Check yourself into the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series by Vickie McDonough, where you'll meet Luke Davis, marshal of Lookout, Texas, who flippantly tells his cousin he'd get married if the right woman ever came along. When three mail-order brides are delivered to Luke a month later, he's in an uncomfortable predicament. How will he ever choose his mate?
Rachel Hamilton's long-time love for Luke is reignited with his return to town. So when three mail-order brides appear, she panics. Will she find the courage to tell Luke that she loves him? Or take an anonymous part in the contest for his hand?
My thoughts:
Discovering new authors can really be a mixed bag of surprises for a reader. I've had experiences where I wonder what took me so long to get around to them, and I've had other experiences where I wished I could've used my time differently. No worries....Vickie McDonough fits perfectly into the first category. :o)
Vickie's western style of writing was very reminiscent of Mary Connealy and Lori Copeland, except it was deeper. I loved that I got to really invest myself in the emotions of each character. Luke--who initially had a heart filled with unforgiveness--slowly allowed his heart to soften. Rachel--who scorned Luke many years ago--longed to admit that she'd made a terrible mistake. And Jacqueline--better known as "Jack"--was a feisty tomboy that just wanted her ma to marry Luke.
But setting up Luke and Rachel wasn't as easy as a couple of cousins thought it would be! Luke's cousins took it upon themselves to find a mail-order bride for Luke. What they didn't count on was that instead of one girl being interested in Luke...there were three! And what made things even crazier...poor Luke didn't have a clue what he was about to be in for--a pushy mayor, a nosy journalist, and three women vying for his hand in marriage! If that's not a recipe for a great story, I don't know what is!
I'm so happy to add Vickie to my list of highly recommended authors, and it comes after reading just one book. I have a feeling that the tiny town of Lookout, Texas has a few more surprises up it's sleeve before the series concludes. My rating for The Anonymous Bride
is 4.5 Stars.Southern? No
Sass? Most all the women in this book have a good dose of it. :o)
**Many thanks to Barbour Books for providing a copy for review.
I loved this story! I have the second one just waiting to be read...sigh just gotta find the time!
ReplyDeleteXOXO~ Renee
The second one should arrive at my house any day! Gotta love PBS! :o)
ReplyDeleteChristy,
ReplyDeleteI'm blushing at your wonderful review. So glad that you enjoyed TAB. Today, I received a copy of Finally A Bride, book 3 in the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series. It's always so cool to hold a book you've written for the first time. This is Jack's story. It's set 10 years after the first two books. Thanks again!!
Awww, thanks, Vickie!!! I always love it when an author stops by my blog! :o) And I can't imagine that feeling of holding a book that you've written for the very first time...it's got to be exhilarating. :o)
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds so cute!! I have this one on my shelf somewhere but I haven't read it yet.
ReplyDeleteThis one has been on my want list forever! :) I may have to head over to PBS. The Christian book readers seem to have better luck getting good books over there! I've always just used swaptree(or swap.com now) :P and I'm just not crazy about them anymore.
ReplyDeleteI tried Swaptree for a few months, and I wasn't all that crazy about it. I've been with PBS for a few years now, and I have no complaints. :o)
ReplyDelete