A Match Made in Texas

Archer Brothers #2.5

by Karen Witemeyer, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings

In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can't keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straits with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she's also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?

A Cowboy Unmatched
Neill isn't sure who hired him to repair Clara's roof--he only knows Clara desperately needs his help. Can he convince this stubborn widow to let down her guard and take another chance on love?

An Unforeseen Match
Hoping to earn an honest wage on his way to the land rush, Clayton ends up on Grace's doorstep, lured by a classified ad. He may have signed on for more than he expected though--and he may have found the one woman who can keep him from moving on.

No Match for Love
Andrew can't fathom how refined Lucy ended up as the caretaker to his dotty aunt, and somehow her arrival has prompted even more bizarre occurrences around the ranch. When they join forces to unearth the truth, will the attraction between Andrew and Lucy develop into more?

Meeting Her Match
When the tables are turned and a tenderhearted meddler becomes the beneficiary of a matchmaking scheme, her world is turned upside down. As her entire life changes, will she finally be able to tell the banker's son how much she cares for him?

Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Christian, Historical, Westerns, Historical Romance

381 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2013

About the author

For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Voted #1 Readers' Favorite Christian Historical Author in 2023 by Family Fiction Magazine, Karen is a multiple award-winning author and a firm believer in the power of happy endings. She is an avid cross-stitcher, tea drinker, and family board game player who makes her home in Abilene, TX with her heroic husband who vanquishes laundry dragons and dirty dish villains whenever she's on deadline.

Karen also loves to reward her readers. Every month she gives away two inspirational historical novels to someone from her newsletter list and offers substantial bonus content on her website. To learn more about Karen and her books, or to join her subscriber list, please visit www.karenwitemeyer.com.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great collection of stories! My favorite was the first, Clara and Neill's story, and it frankly was not long enough! My second favorite was Grace and Clayton's, and I especially loved Andrew and Lucy.

The last story, however, lost the book a star by falling a bit flat. The characters and plot had lots of potential but felt rushed and underdone. For example, we're told four times that Grace was a former teacher and is expecting, but don't get to spend long enough with the characters to be told anything twice except that Mark's eyes are blue. And normally I love Connealy stories.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've rated each story individually as I went, because I'm a loser and made them all count for my 2014 book challenge (very lame, I know!), but overall I was immensely impressed with this wonderful novella collection and had tons of fun reading it. It even made me rethink my statement about how I didn't like novellas. Those ones were really awesome!!

If you want to see my reviews for each story...

-- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

-- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

-- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

-- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


If you enjoy romance set in the 19th century in the US, you will surely find this collection delightful. I strongly, strongly recommend it! :)

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when four great authors meet and decide to work together to make a collection of short stories? There is only one answer. They make a great book! And this one is definitely a book I cannot help but recommend.

Reading this book was a beautiful experience. There were touching moments, lovely scenes and funny parts, everything a reader may want in a book. I had only read some Karen Witemeyer’s novels before picking this one up and I am glad I did get to this book because now I have found new authors to follow. I especially loved A Cowboy Unmatched and An Unforeseen Match but each story was cute and engaging. If you would like to read my thoughts on each novella, just click on the links below.

A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer

An Unforeseen Match by Regina Jennings

No Match for Love by Carol Cox

Meeting Her Match by Mary Connealy

A lovely collection of short stories that will entertain you and make you dream along with all the characters. “A Match Made in Texas” is a book not to miss!

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm being generous here with 3 stars...
Can I just say that I normally love Karen Whittemeyer and Mary Conneally? I really do. But this collaboration was disappointing.
There are four novellas so I will briefly review each in turn:

A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Whittemeyer~ 2 Stars

I think Karen must have whipped this one up on her lunch break. Pregnant widow meets handsome handyman. They fall in love and live happily ever after. Seriously that's all you need to know. I've just saved you two hours. You're welcome.
If this is your first K.W, PLEASE read her others, I don't feel like this is a good sampling of her work and Ive loved everything else she's done.

