The Unexpected Bride by Lena Goldfinch

About the Book:

What's a man to do when his father orders him a bride?

Rebecca Sullivan has been "Becky" all her life, a real hoyden. Her childhood sweetheart taught her to ride bareback and shoot a rifle, but then he chose a "perfect lady" for a wife—a real Southern belle, who's now expecting a baby. Heartbroken, Becky signs up to be a mail-order bride to a Seattle man, sight unseen. She resolves to squelch her hoydenish ways and become a "perfect lady" for her future husband.

If logging-operation owner Isaac Jessup had wanted a bride, he'd have chosen a sturdy frontier woman, not some fragile lady from back East. Ready to explain the mistake, honorable Isaac takes one look into Rebecca's vulnerable eyes...and knows he'll marry her, even though this delicate waif is obviously unsuited for wild Seattle.

Could an unexpected marriage be a match made in heaven?

Book One in The Brides Series
Sweet Historical Western Romance / A Mail-Order Bride Novel

Release Date: October 6th, 2014

Available to order: in ebook format:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this sweet romance! Rebecca is quite the character. I love that she was so determined to make her unconventional marriage work. She did frustrate me for a while with trying to be someone she wasn’t, but it was understandable considering her background. I really liked Isaac as well. He was an honorable and handsome character. I loved his desire to provide for and protect Rebecca. I think that a good story causes the reader to feel like the characters are real, and that is the way I felt while reading this book. I was connected emotionally and found myself shaking my head in irritation at Rebecca and Isaac sometimes. When they assumed they knew what each one of them was thinking or feeling I wanted to go in and shake them, but then I realize that I do the same thing in “real” life! I’ll definitely be looking forward to more books in The Brides Series.

Gunpowder Tea by Margaret Brownley

Annie(Miranda Hunt) is a Pinkerton Detective assigned to find out who the leader of a ring of thieves is. The "Phantom" has been robbing trains and banks, and people in Arizona territory have had enough. The gang seems to be centered around Last Chance ranch, home to Miss Eleanor Walker an aging cattle rancher bent on finding an heiress for her ranch. Annie knows that applying as one of the potential heiresses will be the perfect cover for her to hunt down the Phantom.

When "Annie" arrives at the ranch Miss Walker has a mishap that causes her to be laid-up in bed with Annie as her caretaker. Before long Annie finds a new ranch hand lurking around the house going through Miss Walker's office. "Branch" is the perfect candidate for the "Phantom". Having met him in a train robbery on her way into town Annie has no problem suspecting him as being the Phantom, now she just needs to find the evidence to prove her theory. The only problem is that Annie has become attracted to Branch, but she is determined that nothing will stop her from bringing justice to this guilty man.

I thought this was a great conclusion to The Brides of Last Chance Ranch series! With Annie constantly plying Miss Walker with tea I found I could sympathize with the old gal as I dislike tea! But I also found it heartening to read that finally Miss Walker may have met her match for stubbornness. And the way that Annie softened Miss Walker's heart was touching. The Brides of Last Chance Ranch have been a fun three book series that had me looking forward to each new installment. I was quite satisfied with the ending. If you like historical/western/romances then this is the book for you!

Check out my reviews of the first two books in the series:

Dawn Comes Early
Waiting for Morning

Thanks to the publisher Thomas Nelson through NetGalley for my copy of GUNPOWDER TEA for review. This is my honest opinion.