NEWLYWEDS

 By Caroline Clemmons

Every newlywed couple has a period of discovery where they learn more about each other. When Hero and I married, we'd known one another since we were teens growing up on the same side of Lubbock, Texas, and attending the same church. There were still many discoveries as we settled into our happily-ever-after. 

Imagine how difficult it must have been for a mail order bride and her groom to adjust to married life. If you're interested in reading about some actual mail order brides, read Chris Ennss' book, Hearts West. Hopefully, you'll be interested in reading about Keith and Elliana Martin in Harrigan Springs, Texas. That's book 5 in the Texas Hill Country Brides, KEITH AND THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE. It's a bit different in that--while Keith contacted the matchmaker--the bride's family attorney arranged for her to marry Keith.

In case you haven't yet read the book, here's the Amazon link 

https://www.amazon.com/Keith-Order-Bride-Country-Brides-ebook/dp/B0CW7B2GZS/

Here's an excerpt to tempt you:

She sat erect and sent him an unyielding glare. “What an unkind thing to say. What have I said or done to give you that impression?”

Uh-oh, he had better tiptoe around that subject. “Nothing at all. I just meant that most people, even kind and generous ones, want to control their funds.”

“Well, you’ll find that I am not ‘most people.’ I am just what I say and what you see.”

Elliana Martin

He held his hands out at his sides then dropped them back to the arms of his chair. “I apologize for offending you. I assure you it was not my intention.”

Her lovely brow remained furrowed and her vivid blue eyes narrowed. “I should hope not. Were you not told I’m quiet, kind, and generous?”

“As a matter of fact, you were described as so perfect that the description would only fit a saint. I see now that you possess many of those qualities. I suppose I’ll see more of them as we become better acquainted.”

“Now you’re making fun of me, but it’s all right. I’m not a bad sport unless you try to bully me.”

“I wasn’t making fun, and I don’t like bullies, either. An uncle and a couple of my cousins are terrible bullies and mean as anyone can be. The only reason they’re not in jail is that they’ve paid off some of the police and haven’t been caught by others. My father is almost as bad and does as my uncle tells him. I’m relieved I’ll never see them again.”

“Don’t you intend to visit your parents?”

“Never!” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Elliana, in my family, I’m the white sheep. The rest are not people you’d ever want to meet. Imagine an entire family of people like Trey. They don’t even know where I am. It’s important to keep it that way.”

“Oh, that is severe… and sad.” She stared at her hands a minute then looked up at him. “I guess we’ll have to start our own family and include friends here.”

“That’s my plan. We can’t choose our family members related by blood, but we can choose good friends to become our family.”

She let out a sigh. “I’m glad we can agree.”

Sty safe and keep reading!

 

A DESPERATE WOMAN

By Caroline Clemmons

Over the past couple of decades, I've written quite a few books about mail order brides, and read many more written by other authors. I can't help it, I love reading about women who take the chance and become a mail order bride. I've wondered if I would have been desperate enough to become one. 

Chris Enss has written an eye-opening book titled HEARTS WEST. In it she relates true stories of women who risked becoming a mail order bride to a stranger. Some ended up happily married. Others had difficult things happen, which included ending up in a brothel. 

I've heard non-readers or those who don't read romance make snarky remarks about the number of mail order bride books. There really were, and still are, mail order brides. The Civil War (stupid name for a war) caused the death of more men than both World War I and World War II combined. Many homes in the east were destroyed. Many young men came home to discover they had no home and no family left. Women raised to be genteel ladies suddenly had to fend for themselves or depend on relatives. 

So, what would you do? Would you risk becoming a mail order bride? Obviously, we can't answer that question since we aren't faced with the same circumstances. We can speculate, though, and consider the alternatives. 

Would you live with a relative as the "poor relation" who was likely no more than an unpaid servant? Would you become a "companion" to an older woman, again a servant but with a nicer name. Or, determined to have your own family, would you risk becoming a mail order bride? I think I might be adventurous enough to find a matchmaker. 

That's what Heidi Roth did in GENTRY AND THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE. The first two times, she was rejected for being too tall and too outspoken. Some men want a woman who is biddable and willing to go along with whatever he says, to think what he tells her to think. Heidi did not fit that description. She was a lovely, intelligent woman who often expressed her honest opinion. The matchmaker in her small town in Bavaria arranged for her to come to Texas to marry a man who'd been born in their town, but who had left for America when  he was a teen.