An Unforseen Match by Regina Jennings ~ 5 Stars

I loved this one! Never read anything By Regina but this was good! A school teacher has to start over when she loses her sight (glaucoma?). A scarred man hoping to earn enough money to continue on to the Land Rush accepts the offer to fix up the cabin/ barn that's been set aside for the "blind woman" (especially since she can't see his face and judge him). There's plenty of grit and determination in this story on the parts of both characters. Theres longing and misunderstandings and its just very good. My eyes pricked with tears a few times which is always a good sign.

No Match For Love by Carol Cox 2 Stars

I'm sorry to say I skimmed this one. Just did not hold my interest at all. Young woman answers an advertisement to be 'company/watchdog' to someone's aunt who is starting to "see things" (the cow jumping over the moon). Is she getting dementia or is someone trying to scare her off her land? Don't know, don't care. Next!

Meeting Her Match by Mary Conneally 2 stars

Mary, Mary what was this?
I hardly know what to say....I'm blushing with embarassment! Ok, I'm being sarcastic..
Young woman turned out of family home when father remarries. Extreeeeeeemly shy bankers son is madly in love with said young woman but can never get up his courage to woo her. Long story short: the townspeople have to join forces to "compromise" them and force a wedding. Seriously? Sorry-o this one was too far fetched for words.

Bottom Line: Not worth 9.99

CONTENT:

SEX: None
VIOLENCE: None
PROFANITY: None


MY RATING: G

Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher for my free ecopy to review

[Becky]

A Match Made in Texas was so much fun! Wonderfully entertaining.

For a romance reader like me the novella format works great because each story features very few secondary characters or secondary story lines. They're each really ABOUT the development of the romance.

Also, the novellas felt easier on my schedule, somehow. I was able to whip through each of them fairly quickly.

In this particular collection, a matchmaker has a helping hand in pairing the first three couples. And then finds love herself in the fourth story. The novellas were strung together in a very charming way and I found myself rooting for each of these four couples. Delightful!

[Emilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! The four novellas flowed together splendidly! This is a special group of authors, I hope they get together again for another book! I love historical romance and this one did not disappoint. The characters are all easy to relate to. The romance is very sweet maybe even a little steamy! The setting was perfect, I wish I could go there to visit. I highly recommend this book!

[Abigail Harris]

RTC

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer! It was so good and definitely had me rooting for Neill through all his trials! Despite that the romance was so short, Karen did a great job in having real love blossom to it's fullest! I didn't feel it was rushed or was too fake to really happen! I also loved coming back to the Archers and hearing Neil's story! They were such a fun family with some rough edges! Going to miss them!

Regina Jennings wrote the very interesting story An Unforseen Match! I thought was intriguing how she tackled this one, but to say the least she did an amazing job! I was surprised how much I loved Grace and Clayton's romance as well as how unique their pasts would untie them together! Plus they both had a hard-headed streak that made me giggle at times! An Unforeseen Match is definitely the perfect title for this one!

I really enjoyed the mystery part of No Match for Love by Carol Cox! It reminded me of old episodes of Scooby Doo with a "phantom" and "spooky" noises then to find out at the end why someone was trying to scare the gang in the first place! The only difference here is that Lucy is the one who is hired! She was so awesome in standing up to her fears and being a willing student to learn a new way of life! I also really enjoyed Aunt Maratha's character! She was a hoot!

I also absolutely loved Mary Connealy's Meeting Her Match! It was so unique and interesting with an untypical hero! He was so easy to relate too, especially with his blushing! Plus I loved the overall plot of this one and the new insight that the main character Hannah shares about Leah from the Bible!

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this novel so much and loved each of the novellas for different reasons! I didn't feel they were so similar that I wanted to stop reading since they were all so diverse! I also didn't feel that the romance was unrealistic even though each story wasn't that long. The best thing about this group of romance stories however is the different Biblical messages that each author wove into the character's lives! Definitely a must read if you love Christian romance!

I give this novel a 5 out of 5 stars!

I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review! (Thank you so much Regina Jennings!)

