These three historical romances by different authors all have something in common—someone in each story either wants a mail-order bride or wants to be one. They have employed the services of Mrs. Mayberry’s Matrimonial Society for Christians of Moral Character in their search.
But sometimes the heart has its own ideas…
I loved the characters in Carrie Turansky’s A Trusting Heart. Annika Bergstrom travels to a Wyoming ranch to marry a widower in need of help raising his young daughter, but Chase Simms is mysteriously absent. Daniel, his brother, wishes their pa had talked to Chase before writing to the mail-order bride. In his brother’s continued absence, Daniel begins to fall for Annika. She can’t help wishing that Chase was more like his brother…
The action in Vickie McDonough’s The Prodigal Groom begins immediately. The main setting is in Cedar Springs, Nevada in 1882. My emotions were engaged early as I wanted Jolie Addams to flee the orphanage where a man the age of a grandfather wanted her to live with him as his maid. Jolie flees to Nevada from Iowa to marry a man she’s never met. She meets Clay Jackson along the way and must face a dangerous situation with him. That event turns her future on its head.
I was delighted when this collection comes full circle in Mrs. Mayberry Meets Her Match by Susan Page Davis. Amelia Mayberry, who has supported herself since her husband’s death by running a matchmaking service, finally has saved enough money to retire. The widow in her early fifties has only one job left—find her husband’s old friend a wife, as she had unsuccessfully tried to do two years before. Lennox Bailey has built a successful business in Sacramento. The widower’s married daughter’s family now includes Lennox’s only grandson. He agrees to a visit from Amelia, but he hopes she will not mention the mail-order bride she’d recommended. It had been a fiasco. Yet Amelia cannot leave a job unfinished…
All of these historical romances are feel-good stories set in the West at Christmas.
I enjoyed this collection of light-hearted, easy-to-read romances. Recommend.
Darcy’s mother wants to arrange for her daughter to marry a widower near her home, but Darcy has no intention of giving up her teaching position to move back home. Her demanding mother had controlled her during childhood. She won’t put herself in that position again.
Reuben, the pastor at Darcy’s church, is determined to remain a bachelor, yet he can’t deny his attraction to her. The couple is thrown together when a tornado threatens their community.
Characters I cared about drew me into the story. They had believable hurdles to overcome. I couldn’t put the book down. However, I didn’t understand why Darcy, as a protective sister, seemingly left her adopted younger sister alone with their controlling mother. The answer might be in an upcoming book.
Another quick edit would have helped minor errors. All in all, I enjoyed the story.
Tilda Muirhead came to the Two Harts Ranch in the first book in this series, when she followed the MacKenzie brothers. The teenagers had been in pursuit of their grandfather’s buried treasure and still had found only a portion of it. Tilda’s love of history lands her a job at the California ranch’s orphanage. She’s spent most of her childhood as an orphan, and her deepest desire is to help them. She has never dreamed of marriage—Josh Hart might change her mind.
Josh is part-owner of the large ranch. He took the reins to run it while his brother, Zane, was away. Now that Zane is back, Josh’s struggles to find his way are thwarted by his feelings for Tilda.
When someone claiming to be her family member comes to the ranch, Tilda is fearful. Can she trust Josh to protect her?
Unexpected danger escalates in this historical romance. The story is told through multiple viewpoints, including through characters in the first book with unresolved issues. The author leaves us with reasons to anticipate the next book.
Readers see characters they’ve learned to love in an earlier series.
The author does a good job summarizing what the reader needs to know from earlier stories. Even so, the story builds as a saga. I believe that readers of the earlier series will receive a deeper impact from the stories.
This was a page-turner for me! I will look for more books by this author.
Aaron Long’s goal is to drive his freight wagon through Montana Territory before the first big snow of the season. He happens upon a terrible accident that left another freight driver dead and a pregnant widow too close to delivering her child for comfort. A two-week trip will get her to the nearest doctor. His newly-found faith will not allow him to leave her on the side of the road to wait for the next wagon, as Mrs. Barlowe suggests. Several days might pass before that happened.
Katie Barlowe figures she has another month before her baby is born. Her husband was buried on the ranch they’d tried to start. All she wants is to get to a doctor and then head back to Pennsylvania to raise her child alone. Should she trust Aaron to get her there? The handsome driver who walked with a limp seemed trustworthy enough, yet Katie has learned that few men deserved her trust.
The author whirled me right into the story from the first page. The pair face one challenge after another. Each difficulty threatens their journey.
