Capital Bride Matchmaker & Co. Book 1
Historical Western Romance
Cynthia Woolf
December 10, 2012
312
In this western historical romance, unexpectedly homeless, un-wed mother Sarah Johnson has few options. They could go live with her cousin William, but Sarah believes there's something untoward about his offer and it leaves her feeling uncomfortable. She's qualified to be a governess, but no one will have her because she wasn't married when she had her precious MaryAnn. Matchmaker & Co could be her salvation as mail-order-bride to Mr. John Atwood.
Book 1 in the Matchmaker & Co series of western historical romance.
Single father, John Atwood, is raising his daughter the best he can in the wilds of the Colorado Territory but knows he needs help. No woman he knows wants to take on the raising of his daughter who hasn't spoken since she saw her mother brutally murdered during a bank robbery. Can Sarah, John and their two daughters overcome their pasts and find happiness together?
A historical western mail order bride romance. NEW COVER!!
Steam Level Rating - Hot
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Sarah Johnson is 28 and lives in 1867 New York with her five year old daughter, MaryAnn. Sarah made the mistake of getting pregnant out of wedlock. Her fiancé was sent just before their wedding to Bull Run where he died. Thrown out of her house by her parents, she went to live with her Aunt Gertrude. When her aunt saw her standing on her doorstep, pregnant and alone, she took her in and helped raise MaryAnn. Now things have turned upside down, Gertrude is dead, and her son William is selling everything, leaving Sarah homeless once again. Only this time she has a little girl to take care of.
Sarah’s training is only as a governess. Since she has had an illegitimate child, no one wants her as a governess for their children. Her next alternative is prostitution or becoming a mail order bride. At Matchmaker & Co. she meets its owner, Margaret Selby, who in spite of Sarah’s notorious reputation is willing to send her to marry John Atwood, a cattle rancher in the Colorado territory. He is thirty-seven with a seven year old daughter of his own, Katy. Not only should this marriage be good for John and Sarah, but should also be good for the girls who have not had anyone their age to play with.
What John doesn’t know is that MaryAnn was born out of wedlock. What Sarah doesn’t know is that Katy has not spoken a word for two years since she witnessed her mother being murdered during a bank robbery. She is also the only witness and the outlaws were never caught. Sarah is also a city girl and has never been on a ranch, much less worked on one. There are obstacles in John and Sarah’s way but will they be able to overcome them? Can Sarah and MaryAnn finally get Katy to speak again?
There are surprises in this novella, the relationship between Sarah and John and the girls and William’s reappearance in Sarah’s life. This was a beautiful love story about a man, who loses his wife and refuses to love again, and a woman, who only knows how to love. I look forward to more books in this series about cowboys and their mail order brides.