[The Literary Maidens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited to hear about this book's release! Mary Connealy and Karen Witemeyer are two of my favorite authors, and I know that Regina Jennings and Carol Cox are also wonderful novelist. This book is a little gold mine, that's what it is! Who wouldn't want to read four novellas written by such amazing women? I went into this book with high expectations, and I wasn't disappointed. I haven't read anything by Carol Cox or Regina Jennings, but I have read several books by both Mary Connealy and Karen Witemeyer, and they both have one thing in common; they both write fantastic western romance novels. I couldn't think of a better collage of authors. Their writing styles are similar, but each have their own personal quirks. I was also impressed by the other authors. I have two new favorite authors to follow! Now, I'm usually not huge on reading novellas. Not because they lack quality, but because they're so short that you have to squeeze everything in at a ridiculously quick speed, and that usually makes things seem a little rushed when it comes to the romance part. How many people do you know that knew each other three days before they got married? Not many. This book wasn't like that. Now, it did have a couple of marriages that happened rather quickly, but it didn't come across as hasty. The way it was worded made it seem somewhat realistic. I may be a dreamer, but nothing makes me want to barf more than a silly and fickle girl falling for a guy in a matter of days and calling it "love". *Gag*. That being said, I think that the rest of it was very nicely written! I loved how all the books had some small connection or another to the novella before it, it made the transition between books much cleaner than it would have been had the stories been completely unrelated. Another thing that I loved was how all the books fit into the Christian/Western genre. I'm from Texas and I have a love for all things Southern, so a gentlemanly cowboy makes me go weak-kneed. I would highly encourage any lover of historical fiction, western fiction, and Christian fiction to pick up this bad boy at your nearest book store. You won't be sorry!

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each of the four stories in this book are set either completely or partly in the same small town in Texas. I found it interesting to see some of the same characters in one story who were mentioned or a part of another story. Since these stories were all written by different authors, I’m going to review them individually.

A Cowboy Unmatched
This was my favorite of all the stories. I liked the characters from the start and the way Niell helped Clara and stood up for her even if he had only just met her. And the ending, while having some exciting moments, ended perfectly.

An Unforeseen Match
While the characters really bugged me at times, they got better and I ended up liking them. I liked how Clayton helps Grace live a normal life and get outside and do things others seemed to think she couldn’t or shouldn’t even try to do. There was some kissing. (Grace said she didn’t know what all the fuss was about so Clayton kissed her.) I did like the ending.

No Match for Love
This was a pretty fun story about a young woman who goes to stay with an older widow because her nephew is worried about her. Of course there is a mystery, but that was pretty easy to figure out. There were some kisses, but nothing too drastic.

Meeting Her Match
I didn’t really enjoy this story all that much. I liked the two main characters, but I did not like the blatant lies and all the "pretended assuming” some of the others did to force them to get married. The relationship between couple was pretty much a one sided affair until they got married. Then suddenly she loved him. Was it because of the passionate kisses he gave her? I’m not sure. There was also some talk about a woman dying birthing her seventh child and so the young lady didn’t want that many. While maybe not intentional, it sounded like having more than 2-4 children was going to make any woman die when in fact back then there were a lot of large families. It wasn't uncommon to have 10-12 children or more.
This was not a story I would read again or recommend.

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Ms. Witemeyers story and loved it! Will come back later to read the rest.

[Lyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

I think Novellas in this genre have a decent shot at being, well, decent. A lot of the things that I complain about when reading historical christian romances (such as: stereotypical characters, way too predictable plots, and drawing out the obvious in attempt to create tension and suspense thereby making the ending sweeter just to name a few) don't really have the time to develop in a novella. If they do dip into any of these areas, it's easily forgiven due to consideration for length.

When I heard that this was being published and that Karen Witemeyer was one of the authors, I was very eager to get my hands on it. I don't know if I didn't read the plot synopsis very thoroughly or if it's not mentioned, but imagine my surprise when the opening line tells of an Archer's story. !!!! Yay! I thought to myself, cozied up in a blanket with a warm mug of cocoa and snow gently falling outside my window, "it's like Christmas again." Short straw bride was possibly the first book of this kind that I really fell in love with, because of how different it was. I might have loved Stealing the Preacher even more. My only disappointment with this story is that I believe it's the last of the Archer tales (unless Ms. Witemeyer does something unheard of and writes more stories about them, focusing on their married life. I vote for this!) and I would have preferred a full blown novel to a novella. It's like getting a fun size candy bar instead of a King size.