Surprising twists kept me turning pages. This is the first book in the series that I’ve read. The author did a great job summarizing earlier important events that affected this story and then plunging back into the action.
Well-written romance. This is not the first book I’ve read by this author, and it won’t be the last.
Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances.
Learning that citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, didn’t celebrate our country’s Independence Day for about a century prompted me to dig into the city’s history during the Civil War.
What I discovered so touched me that I had to write about it—and it required three books to tell the story. The main characters are fictional…the historical backdrop is real.
Vicksburg’s strategic location on bluffs along the mighty Mississippi River during the war was often a topic among leaders of both sides. Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent troops early in the war to protect the city and keep Union ships from passing on the river. More troops were sent as the focus on Vicksburg increased from the Union army.
President Abraham Lincoln felt that “Vicksburg is the key” to winning the war. Union General Ulysses S. Grant was determined to capture the city.
The defeat only whetted Grant’s desire to take Vicksburg by force. The following year, Union ships once again attacked the town for weeks from the Mississippi River—this time while the Union army battled the Confederate army surrounding Vicksburg.
The surprising discoveries found while digging into Vicksburg’s history inspired books four, five, and six in my Spies of the Civil War Series.
Streams of Courage, Book 4, begins before the war starts in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.
River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. It begins in December of 1862.
Tides of Healing, the sixth and final book, tells the story of Vicksburg resident Savannah Adair and Union First Lieutenant Travis Lawson, who was among those who march into the city to seize control on July 4, 1863. Their first meeting begins with fireworks—and not the kind typically associated with an Independence Day celebration.
Beginning in 1861, three fictional heroine friends living in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the start of the Civil War are each affected in different ways by the events of the Civil War as their city becomes a target for the Union Army.
Streams of Courage, Book 4, Julia and Ash fall in love against her mother’s wishes. Townspeople accuse Ash of cowardice because he doesn’t become a soldier in the Confederate army. He begins spying for the North in his Mississippi city, a dangerous undertaking that puts his family and Julia’s family at risk. The story starts before the first battle in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.
River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. They started courting before the war began. She volunteers as a nurse to distract her worry for her soldier—then her worst nightmare happens. Luke has been wounded in battle. Worse, he doesn’t remember her…or why he was fighting for the Confederacy when his loyalty is with the North. It begins in December of 1862.
Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home.
First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy.
Georgiana Walton has been raised by her father to ride with wagon trains. Her mother died during childbirth. George longs to wear dresses. She wants a permanent home, but marriage and a family of her own are only dreams.
Dr. Elijah Mitchell has a job waiting for him in Santa Fe, where he plans to give his mother a fresh start after his father’s death. Although the prickly George captures his attention, there can be no future for them. Something besides the job is pulling him toward Santa Fe.
I quickly began to care about the heroine’s difficulties. Her character was believable and unique in the story. I loved how the author introduced not only the main characters but also a new community. I’m interested in seeing what happens in the series.
This was an easy, quick read that I enjoyed. I will look for the first book in the series.
Part of The Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides Collection
Mallory has no memories of her past. The ship she’d been aboard, the Mallory, sank, and she was the sole survivor. Cal Waterson had saved her and brought her to his lighthouse to recuperate. Lily, his sweet daughter, and Cal’s Aunt Ada tend her head wound. But Mallory wonders who she is and what her life had been like.
Although Cal has grown accustomed to loneliness since losing his wife in childbirth, he can’t deny being drawn to Mallory. Lily wants her for a mother, yet Cal tries to deny his heart while waiting to learn her identity.
I was drawn into the story from the first page. Lovable characters—including a sweet little girl who is desperate for a mother—tugged at my heart. I loved that Mallory’s artistic talent brought glimpses of her old life.
I couldn’t put the story down.
This historical novella is a sweet, nostalgic story. I will look for more stories by this author.
Dr. Dinah Wyatt accompanies her pregnant twin sister Naomi to the Montana Territory. Naomi was responding to a mail-order bride advertisement from Jericho Coulter. Once her sister is settled, Dinah plans to open a clinic in one of the few towns nearby, regardless of its reputation for wild behavior among the men. They’d hardly bother a female doctor determined to treat their illnesses, right?
Jericho Coulter doesn’t trust the sisters—or any strangers, for that matter. He didn’t advertise for a bride. What did they really want? His brother’s accident requires a doctor’s care. Begrudgingly, he allows them to stay a few days. He must protect his siblings…and the hidden treasure.
