Jesse And The Mail Order Bride by Caroline Clemmons

Jesse And The Mail Order Bride

Book 2 of the Texas Hill Country Mail Order Brides

by Caroline Clemmons

Amazon Buy Link

Jesse is the second book in my series of Texas Hill Country Mail Order Bride books.  Jesse is a good man in an odd situation.  Catch up with this series now, because book seven will be out in a couple of months.

Book Blurb:

What will happen when her lawman husband learns the truth about her past?

Sheriff Jesse Cameron is dedicated to uphold the law of his adopted country. After leaving Scotland, he came to Texas, and learned he liked the place and the people—at least, most of them. He keeps Harrigan County free of troublemakers with his “strict but fair” policy. Now that he has a steady job and has bought a house, he figures it’s time to find a wife and start a family. He and his best friend write to the same matchmaker, hoping their brides will be sisters or friends. Jesse hopes his wife will provide a peaceful home and welcome him each evening with a good meal and a warm smile.

Growing up in an orphanage left Rosalin Arnold too naïve to avoid being trapped in the clutches of an evil man who has her picking pockets. Those who’ve tried to escape him always fail, and are severely punished—or killed. Rosalin has been plotting to get away, and the threat of being moved from picking pockets to the brothel incites her to immediate action. She takes her best friend with her, and also an adorable boy of eight who is being bullied and mistreated. All she and her friends want is a home where they can live without constant fear. She prays she has successfully evaded the man who has tentacles everywhere.

What will happen when her past catches up with her? Will Jesse defend her, or will he arrest her?

 

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!

Seth's Secretive Bride by Nancy Fraser

 Seth’s Secretive Bride 

Matchmaker Mix-Up Series 

Historical Romance (1870) 

Media Kit 

 

 

Release Date: August 15, 2021 

Length:  30K  

Heat: Sweet to the Max 

 

Heroine:  Hanna McGibbon – 22-year-old, disgraced daughter of a gambler 

Hero: Seth Temple – 34-year-old rancher with a 7-year-old son. 

Setting: Terrance, Colorado (southwest of Denver) 

 

 

 

About the Book 

 

When Hannah McGibbon is forced out of her family home, she has nowhere to go. In a moment of desperation, she responds to an advertisement for a matchmaking service. 

 

Widower Seth Temple needs a wife. Not for himself, but as a mother for his 7-year-old, emotionally challenged son. At the urging of his housekeeper, he sends in his application to be matched to a like-minded woman. 

 

Unfortunately, what they both want is not what they get. Due to an unforeseeable mix-up with the usually stellar matchmaking service, Hannah is sent to Colorado rather than California. And, Seth is sent a young, red-headed spitfire, rather than the mature woman with a background in education he’d requested. 

 

What will happen when he explains to Hannah that love and romance are low on his priority list and not part of his plan for a wife? And, once the matching service offers to set things right, will Hannah want to leave? 

Excerpt

Hannah shifted to get more comfortable on the wide leather seat inside the stagecoach. After a day-and-a-half on the train, she’s been grateful for the hour or so to stretch her legs and get some air. 

 

However, this last four-hour stretch across Colorado’s dirt roads had tested her mettle, for sure. She felt certain the driver was purposely hitting every rut. Dust blew freely through the enclosed space, courtesy of the torn window coverings. And, worst of all, her backside hurt terribly. 

 

Across from her, an older man with a grizzled beard and tobacco-stained teeth, dozed off and on, his snoring quite loud. Next to him, a rather garishly dressed woman picked at the dirt beneath her fingernails and, from time to time, spat out the window. Hannah held her breath each time, wondering if the spittle would fly back through the window at some point and land—mostly likely—on her. 

 

Needing to distract herself, she removed the picture of her intended groom from her purse and studied the young man’s face. A new life, a handsome husband, and it would all be worth it. 

 

The wheels of the coach hit another bump in the road, nearly knocking Hannah from her seat. Thankfully, they were within a half hour of their destination. Soon enough, this travel torture would end. 

 

The driver’s loud call drew the horses up short, and the stage to a halt. Hannah breathed a sigh of relief, and silently issued a prayer of thanks for her safe arrival. 

 

Within moments, the door was wrenched open. The coach’s driver, a sweaty, dust-covered man who looked to be in his late fifties, leaned inside. “Terrance. Who’s getting off?” 

 

“I am, thank you,” she responded, her words forced out through her parched throat. 

 

The man flipped down a rather lopsided stair and offered his hand. “Out you go then.” Once her feet hit the ground, he asked, “Which bag is yours? 

” 

“The two brocade carpetbags, please.” 

 

He uncinched the leather straps and lifted the flap covering the cargo hold. Snatching her bags from the back of the stage, he dumped them unceremoniously on the ground. 

 

“I’m meeting someone,” she said timidly. 

 

The driver shook his head. “Don’t know nothing about that, Miss.” Nodding toward the building to their left, “You can check with the stationmaster.” 

 

“I will, thank you.” 

 

She’d barely stepped up onto the sidewalk, one bag clutched in each fist, when the driver climbed back onto the stage and snapped the reins, setting the horses in motion and leaving her standing there. Alone. 

 

“Excuse me, are you Hannah McGibbon?” 

 

The man’s deep voice sank into her very being, and she whirled around to get her first real look at the man she’d soon marry. Rather than the young, handsome banker she’d been expecting, she came face-to-face with the stern expression of an honest-to-goodness cowboy. 

 

“Yes, I’m Hannah McGibbon. Are you Mr. Preston’s hired man?” 

 

His expression tightened, changing the severe angles of his face, drawing his frown. 

 

“I don’t know who ‘Mr. Preston’ is, but I’m Seth Temple, the man you’ve come to marry.” 

 

Hannah shook her head. “No, you can’t possibly be.” Pulling the letter from her bag, she told him, “I’m supposed to be meeting Mr. Simon Preston, an assistant bank manager.” 

 

The man’s chocolate-brown gaze narrowed. He dug his hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a wadded up piece of paper. “According to this telegram, I’m supposed to be claiming a Miss Hannah Elizabeth McGibbon at the waystation. So, if you’re Hannah, then I’ve got the right woman.” 

 

Her breath caught. “But... you... you’re not the right man.” 

 

 

 

KDP Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099CQV156  

 

Series Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H7X82QD  

 

Trailer Info: 

 

https://youtu.be/YiJkM_9scWQ 

 

Page Break 

Author Bio and Links 

 

 

NANCY FRASER—Jumping Across Romance Genres with Gleeful Abandon—is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all. 

 

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. 

 

The granddaughter of a Methodist minister from Tennessee, Nancy now lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people. 

 

 

Follow Nancy of Social Media 

 

Website ~ Romance Sweet Reads Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Bookbub 

Amazon Author Page ~ Goodreads ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter