His Brother's Bride

Men of Glory #5

by Judith Bowen

She met Jesse Winslow at a cattle show. They had a brief affair—and now Abby Steen is pregnant. Jesse, a rancher from Glory, Alberta, offers to marry her, and Abby accepts. She leaves her home in South Dakota to come to the Lazy SB, jointly owned by Jesse and his brother, Noah.

But while Jesse might have good intentions and lots of charm, responsibility isn't his strongest trait. That's always been Noah's department.

So when Jesse takes off—just abandons his bride before the wedding—Noah marries her instead.

Their marriage might be for the sake of her babies—twins!—but Abby and Noah soon discover they haven't made such a bad bargain. Because love that starts the slowest often lasts the longest….

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Marriage Of Convenience, Harlequin, Contemporary Romance

297 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Judith Bowen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and grew up in a logging camp in the Rocky Mountain foothills. She had many friends who lived on farms and ranches, a fact to which she attributes her love of the outdoors and of rural life. She bought her first horse at age 12 with money saved from allowances, gifts, and odd jobs—the horse only cost $60 and was fresh off the range! Luckily he was a sweetie, and she trained him and rode him until she left high school.

Judith holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Carleton University, Ottawa, and worked for newspapers and magazines, before writing fiction. She was published since 1990 by Harlequin. Her Men of Glory miniseries, set around small-town Alberta, arose directly from her experience of going to school in a small town and living in small towns all over Canada. She has lived in many of Canada's provinces, from Prince Edward Island to B.C., and writes from the heart, of people who live on the land that she knows best.

Judith currently lives in Ladner, British Columbia, is married, with three children, and spends every day of the working week at her word processor, writing the stories she loves, and is also a member of many writing and arts organizations. Weekends and summers are for family.

Reviews

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book about a widow who gets pregnant from a lonely one night stand and when she goes to marry the man who knocked her up he runs and she ends up married to his brother. The brother was a fun character for me to read because I like taciturn heroes. The hero, Noah, didn't really want to marry her but stepped up out of a need to do the right thing. She marries him for the same reason she was going to marry his brother, security. They start off with a no sex having marriage of convenience but that eventually changes. The pace was nice and slow and the emotions believable but I do think the heroine should have been able to admit her love for him earlier at least to herself.

[Debby]

Abby Steen is a farm girl/teach from South Dakota who's lost her husband and stillborn daughter. Lonely, she has a brief fling with Jesse Winslow at a cattle auction. When she finds out she's pregnant he invites her to Glory, Alberta to marry him, only to have him take off just when she gets there. So, she marries his brother Noah instead and they create a life for themselves and the twins. All works out for the best.

[ANymus]

reddit: (mf contemporary) the fmc has a weeklong fling with mmc’s brother and ends up pregnant and ostracized by her family; she goes to tell the guy and he hightails it outta there and his stoic brother steps up and offers marriage so she can save face with her family; they fall for each other and the mmc is very protective, especially when brother returns (“that’s my wife!”); pregnant sex

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly light read, a bit predictable, but better than I expected it to be. It is part of a series, but it worked well on its own.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So enjoyed this implausible, funny, maddening, happily ever after read (you hope ;-) ). Things can sure get complicated after a brief fling!

Read this...you will love it!

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern

[Talena · Rating 3 out of 5]

entertaining

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick summer read. Harlequin romance.