Heidi's hometown in Bavaria

After three months of  travel on small ships and then on stagecoaches, she must have wondered if her journey would ever end. Finally, she reached the stagecoach station where she was to meet her groom. When the man who met her gave a different name than she expected, she was suspicious. With good reason, because she learned her groom had died four days earlier. What will she do? What would you do?

If you haven't read this book, here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6YN6QHK 

It's available in e-book, print, and is available is free in Kindle Unlimited.

Stay Safe and keep reading!

BOOK BIRTHDAY FOR AMY: ANGEL CREEK CHRISTMAS BRIDES

Help me celebrate a wonderful Book Birthday! Today is release day for AMY, book 25, Angel Creek Christmas Brides Series. This is the fourth and final year for this popular mail-order bride series set in Montana after the Civil War.  With so many young men killed and others homeless and going west to seek a new start, young women in the east—both north and south—far outnumbered marriage-age men. 

What’s a woman to do? Does she stay at home with her parents? Does she even still have a home, or was it destroyed in the war? Is she destined to be alone instead of a wife and mother? And then there are the women who don't fall into those categories, women like Amy...

 Amy Gordon had a hard life, first in a poorly run orphanage, and then as the pawn of dishonest men. Her spirit refused to be crushed. Get your copy here:

https://www.amazon.com/Amy-Angel-Creek-Christmas-Brides-ebook/dp/B098GK1PCH/

 

Here’s the book description for AMY:

A desperate woman on the run…

An overwhelmed sheriff who’s guardian of 3 nieces…

Events that threatens their fragile relationship…

Amy Gordon is a swindler escaping from a deal gone bad and the former employer who blames her. Determined to stay out of trouble and out of his clutches, she takes the first train leaving Chicago. When the train derails, she steals the ticket and identity of a crash victim headed to Angel Creek in Montana Territory.

Amy believes if she can make it to Angel Creek, she can evade the vengeful former associate. But as a lifetime Chicago resident going to Montana, Amy had no idea such a desolate landscape existed. She decides to play her part as Bethany until spring, but then she will head for civilization and a new life.

Sheriff Spencer Wood has become guardian of his three young nieces and needs help caring for them. In addition, he admits he’s lonely and is ready for a companion to share his life. His solution is to send for a mail-order bride who will be a good example and caregiver for his nieces, and for the future children he and his wife will have. When Spencer is severely injured, he wonders what will happen to his family if he doesn’t recover.

Spencer is the kind of man Amy had hoped existed, but never thought she’d meet. He treats her with respect and charm. But raising children is confusing, and she’s a novice at managing a household. How long before she can move on? She hardens her heart against her husband and the girls, but finds herself slipping under their spell. Just as she believes she’s found the perfect life, disaster arrives.

Will she have the courage to stay or will she run?

 

Enjoy an excerpt from AMY:

Amy picked up her spoon, but she realized the girls had bowed their heads. Without drawing attention to herself, she rested the spoon on the table and folded her hands in her lap.

Spencer folded his hands and bowed his head. “Dear Lord, we give thanks that Bethany arrived safely. Bless her as she joins our family. Thank you for the food we are about to receive. Thank you for giving us this day and our many blessings. Help us remember to treat one another with kindness and keep your commandments. Amen.”

Amy stared at her bowl. Had anyone ever given thanks for her safety? She doubted she’d ever even been mentioned in anyone’s prayers before. In fact, she wasn’t certain she knew anyone who even believed in prayer.

She’d heard of the Ten Commandments when she was at the orphanage. Not that the staff lived up to them. Well, Nurse Kathryn did. She’d been patient and understanding—the closest Amy had had to a mother. She wondered what the nurse had thought when Amy had run away.

Many nights after she’d fled, she’d cried herself to sleep, careful no one else knew, and wished for Nurse Kathryn’s arms around her. No matter how she’d tried to harden her heart, she failed. Sap, you’re such an easy mark yourself. This time, though, you made out all right—if that oldest girl doesn’t ruin everything.

 

Many women became mail-order brides. Chris Enss, author of HEARTS WEST, collected true stories about mail-order brides. Not all of them turned out happily. Don’t worry, though—all of the Angel Creek Christmas Brides books guarantee a happy ending. The fun is the twists and surprises in getting there.

Stay safe and keep reading!    

ROMANCING THE WEST AND MORE!

The RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS GIVEAWAY HOP has ended. My giveaway is a copy of one of my e-books, winner's choice, and this is open worldwide. In fact, I am feeling very happy because we thought Darling Daughter 2 had a serious health issue that a CTScan proved she did not have. So, instead of one winner, everyone who commented on the Dime Novels post wins! Those people are: Mary, Andrea, Mitzi, Filia, Vinci, Stephanie, Tiffany, Laurie, Pragya, Sarah, and Childrensbook. I will contact the winners by email to learn which e-book each wishes.

