Carolyn Twede Frank

If you add up a good-for-nothing brother, a mail-order bride, physical abuse, and a really great guy who wants to get married you get His Accidental Bride. There is more to the story, but I feel that these are some of the prominent plot points.

Dorothy Bednar is a good young lady who is caught up in a life that she wants to run away from. Her older brother has her commit crimes and beats her when she doesn't comply. A quick run to the train station leads her to Miss Cooper, who is traveling West to meet her groom. Dorothy's intrusion gives Miss Cooper an excuse to run away from her situation. Win/Win!? No, it never turns out pretty when those things happen.

Dorothy had good intentions to deliver the letter from Miss Cooper to Mr. Ronald Smith, but he was too nice and she kept getting lost for words. Next thing you know, everyone thinks that she is Miss Cooper. What is a nice girl to do? Play along until she can extract herself from the situation.

This was a cute book. I loved Dorothy and Ronald. I hated Dorothy's brother and another bad guy in the book. I loved the setting of a small town in Colorado set in the 1800s. I also loved that the book was about forgiveness and making a fresh start.

There were a few places where the pacing was a bit slow, but overall, I didn't feel like it detracted from the story.

This is a good, clean, fun novel that left me feeling good at the end.

Source: I received a complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.… (altro)

Dorothy Bednar has had enough of being an unwilling participant in her brother's cheating schemes. She flees and meets a woman on her way to be a mail-order bride. Dorothy agrees to carry a letter of the woman's change of hearty in exchange for passage away from her brother. A tangled web of lies builds up when Dorothy hesitates to hurt Ronald's feelings, and those lies soon threaten her chance at a happy ever after.

Where to start with this one? I wanted to like it. Mail-order bride stories can be entertaining. It was clean, but overall, the book was a mess, in my opinion. I've read books with awkward heroes, but there is usually some charm about them. Ronald had no charm. Whenever the story was with him, it was tedious. I have no idea how he managed to get far in a profession that involves working with people when he had no clue how to talk to people.

It was a little easier to like Dorothy, but I found myself unsympathetic to her. To avoid hurting someone's feelings does not seem like a good enough reason to lie. I might have accepted the lies if she had been trying to protect herself from her brother, but that wasn't the case.

There was a lot of telling going on in the narrative of the book. The author tells us what characters are feeling, telling us things that happened that affect the plot, instead of showing how it all ties together. It was especially disconcerting at the climax of the story where there is a sudden six month gap. A single paragraph explains what has happened, and it could have been the most interesting part of Dorothy's story: how she plots to escape her brother. As it was, the focus was on a romance that I didn't believe. I saw no reason for them to fall in love and stay together.

Though this is not marked as being part of a series, characters are introduced as though the reader should already know them and their backstories. A glance at the other books by the author show that she has written about this town before, so it should be connected as a series even if it is a stand alone tale.

This is a clean book but not one I would personally recommend to others. I received a free copy from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.… (altro)

Under the Stars by Carolyn Twede Frank
Paperback
Pages: 272
2020
ISBN: 1524411973
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc
Reviewed by: HuberK, Arkansas, USA
Date: 1/16/2020
Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟🌟

Miss Rosie Decker is unlike any other woman in Craig, Colorado. She is a tomboy, sharp shooter, ranch hand. She wears trousers, can work outside all day long, just like one of the guys.

Her sweetheart Ivan has been gunned down and the marshal, Hank Walker comes looking at the outlying ranches to find enough able bodied men to hunt down Ivan's cold-hearted killer Harlow Forbes. Unfortunately, he doesn't get many who are interested in joining the posse. He emphatically states that there's no way he would let Miss Rosie join up with the posse.

So, Rosie takes matters into her own hands, asks a friend to help her with her disguise and "Ross Cook" is born. Marshal wants a man, she gives him a man. Rosie/Ross takes over breakfast cooking duties of the posse. Poor Ivan only has a five "man" posse, charging after his killer.

The book is believable and enjoyable.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Goodreads and was under no obligation to post a review.… (altro)

How could Susannah's eldest brother and heir to their family's ranch be so cold and cruel during ad after the tragic events of their home burning down. She knew she could not endure her younger brother's treatment of her, now that he was in charge. She made he difficult choice of fleeing her home. She had a small "stash" of cash. She would find refuge with Dr. Kate until she could escape the town.
When things did not go as planned, she escaped to an abandoned shack, only to discover it was on someone's property. With no where to turn, a bargain was made.
Saving Susannah Jones is a very entertaining tale of "old western" days, when times were tough, yet women began to "take a stance" and became doctors, teachers, and began to be a part of the "business world", while still not truly accepted by most men.
This is a story of one woman's perseverance and courage to have some control of her own destiny, without succumbing to the will and conniving of her kinsman.
Although very well-written, there were a couple of parts that did not "flow" smoothly. The story line, also, needed a little more depth, with a stronger ending.
Still, the characters and scenes were easily visualized, allowing the reader to feel connected and a part of the story.
The Title and Cover were a good "fit". For the "browser", the Cover was not overly "eye-catching".

*This book was gifted me by the publisher, with no urging to post a positive review. This is my honest review.… (altro)