A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears

Back of the Book

Everett Cline will never humiliate himself by seeking a mail-order bride. Not again. He's already been jilted by three mail-order brides and figures a wife just isn't in his future. However, a well-meaning neighbor hasn't given up on seeing him settled, so she goes behind his back to bring yet another woman to town for him.

Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiance. A mail-order marriage in faraway Kansas is a last resort, but she'll do anything to leave her life in Massachusetts and the heartbreak she's experienced there.

Although Everett doesn't see how a beautiful, cultured woman like Julia could be happy sharing his simple life, he could really use a helpmate on his homestead. Determined to prove she's more than just a pretty face, Julia agrees to a marriage in name only. Faced with the harsh realities of life on the prairie and hesitant to explore the tentative feelings growing between them, can Everett and Julia ever let each other in long enough to fall in love?

My Thoughts

This was a well written emotional story about 2 people struggling with their self worth and longing to be loved and accepted.  This was the first book in the series Unexpected Brides, but through the first half of the book I felt like I had missed a previous book that I should have read first. By the end you have it figured out, you just have to get though the first half first.

This was a good clean book, but not sure I would read it again.

Along Came a Cowboy By: Christine Lynxwiler

Back of the book

When Rachel Donovan, a strong-willed chiropractor with a past, meets Jack Westwood, a bullheaded cowboy looking for a future, it looks like hate at first fight. But when the dust settles, it may be love.

My Thoughts

This book, while entertaining, had a lot of tension.  You figure out Rachel's past pretty early on and just seem to hold your breath waiting for Jack to figure it out.  It was hard for me to really enjoy the book when I felt like I was just waiting for the plot to get moving.

Firewall By Diann Mills

Back of the Book

After a whirlwind romance, Taryn Young is preparing to board a plane at Houston International Airport, bound for a dream honeymoon, when a bomb decimates the terminal. Injured but still alive, she awakens to discover her husband is missing and they’re both considered prime suspects in the attack. Further, the FBI is convinced her husband isn’t who he appears to be.

Agent Grayson Hall’s number-one priority is to catch those responsible for the day’s act of terror. All evidence is pointing to Taryn and her new husband. But his instinct tells him her pleas of innocence are genuine. Is her naiveté just for show, or could she truly be another victim of a master scheme, possibly linked to the software she recently developed for her company?

With both their lives and reputations on the line, and the media outcry for justice increasing with each passing minute, Taryn and Grayson have no choice but to trust one another . . . and pray they can uncover the truth before they become two more casualties.

My Thoughts

Two thumbs way up!  Five stars!  (Take your pick.)  Firewall was another amazing thriller by Diann Mills.  The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat 'til the very end... and then your jaw will drop.

Firewall was a clean novel that I can't wait to read again.

The Husband Maker By Karey White

Back of the book

Charlotte’s a girl with nicknames. She may not love being called Charles or Chuck, but the hardest nickname to take is the one she was given in college, the one that’s followed her now for too many years. They call her “the husband maker” and sadly, it fits. Every guy she's dated since high school has gone on to marry the next girl they date. Not two or three girls down the road. The very next one. 
Is she doing something wrong or is she just cursed? 
When Kyle Aldsworth enters the picture and sweeps her off her feet, Charlotte begins to hope that maybe she's not destined to be single forever. A senator’s son with political aspirations of his own, Kyle's wealthy, handsome, and in need of a wife. Will Charlotte be disappointed yet again, or will she finally be able to make a husband for herself?

My thoughts

I was really looking forward to this book, I have read Karey Whites novels and have loved them all.  This book however was a disappointment for me.  It has many of the things you expect from one of White's novels, like an interesting plot and depth, but it also lacked a few of the things I depend on from her novels. I never felt a good rhythm and it always felt choppy.