A Cowboy For Keeps Engaging Story With Delightful Characters

 ...from the publisher...

Greta Nilsson's trip west to save her ailing little sister, Astrid, could not have gone more wrong. First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died.

Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.

Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He'll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt's ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.

...my thoughts...

Digging into Jody Hedlund's A Cowboy for Keeps was an easy prospect for me.  I enjoy her books and was curious to start her new Colorado Cowboys series. It wasn't long before I found myself fully engaged in the story.  Marriages of convenience are a popular topics and sometimes dismissed as lightweight fiction.  Not so when you dig deeper.  These men and women endured a hard life and their rewards were very different than what we expect for ourselves today. I enjoy reading these stories because they remind me that this was how many parts of our country were settled into communities.  Communities with families, schools and churches became the fabric of life for the men and women who had the gumption to work hard and build homes on their ranches or farmed their land.

Greta was a courageous young woman for leaving her home behind to forge a new life in an unknown territory to marry a perfect stranger.  A stranger who promised to also support her ailing little sister Astrid, whose life depended on this move.

Watt hadn't planned to saddle himself with a wife, but the mayor's proposition to help him increase his herd was too good to overlook.  The conditions of the deal were another story, but he had plenty of time to meet the requirements so he agreed.  Time, though, is a funny thing as it slips by day by day until finally something has to happen and it all happened as predicted.  Yes, this story was predictable but I didn't mind because the characters were likable and the author wove the tale together in a unique way. 

The location was also a character in this story with descriptions that are picturesque and engaging.  I don't  think Greta could  have found her new home in a better place. It seemed to have it all with plenty of hills, plains and of course, hot springs. I think this is one of those books that would appeal to any reader who enjoys good, clean historical fiction.  I am already looking forward to the second book in this series.

A Bride of Convenience A Wonderful Story by Jody Hedlund About The Bride Ships from England

...from the publisher...
Unemployed mill worker Zoe Hart jumps at the opportunity to emigrate to British Columbia in 1863 to find a better life and be reunited with her brother, who fled from home after being accused of a crime.

Pastor to miners in the mountains, Abe Merivale discovers an abandoned baby during a routine visit to Victoria and joins efforts with Zoe, one of the newly arrived bride-ship women, to care for the infant. While there, he's devastated by the news from his fiancee in England that she's marrying another man.

With mounting pressure to find the baby a home, Zoe accepts a proposal from a miner of questionable character after he promises to help her locate her brother. Intent on protecting Zoe and frustrated by his failed engagement, Abe offers his own hand as groom. After a hasty wedding, they soon realize their marriage of convenience is not so convenient after all.

...my thoughts...
After 114 days the Robert Lowe arrived in Victoria Britsh Columbia on January 12, 1863. Thirty-eight brides were on board, all unemployed cotton mill workers. A sharp contrast from the Tynemouth, the first Columbia Mission Society brideship, which combined an equal number of wealthy middle-class gentlewomen and poor laborers.  The miners who were anxious for the brides to arrive wouldn't mind a bit to marry any one of the women on board.

Zoe Hart was beyond ready to land.  She was glad to be shut of the oppressive life she left behind in Manchester and eager to begin her search for her long lost twin brother Zeke. Zeke left a few years before under a cloud that no longer existed. The opportunity was tremendous to have a fresh start.  I liked Zoe's character from the start.

 "Heard Captain Verney saying there's hundreds of fellas on the shore"...
"All I need is one," Zoe Chimed in. The right one."
"Handsome?"
"Aye a handsome fella and a good kisser."

Her personality was entertaining and all the time caring for others.  My heart went out to her several times in the book but she is one woman who is true to herself and those she meets.  If she could take care of every child on their own or others in need she would have.  If her husband viewed her as just a convenience, so be it. Her goodness was a breath of fresh air in her new home town of Yale and she fast became a favorite.

Abe Merivale wasn't looking for a bride and with nearly two more years left for his position as a missionary with the Church of England, it wasn't feasible.  He would go home, marry Lizzy and one day become a bishop.  It was all laid out for him.  Until, he met Zoe.  Zoe, who wanted to rock the boat and keep Violet, an orphaned native baby.  Nothing would stand in her way, and Abe, in an absent minded misunderstanding moment, married her.

Jody Hedlund, in her wonderful style, has created a story that has a few bends in the road to this marriage.  Zoe was so unexpected in her role as the wife of a clergyman.  It shows that life is so unexpected and often the best laid plans are best set aside so that one can hear God's own plans, which are often the best of what could be imagined.  I recommend A Bride of Convenience for all who love historical Christian fiction.  Once again, the research is impeccable and this era of settling the west is very intriguing.  The brave women who traveled from England down around South America and  up the Pacific truly have a place in our history.

To check out my reviews of Jody's Bride Ships Series check out my blog posts:

A Reluctant Bride 

The Runaway Bride

Romancing the Bride.... Another Good Read by Melissa Jagears

....from the publisher.....
Marrying a stranger to save a ranch is one thing; losing the land on their wedding day is another.

Desperate to keep the ranch where three of her children and a husband lie buried, Annie Gephart must marry or sell. Which of the few bachelors in town would consider a surprise proposal to wed a plain widow with a rebellious daughter, a spirited boy, and unpaid taxes—without laughing in her face?
Jacob Hendrix has never fully let go of his ranching dreams despite ending up as a small Wyoming town’s marshal. The job wouldn’t be so bad, except he’s more errand boy than lawman. When Annie proposes marriage without a single coquettish bat of an eyelash, can he commit himself to a woman he hardly knows for a choice piece of property he’d be an idiot to pass up?

But taxes aren’t all that threaten Annie and Jacob’s plans. Cattle rustlers, crumbling friendships, and wayward children make this marriage of convenience anything but. When they lose what they’ve sacrificed everything to save, will the love of a stranger be enough?

Romancing the Bride is the first book in the Frontier Vows Series by award-winning Christian romance author Melissa Jagears. If you like heartwarming marriage-of-convenience stories, you’ll love this sweet romance filled with endearing characters.

...my thoughts...

Romancing the Bride is such a compelling story. I can't imagine facing the hardships women like Annie faced.  Life in the old west was hard and on any given day a man or woman could lose their spouse.  Like many who sunk their money into land and cattle, there wasn't much money left over.  Under most circumstances for a woman to lose her husband meant losing her livelihood.

I could almost feel Annie's desperation when she decided to ask Jacob to marry her.  I could almost feel how she felt moving to town and seeming to live as his wife to a town that wasn't sure what to make of her.  Melissa Jagears has made the characters of this book come alive.  Between the pages of this book you can see the tension in the air when church services are over and everyone prepares for the wedding.  It cracks in such a way you aren't sure what is going to hit this couple next. Take a surly teenage girl, unsupportive friends and a flirty young beauty and even the best bride or groom might want to turn around and leave the altar.

So many things backfire and it takes a great deal of faith sprinkled with patience. I found myself thinking about Cassie, Annie's daughter.  She is so full of anger and disappointment over her father's death that she does her best to make everyone in the family unhappy. Yet, through it all, Jacob, as her stepfather deeply cared about her.  He would do whatever he could to make her see he wasn't trying to replace her father.  Jacob's prayer for his marriage and his new family are an inspiration.  He was a strong man who was humbled by his faith, and that faith is what made him strong.

I received an advance reader copy of this book but was under no obligation to review it.  However, I can't help but share when I read such a good book.  I recommend this book with 5 stars: great story, wonderful characters who are superbly developed and lovely description for a glimpse back into historical times in Wyoming.