I fell in love with both families and they drew me into the story. The lovable main characters possess believable, relatable flaws. This story had many surprising twists that kept me turning pages from the beginning.
I’m already hooked on this series! I can’t wait to read the next book.
Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances.
Spying for Love: Five Espionage Historical Romance Novels, released on September 16, 2025.
Sandra’s novel in the collection: Byway to Danger
Love blooms in the shadows of history’s most pivotal moments as five extraordinary couples risk everything for duty, honor, and love.
Spark of the Revolution by Megan Soja
Patience Abbott has long felt unsettled and anxious to leave behind her painful memories in England for a fresh start in America. As tension grows in her new home of Boston, so does the distance between Patience and her estranged father. So when Josiah Wagner walks into her life, it finally feels like she’s not alone. His patriotic leanings put him at odds with her father’s loyalties.
Josiah Wagner yearns for a true home and family, something he works toward forging tools as a blacksmith, and forging plans with the Sons of Liberty. With the destruction of tea in Boston Harbor, Josiah finds himself drawn into its tumultuous wake, pulling the woman he loves along with him.
A Conflicted Betrothal by Denise Weimer
As a King’s Ranger, Ansel Anderson loves his independent life. He’s also a second son, which means he’ll need the favor of someone influential to secure a land grant to settle his future. What better way to win support than by marrying the daughter of a member of the Governor’s Council?
When Savannah erupts into riots and intrigue following the passage of the Stamp Act, Ansel is tasked with identifying a spy passing sensitive information to the Liberty Boys and the author of anonymous letters threatening those loyal to the governor. And as suspicions focus on the Scott family, which is he prepared to sacrifice—love or loyalty?
Petticoat Spy by Elva Cobb Martin
When Anna Grace Laurens’s parents are murdered and plantation burned, she seizes her only option for escape—a desperate leap into the Cooper River. She’ll do anything to survive…and get revenge.
John Cooper Vargas is used to danger as he sails his sloop upriver through war-torn colonies, but seeing a woman plunge into the river amidst Tory gunfire is something he wouldn’t have thought possible. Until now.
Rescuing her draws him into a web of intrigue, but he can’t let her fight the British on her own. As the American Revolution closes in around them, it may take a miracle for them—and their love—to survive.
The Sword and the Secret by Jan Davis Warren
Lord John Stanton is the last male heir of his royal lineage. He has the responsibility to marry and carry on the family name, but a secret vow to God could change his future from royal heir to humble servant of the church. His journey to the monastery to become a monk is interrupted when he meets a dangerous, but beautiful, woman who has secrets of her own.
Raised as property of the Crown, Julianna Westerfield longs to be free to pursue love and have a family of her own. Trained to be a spy and assassin, she has a chance to earn her freedom by completing a mission to uncover a murderous plot and the identities of the Black Guard. Now the assassins are after her. To survive she must depend on a handsome monk and his cantankerous donkey.
Byway to Danger by Sandra Merville Hart
Meg Brooks didn’t stop spying for the Union when her job at the Pinkerton National Detective Agency ended, especially now that she lives in the Confederate capital. Her job at the Yancey bakery provides many opportunities to discover vital information to pass on to her Union contact.
Cade Yancey knows the beautiful widow is a spy when he hires her, and he has secrets of his own. The more his feelings for the courageous woman grow, the greater his determination to protect her by guarding his secrets. Her own investigations place her in enough peril.
Five complete novels in one collection, each a sweeping tale of intrigue, faith, and romance set against the backdrop of America’s most defining conflicts.
Lucinda Gillespie’s father has kept her confined since her mother’s death eleven years before. He’s ashamed of her illness, which keeps her in constant pain. Her mother was the one who’d ever loved her. Her embittered, cruel father blames Lucinda for his wife’s death. She has lived with shame and abuse from the age of seven and sees no end in sight.
William Cole, a lonely hunter, carries his own guilt. Yet when he learns that Lucinda’s father plans to gamble her away on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, he can’t leave her fate in the hands of the drunken victor. He searches for her and tells her of her father’s plans.
She hasn’t left the cabin in over ten years but she must trust God and this stranger who hides his face from her. Their dangerous journey west to Kentucky also fills her with wonder and a sense of freedom she’s never known.
Both main characters struggle with a sense of self-worth. Lucinda clings to the Christian faith her mother had instilled in her. William searches for his faith that a heart-wrenching loss stole from him.
This story tugged at my heart. I was quickly pulled into their plight. It was a page-turner for me.
Sandra Merville Hart 