Surprisingly, I liked the second story even better. I've only read one other book in this genre featuring a blind woman and it was just awful. This one was very well done and interesting. A couple of parts were a tad melodramatic and cliche (but it's a novella! there wasn't time to flush these things out!) for my taste, but it was different. I didn't feel like I was reading a story I've read a thousand times before, even though I knew where it was going. Reading about how a woman in that time period might approach blindness was very interesting to me. I also liked how Clayton viewed his scars as if they were lit up with fire, yet everyone else noticed them, but were more struck by his good looks. Isn't that the truth? Our perception of ourselves is rather distorted and we often let our insecurities get the best of us. Anyway, I was very pleasantly surprised by this author. I'm going to have to look up some of her other books now.


The third story I was not particularly taken with. This is probably because extreme drama (fires, kidnappings, dirty dealings, really any kind of danger that directly and aggressively threatens a character's life/wellbeing) comes off as very cheesy to me. Rarely do I read a book with one of those events and think to myself, wow. Unless it's a sarcastic 'wow.' On the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm very impressed when daily activities and turmoils are portrayed very honestly and accurately (like Lawana Blackwell's Gresham series for example). Anyway, this story was set up to be more exciting with an unwanted aggressive suitor, potential insanity, frequent threat of being shot, trespassers with ill intent and fire. All of which rubbed me the wrong way. I did learn something though- I had not previously known that you could burn tea. I guess it makes sense since you can also scorch coffee. I just never thought about it before. It's amazing to me, the conveniences of modern life that we never even think twice about, which is one of my favorite things about reading historical fiction- being transported to another time and learning something new.


I almost did not read the last story by Ms. Connealy. I had attempted to read a book of hers before- one of the Kincaid Bride series- and it just was not my taste at all. But I felt it wouldn't be fair to ignore her in this review, nor mention something about how her style isn't my taste, without even giving it a try. So I resolved to take a few tentative steps into the story. My first thoughts were that the language didn't fit the period. But before I knew it, I was really into the story. What sets Ms. Connealy apart is that she allows her characters to have flaws and she allows them to be wrong. Some of the characters development happened too rapidly, but in a short story, an authors options are limited. I wonder how she would approach these themes in a full length novel. I also liked Hannah's resolve to marry a man of faith and how she acknowledged that the really only left one man in town. Her reasons for putting romance on the back burner (and Mark's giving her space) were genuinely good reasons. I actually liked the super fast pace. I feel like a lot of historical romances really drag out major changes and decisions, so the abruptness was refreshing, and also, probably accurate for the time. Life did happen in the blink of an eye. People, family members, did get sick, did die, did marry etc at a much faster pace, usually, than today. A couple other tidbits- I liked that Mark blushed and how their families blindsided them into a shotgun wedding.

There were a couple of things that, though they did not stop me from devouring the story, did take some of the glossiness off.
1. Hannah and Mark's character lines blur a little. They use the exact same phrases (someone moving like a locomotive, and "poor Marcus," "that poor girl," "his poor lip" etc) that sometimes made me feel like I was in the head of one person and not two.
2. Along the same lines, Hannah immediately realizes that Marcus is probably shy, as he acknowledges it to himself. And then, at the end of the story, she seems to have forgotten that and states that she thought he didn't like her and just went out of his way to avoid her. Maybe I misunderstood, but these thoughts didn't seem to match up.
3. Chapter 11- the declarations of love and feelings- was just not my taste. It was too over dramatic for me. I do believe that there are many different degrees of love and that feelings, once sparked and acknowledged can consume like a wildfire. So I'm not saying this would never happen, just that it's not the kind of love story that makes me smile stupidly all day, unless I get to see that story play out for a long while to come (like in Short Straw Bride for example).
4. And this is super minor, but I love historical romances because I like being transported, wholly, back to those times. It bugs me when it's half baked (characters having modern concerns, conversations, goals, opinions etc- like modern people plucked into a different century) and so any anachronisms stick out to me like a sore thumb. The biggest one to me was the conversation about kids at the end of the story. While it's true that not every family was a big one, people did not have control over the number of kids they had like they do today. Maybe the conversation was meant to be more cute than serious, but I just couldn't see it taking place.


