the bride of
respectable hotel owner, Barry Woods. Instead, upon her arrival in
town, she learns from the attractive sheriff, Josh Morrow, that her
fiancé is dead. Practically destitute after escaping a life of
habitual servitude, Annabel is distraught until the town’s lawyer
informs her that she has inherited Mr. Wood’s saloon and brothel.
Annabelle is unsure whether to embrace this new opportunity or run
from it. And if she stays, how will she overcome the ostracism of
the town’s denizens because of the type of property she now owns?
To complicate matters, someone appears intent on killing the
saloon’s new owner. Gratefully, the very sexy Sheriff is determined
to protect her, but who is going to protect Annabelle’s heart from
the Sheriff?
With a sexy hero and a feisty heroine, Ms. Chai has
given readers an enjoyable romance with memorable characters.
These three original stories provide an absorbing
read about the dangers of making the wrong assumptions and the
rewards of finding the right person to love. |
