11 January 2015

Texas Mail Order Bride by Linda Broday

Hey everyone,


This week I wanted to read something different from my usual romance sub-genres. I felt like I was in a reading rut, as I kept starting books only to end up disappointed. So after searching around the internet I stumbled across a new to me author, Linda Broday and decided to try the first book in her new Bachelor’s of Battle Creek series.

The book:

Rancher Cooper Thorne thinks his life is finally on an even keel-until Delta Dandridge steps off the stagecoach and claims she's his mail order bride. Brash and quick-witted, the meddling Southern Belle is everything Cooper thought he never wanted...and everything his heart is telling him he needs. 
But Cooper swore long ago that he'd never marry, and he aims to keep his word, especially now that the demons from his past have returned to threaten everything-and everyone-he holds dear...
My Thoughts:
Texas Mail Order Bride was such a breath of fresh air for me. Although I love historical romances and religiously return to them again and again I rarely read any Westerns; I loved to say this wasn’t an active choice but I’m ashamed to say it is. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while you will know I have a ‘dislike’ of small town romances. To me they always come across as too tweed, too ‘happy’ and just completely unbelievable (especially the contemporary small town romances). I assumed that all Westerns would be small town romances, due to the nature of the historical Mid-West, and therefore avoided them.
I wish someone had smashed me round the head and forced me read this genre earlier because I loved Linda Broday’s Texas Mail Order Bride. Yes this is a small town romance and Battle Creek has all typical characteristics of this trope: community spirit, nosy neighbours, small-town dramas and a general air of wholesomeness. Yet for some reason in this historical setting it worked for me. I saw Battle Creek through Delta Dandridge’s eyes as a place of hope and family in a harsh world.
Delta was plucky, brave, almost too good at times if I’m being honest with myself and independent. When Cooper rejects her as his mail-order-bride rather than retreating into a spiral of misery and self-doubt she becomes determined to make a life for herself in Battle Creek. For much of the book Cooper and Delta dance around each other, unsure of how the other feels and unwilling to show vulnerability.
Cooper was an alpha hero with a dark past, which for much of the book is kept hidden from the reader and Delta. This is definitely a book that focuses on the present rather than becoming hung-up on the characters backstory. It made for a fast-paced action backed romance novel that I personally really enjoyed. In a similar vein I felt like Cooper showed how he felt about Delta through his actions rather than words; in-fact he was pretty terrible at the words. Throughout the book he protects Delta without curtailing her dreams and spirits; even if he didn’t always want to admit that he was protecting her.
For me Texas Mail Order Bride had a great hero, a fantastic heroine and wonderful cast of supporting characters that I hope to see more of in the future books, book that I assume will revolve around his two brothers Rand and Brett.

My rating:
Happy reading everyone and see you next time!

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