I think this is the longest review I've ever written, but considering there were four seperate stories in one, it's not too crazy. All in all, this was a sweet collection of novellas, with my favorite being An Unforseen Match by Regina Jennings.

[Angieleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved the Archer Brothers series so far and this short installment is just as good as Travis and Crockett's books! The only difference is that Neill, who is the brother in this novella, doesn't get a full story.

Regardless of it being a novella, one of my favorite tropes is falling in love at first sight as I fell in love with my husband within 3 days of us meeting/dating, married him 13 months later, and we've just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary in June (28 years together in May)! And fall in love fast did Neill Archer and the Widow Danvers! They are the absolute PERFECT match and she will fit in nicely with her sisters in law.

This was very engaging and I wanted to know more! Was Mack's grandmother related to Clara's mother? They shared the same maiden name, which is what she named her son. Will the brothers build a home for Neill, Clara, and Harrison to live on? Did Crockett and JoAnna move back to the Archer Ranch? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!! But my biggest question of all is, WHY DIDN'T JIM AND CASSIE GET THEIR OWN BOOK?!

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely read novella collections; but A Match Made in Texas featured not one, but two authors I follow so I felt it was worth breaking with habit. And because I did, I had a delightful two days of vacation with . . .

Clara, a young widow determined to bear her child and raise him or her--despite the threat of the grandfather who thinks he can steal her baby.

Grace, who is losing her eyesight and hopes to find love while she can still has a chance to see the man she hopes to marry.

And Hannah, who is very good at recognizing the potential for love among other couples but has a dreadful time spotting it for herself.

Pure fun.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Match Made in Texas is comprised of four novellas all having to do with matchmaking of some kind. The first three have a secret matchmaker who sets up the first three couples and the fourth one we find out the identity of the matchmaker and watch her meet her match.

A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer - 5 Stars
After reading both Short-Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher I was waiting very impatiently to read Neill's story. I fell in love with the Archer brothers and wanted to see what lady would get paired with Neill.

The story was great from start to finish. The only thing that I could complain about was that it was short, but that's just me wanting more of this family and not anything having to do with the story itself - since for a novella it was absolutely perfect! It didn't feel rushed at all.

The romance was so sweet! There were some very heartwarming scenes, but I won't say more as I don't want to spoil it.

If you've read the previous two books featuring the Archers I'm sure this is already on your must read list. However if you haven't, even though the story could stand on its own, I would suggest reading them in order as you'll get so much more out of it if you do.

An Unforeseen Match by Regina Jennings - 5 Stars
I LOVED this story! It was so sweet and romantic, but at the same time it took on such a scary and serious issue - blindness.

I loved how Grace wasn't a wimpy, dejected woman but wanted to find ways to be as self-sufficient as she could be.

Clayton was a great character. I loved so many things about him and I don't know if I should mentioned specific things as I don't want to spoil the story should you decide to read it. I will say that once I learned his full story I was even more impressed with him.

This story almost felt like a full sized novel and that's hard to do with a novella. The pacing was great and the conclusion oh so perfect!

This story turned out to be my favorite of the four, which kind of surprised me after how much I loved the first one - I didn't think any of them would top it.

No Match For Love by Carol Cox - 4.5 Stars
The story started out great and continued to be so until the last 10 pages or so, then everything wrapped up so quickly and neatly that it was a little boring. I think the only reason this happened is because it's a novella so I'm cutting a little slack, but after the first two being completely enjoyable this one fell just a little short so that's why I gave it a half star less.

