My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it
Synopsis
The Lawman Meets His Match
Successful
Seattle matchmaker Beth Wallin has her most challenging assignment
yet--find Deputy Hart McCormick a bride. Beth's still smarting after the
handsome lawman spurned her affections a year ago. But if she finds
Hart a wife, Beth will gain favor with the city's most influential
women...and perhaps free her own heart, as well.
Marriage is the last
thing on the deputy's mind. After tragically losing his sweetheart, he
vowed never to love again. But as sweet, spunky Beth introduces him to
potential fiancees, Hart finally feels a spark...for her! The stubborn
bachelor will be Beth's first matchmaking miss, unless they can both
admit that she just might be his perfect match.
My Review
I was happy to finally read Beth's story! In the other books in the series there are little teasers that something happened between her and the deputy, and we finally learn what that was. As the only girl amid several brothers, Beth is the heart of the Wallin family, and has been sweet to her new sisters-in-law in the previous books. She really comes into her own in this story, and with her pursuit of a bride for Hart bringing her to town, she realizes how much she enjoys living there and having a little break from her brothers. The pace is slow but steady as she tries one tactic then another to get Hart interested in courtship, but even though he humors her attempts, his fears prevent him from moving forward. It was sweet to see them grow comfortable in each other's presence and harbor secret feelings they think are unrequited. The case Hart is trying to solve of newcomers being attacked by a gang brings some action and an element of mystery to the plot, especially when Beth insists on getting involved. There is also a subplot with Scout, the friend of one of the Wallin brothers, who returns to town wealthy from the gold fields and falling prey to the fortune-hunting of the local seamstress. I hope that one of the final books in this series will include Scout finding love. All the books in the Frontier Bachelors series can be read as stand-alones and in any order.
(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)
Don't miss the other books in the Frontier Bachelors series . . .
Book One
Synopsis
What was his brother's
widow–his first love–doing on a ship full of prospective brides headed
out West? Clay Howard had been tasked with escorting the Boston belle
home, but he didn't anticipate Allegra being so strong-willed–or that
he'd wind up traveling with her just to keep her from leaving without
him!
Allegra Banks Howard isn't going to let Clay interfere with
her plans for a new life with her daughter on the frontier. True,
Allegra needs his wilderness savvy, but if Clay thinks he can rekindle
what they once shared, he had better think again. Because risking her
heart for a second chance at being his bride isn't something she'll
undertake lightly...
Book Two
Synopsis
Drew Wallin's youngest
brother is determined to see him married--so he kidnaps Drew a
prospective bride. Not only is Catherine Stanway beautiful, but she's a
nurse who can help their ailing mother. Drew doesn't have time for
distractions--he's too busy watching over his fatherless siblings. Yet
he's drawn to this woman who carries loss and pain equal to his own.
Catherine
has traveled West to use her nursing skills to save lives, not to find a
husband. She knows if she gives in to Drew's matchmaking family, she'll
be risking her already bruised heart. But maybe it's time she takes the
ultimate risk to win the groom she didn't know she wanted!
Book Three
Synopsis
James Wallin's family
is depending on him to find a schoolteacher for their frontier town.
Alexandrina Fosgrave seems to be exactly what he needs to help fulfill
his father's dream of building a new community. If only James could
convince her to accept the position.
Alexandrina has traveled
west to seek a fresh start, not to find a groom. But after she's
stranded in the wilderness with James, he offers her his hand in
marriage to protect her reputation. Both are afraid to fall in love, but
maybe an engagement of convenience could make them reconsider…
Book Four
Synopsis
Maddie O'Rourke's
orphaned half brother and half sister have arrived safely in
Seattle—with a man they hope she'll wed! Though Michael Haggerty's not
the escort she planned for, Maddie allows him to work off his passage by
assisting in her bakery…and helping care for her siblings. But she'll
never risk her newfound independence by marrying the strapping
Irishman—or anyone else.
In New York, Michael ran afoul of a
notorious gang. Traveling west was a necessity, not a choice. The
longshoreman grew fond of his young charges, and now he's quickly
becoming partial to their beautiful sister, too. So when danger follows
him, threatening Maddie and the children, he'll do anything to protect
them—and the future he hopes to build.
Book Five
Synopsis
Proposing a marriage of
convenience to a rugged logger is the boldest move of Nora Underhill's
sheltered life. In return for Simon Wallin's protection from her
overbearing family, the unassuming seamstress offers prime frontier
farmland. But their paper marriage changes when Nora's greedy brother
tries to draw her back into a life of drudgery. Her only option: move to
Simon's farm, and into the center of his loving, unruly family.
Years
of shouldering responsibility have left Simon cynical and reserved. But
little by little, Nora's warmth opens his shuttered heart to joy. With
their marriage claim under threat, can this practical arrangement
blossom over the holidays…and become a love for all seasons?
Book Six
Synopsis
Stunned that his sister
ordered him a mail-order bride, John Wallin insists he's not the
husband Dottie Tyrrell needs. The scholarly logger knows Dottie will
make the perfect wife--for some other man. Yet he's compelled to invite
the lovely widow and her infant son to stay with his family...but only
until she can find her own way.
Dreams of true love are for other
women. Betrayed by her baby's father, Dottie just wants a safe home for
her precious child. But who could resist a man with John's quiet
strength? When her secret past brings danger to their door, they may yet
find this mail-order mix-up to be the perfect mistake...
Book Seven
Synopsis
After taking
guardianship of his late friend’s siblings and baby daughter, minister
Levi Wallin hopes to atone for his troubled past on the gold fields. But
it won’t be easy to convince the children’s wary elder sister to trust
him. The more he learns about her, though, the more he believes Callie
Murphy’s prickly manner masks a vulnerable heart…one he’s starting to
wish he was worthy of.
Every man in Callie’s life chose chasing
gold over responsibilities. Levi—and the large, loving Wallin
family—might just be different. But she can tell he’s hiding something
from her, and she refuses to risk her heart with secrets between them.
Even as they grow closer, will their pasts keep them from claiming this
unexpected new beginning?
