Christmas Mail-Order Brides

READ: NOV 16 - 24, 2011
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10


Ride the transcontinental railroad as marriage arrives by mail-order—and just in time for Christmas. Annika arrives in Wyoming to discover her intended is missing. Jolie’s journey to Nevada is derailed by disaster. Elizabeth carries a load of secrets to Nebraska. And Amelia travels to California to wrap up her final attempts at matchmaking. Will the holiday season be the ticket to spark love in unexpected ways?


1. A Trusting Heart by Carrie Turansky 
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10 
I think the main message of this story is to follow the path God wants you to take because it might not necessarily lead to where you imagine it will end. Annika is cautious about being a mail-order bride, and resigns herself to marrying a man who hasn't got over the death of his wife and spends most of his time drunk and neglecting his family. It takes her a long time to consider that maybe God sent her to Wyoming not to marry Chase, but his brother. I also loved the relationship that Annika forged with her prospective groom's daughter. I don't really have any complaints with this story, but I didn't absolutely adore it either. It was a very enjoyable start to the collection and had all of the elements that romance readers look for in a novella. 

2. The Prodigal Groom by Vickie McDonough
RATING: 9 OUT OF 10 
Definitely my favourite in this collection! Another case where the bride ends up marrying someone other than her intended. What I loved more about this story wasn't the unconventional plot but the chemistry between the characters. It reminded me a lot of Mary Connealy or Kelly Long in the way that the author showed the two main characters growing closer together and slowly realising their attraction for each other. I really appreciate it when Christian authors acknowledge how important the physical aspect of a relationship is to marriage, as well as the emotional and spiritual. My only complaint with this novella is that there was a bit of mystery injected suddenly at the end that came way too fast and didn't merge properly with the rest of the story. 

3. Hidden Hearts by Therese Stenzel
RATING: 7 OUT OF 10 
Probably my least favourite novella in this collection, but still a sweet story. Orphaned Elizabeth is sent to become a mail-order bride as she has no inheritance and her aunt and uncle refuse to pay a dowry for her. She keeps her background from her husband, and he keeps his hidden from her as well. Everything goes pear-shaped because of their secrets, and the overt message is not to keep anything hidden from the person you're married to, and communication can avert a lot of problems. In a way, I felt this was more the story of Elizabeth finding herself and coming to understand who she is in God's eyes, not society's, than the story of her falling in love with Zane. Still not sure entirely what I thought of this one, but a nice enough story. 

4. Mrs Mayberry Meets Her Match by Susan Page Davis
RATING: 7 OUT OF 10 
I appreciated that the stories were all tied together with one about the matchmaker herself. It was interesting to hear about her background and how she got into the business. This was the typical story of a couple who don't realise how perfect they are for each other, with the added humour of one party trying to set the other up with various people. Again, sort of a lack of honesty/communication story. It was nice, but I didn't relate to Mrs Mayberry as much as I did the other female characters, probably because of her age and life experience. As is a pet peeve of mine in a lot of American Christian fiction, there was a brief comment about how Mrs Mayberry abstaining from alcohol earned her the respect of Lennox. I would prefer if authors just didn't push any sort of opinion on alcohol by just not mentioning it at all in their stories as I get quite offended when the idea that All Alcohol is Evil is suggested. The assumption that all Christians abstain from alcohol is entirely unfounded, and as a Christian who enjoys a couple of glasses of wine with my dinner on a Friday night I often find myself grimacing when characters in books get holier-than-thou about drinking alcohol. This is purely a personal issue I had with this book, but even excluding that the story was cute but not as compelling as the first two. 

OVERALL: While he last two stories weren't quite as enjoyable as the first two this was a lovely little collection that put a smile on my face at the end of each story and got me in the Christmas mood. 


I read this book for Fans of Amish Fiction's Christian Fiction Group Read for November.

An Amish Love - Kelly Long, Kathleen Fuller & Beth Wiseman

Best-selling authors Kathleen Fuller and Beth Wiseman are joined by Kelly Long, who entered the Amish genre last year with her debut Sarah’s Garden, in this romantic novella collection. An Amish Love features three interlocking stories of love, starting with an accidental marriage in Kelly Long’s A Marriage of the Heart and moving on to broken hearts embarking on a new relationship in What the Heart Sees by Kathleen Fuller. The anthology finishes on an optimistic note for the future with a late in life couple falling in love all over again in Beth Wiseman’s Healing Hearts.

From a glance at the front cover and the synopsis of this collection, one can be forgiven for assuming that this is a light, predictable selection of stories about the Amish. Even I expected this, and I’ve been an avid reader of Amish romances for almost two years now. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that each author was bringing something new and original to the genre.

Kelly Long, whose debut novel I absolutely adored, places her protagonist, Abby Kauffman, in an unusual situation and shows us how love can blossom in the most unexpected places. After a newcomer to the community, Joseph Lambert, fails to give Abby the attention she believes she deserves, she accuses him of misbehaving with her. But the joke is on her when her father forces them into a marriage of convenience in order to protect her honour – and much to her shock, Joseph agrees to this arrangement! While I’ll freely admit that the premise of this novella is a bit unbelievable, I loved watching Abby and Joseph’s relationship develop. Kelly brings something unexpected but most welcome to the Amish genre with the undeniable attraction and chemistry between her characters. As much as I’m a fan of “sweet” romance, I’m often disappointed by inspirational authors who fail to acknowledge this important aspect of relationships – bravo to Kelly for doing the opposite! 9/10

Kathleen Fuller’s story is definitely my favourite in this collection, especially as she shows us the flawed side of the Amish. While we uphold the Amish as being people of forgiveness, Kathleen dares to admit the obvious – that forgiveness doesn’t come easily or painlessly. Christopher Miller left the Amish after his fiancée was killed in a car accident, and he still holds a grudge against the driver of the car when he finally returns five years later. So it doesn’t sit well that his younger sister is engaged to be married to this man. Through the help of Ellie Chupp, who lost her eyesight in the same accident, he slowly learns to let go of his deceased fiancée – and to forgive and ask for forgiveness himself. While this story focused more on the developing relationship between Chris and Ellie, rather than romance, there was something simple and beautiful about the flawed nature of all of the characters that really appealed to me. Kathleen is a new author to me and I will definitely be looking out for more of her work. 10/10

I wasn’t quite so fond of Beth Wiseman’s addition to the collection. I found that it became a bit over-the-top and cheesy towards the end, but I truly appreciated the fact that Beth decided to focus on an older couple. Too many romance novels focus on young couples in their prime, and it often makes us forget how important it is to keep romance alive within marriage. Levina and Naaman Lapp have been married for over thirty years, but once all their children have left home they realise that they’ve drifted apart. Naaman takes a trip to visit family in Ohio and doesn’t return for almost a year – and when he does, their relationship needs even more work. Slowly, they learn to fall in love again, and Naaman is able to regain his wife’s trust. As someone who is currently reading a pile of marriage-preparation books, it was encouraging to see someone acknowledging the strain that raising a family can put on marriage and how important it is to set aside some time just for the two of you. However, there was a subplot about the possibility of Naaman being in trouble with the law that just didn’t seem to fit with the feel of the novella and spoiled this story a bit for me. 8/10

This collection is perfect for anyone who is already a fan of Amish fiction, but would also suit those who want to experiment with this genre but don’t know where to start. An Amish Love features three of the best authors of this popular genre, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to discover new stories about our beloved Plain folk. Overall rating: 9/10

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”