              ROMANCING THE WEST

What began my personal love of the West? In the evenings, my dad often told stories of his family coming to Texas after the Civil War. I couldn’t hear enough of those tales. Even after I’d memorized them, I urged him to retell each one.

Roy Rogers and Trigger

Next came the movies: Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Lone Ranger, Hoppalong Cassidy. Have I forgotten any? Personally, I wanted to ride the range with Roy, saving the West from the bank robbers and rustlers I was certain plagued the land. We watched television cowboys on Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Rifleman, Maverick, and others and never tired of them. Then life intervened, as it did for all would-be cowgirls and cowboys.

Louis L'Amour

As an adult, I discovered Louis L’Amour. Among others, I also love the books of Jodi Thomas, Maggie Osborne, and the westerns Lorraine Heath wrote several years ago! However, Louis L’Amour is my author hero. I’ve read each of his books at least twice, and several of them too many times to count. FALLON is my personal favorite: what woman can resist a man who thinks he’s bad but is actually a good, hard working, clever man protective of others?

I usually choose to write about 1870-1890 and the time of the Texas cattle drives. Yes, I also write contemporary cowboys (including sheriffs and detectives), but none are more appealing to me than those of the late 19th century. So many things fascinate me about this time period. Would I have wanted to live then instead of now? Not on your life. I'm eccentric, but not crazy! I like my current creature comforts, thank you, but I love reading and writing about that earlier time. In that time period, the Civil War and Reconstruction were over, yet law and order was far from established. Men--and women--were often isolated and had to defend themselves and their families. If there was an area lawman, he was often too far away to offer immediate help.

When the Civil War was over, men returned home (if they still had one). In Texas and a few other states, many unbranded cattle had bred during the war and ran wild. An industrious man could gather these beeves and place his own brand on them, then drive them to market in Kansas. According to T. H. Fehrenback in his book LONE STAR: A HISTORY OF TEXAS AND THE TEXANS, cattle sold for two dollars a head in Texas in 1875, but brought ten dollars a head in Kansas. Since cowboys made the same wage per month and received the same food regardless of where they rode, it cost no more for a rancher to have his ranch hands drive cattle to market in Kansas. Fortunes were built during this time!




Comanche Warriors

 The wealth didn’t come without cost. Danger lurked everywhere in the West, but on the trail hazards multiplied. Indians, rustlers posing as Indians, rustlers posing as law men, and a plethora of bad men wanted the benefit of others’ hard work.

Lightning on the prairie
could stampede cattle

Then there were the natural disasters: swollen rivers, lightning storms, and stampedes. Plus Texas cattle carried tick fever, to which they were immune, and threatened to infect cattle in other states. Cattlemen from the intervening states crusaded to block Texas cattle from crossing into their area, and it’s no wonder, is it? The astonishing fact is that any cattle made it to market.

Availabe on
Amazon Kindle

Yes, you say, but how can it be a romance when there were no women on cattle drives?  Cowboys are a superstitious lot, and they believed women on a drive brought bad luck. In that way, cattle drives are far from romantic. If you’ve read my book THE MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE (available for 99 cents from Amazon Kindle), you learn that wives are NOT invited on a cattle drive. No, it’s not the actual cattle drive that appeals to me, but the era. A young man with nothing could homestead land, gather unbranded cattle or buy a few head, and create a small ranch. With hard work and perseverance, he could expand. Of course, then he’d need a wife to share his life. They’d face trouble--it always came--and stand side by side to triumph. Well, that’s the way it happens in my novels.

HEARTS WEST
by Chris Enss

Women from areas where most young men had died in the Civil War didn’t have to remain spinsters. They could travel West and marry, sometimes via mail-order arrangements. How many mail-order western romances have your read? I’ve read too many to count, but I still love them. There were wagon trains heading West (love those wagon train romances, too!), then stages and locomotives. By heading West, a single woman had an opportunity for a family of her own. I think I’d have risked it, wouldn’t you? Chris Enss has a great book, HEARTS WEST, of accounts by mail order brides if that subject interests you.

Reading about people who adapt to new circumstances, meet obstacles they’d never imagined, and triumph while finding a soul mate is very romantic. Who wouldn’t love a tale like that?

Thanks for stopping by today!

By the way, I'm Sky Purington's guest the 22nd at
http://www.skypuringtonwrites.blogspot.com/ 

Please stop by an visit her beautiful blog if you can.