This is the first story I've read by Carol Cox and if it's any indication of her other books I've been missing out on some wonderful books, as I'm sure a full length novel won't have the same problem. I'll definitely be checking them out soon.

Meeting Her Match by Mary Connealy - 3.5 Stars
This story is by far the shortest of the four and I wish it wasn't. The story felt super rushed and a bit crazy at times.

I felt so badly for the heroine of this story. So many things have happened in her life that are just terrible.

I know the ending was supposed to be funny and cute the way it wrapped up, but I just found it first of all unbelievable and to be completely honest wrong on the parts of so many. I would have like it so much better if it happened differently.

There was also quite a bit of repetitiveness and with the story only being 75 pages I felt that took away from the story.

One thing that bugged me, and I could be miscalculating this, was when one of the characters from the previous stories is said to be expecting in December of 1893 and then a year later is said to be round with child (same baby). No specific date was given of the actual time of the ending of the story, but with the characters bringing out Christmas items it sounds like it's close to December, if it's not that month already. This was only a minor thing and didn't affect my rating.

This was also the first story I've read by Mary Connealy. I'm sure I'll be reading one of her full length novels sometime, as I do own one of them, just not sure when I'll get around to it.

On the whole I greatly enjoyed A Match Made in Texas and highly recommend it.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***

[Haley S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a question for you all. When you are in an 'I want to read, but I don't have time' mood, what is the perfect thing to do? Read a novella, obviously! Novellas are absolutely amazing and horrible at the same time. Do you want to know the reason? Novellas are awesome because they can be read in less than a day. They are horrible because they are way too short! Every time I read a novella and it ends, I am so sad because I want to read more. Either way, they are cool.
Now, like I did before, I am going to be reviewing each novella in A Match Made in Texas, separately. But, I will give the whole book a star rating, not each novella.
I am going to start with A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer. Many of you may know that I love all of Witemeyer's books. This one did not disappoint. I was super excited when I first read this book because it tells the story of the youngest Archer brother! It was too hilarious to see Neill all grown up!
An Unforeseen Match by Regina Jennings was pretty good. It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't bad. I wasn't impressed with Clayton; Grace was nice, though. And, I was somewhat confused about the whole plot in general.
No Match for Love by Carol Cox was good. Andrew and Lucy were awesome. I especially like Andrew's aunt. I really enjoyed this novella!
Meeting her Match by Mary Connealy was surprisingly very good. When I first read this book, I didn't know who the author was. I am glad of that because (between you and me) Connealy isn't my favorite author. Even though it is a novella, I thought that it was a little too quick. But it was still very enjoyable.
The cover is very creative--the whole 'matchmaker' theme. I have to say one thing, though. I am both glad and sad that I don't live in that era. If I had to wear that dress...let's just say that it isn't my favorite. Then again, I really like the whole 'western, cowboy, country' style. This cover deserves 3 stars.
Now for the overall rating--remember that this is for the whole book! I'll give this book...4 stars! I have picked this book up many times, to re-read. Perhaps you should pick it up too!

Title: A Match Made in Texas
Author: Carol Cox, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings, and Karen Witemeyer
Authors' Websites: http://authorcarolcox.com/, http://maryconnealy.com/, http://www.reginajennings.com/, and http://www.karenwitemeyer.com/

This review is written in my own opinions and words.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age Appropriate For: 13 + for romance
Best for Ages: 15 and up

I have been looking forward to this collection of stories since I first heard about it. Not only is it set in my home state, two authors I adore (Witemeyer and Cox) are in this collection. I was so excited when my copy finally arrived and I was able to dig in.

A Cowboy Unmatched
This story was the first and my favorite. Karen Witemeyer is on my top 10 favorite author list, and it is mainly because of the Archer brothers. I so enjoyed Short-Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher because of the strong male characters. Neil was no disappointment. He was every bit as wonderful as his brothers.

Clara was a wonderful heroine and matched perfectly for Neil. I wish this had been a full length novel so I could have gotten to know her even better. However, the story flowed so well it is hard to see how it could have been better.

An Unforeseen Match
This was my first introduction to Regina Jennings, and I will be reading more by her in the future. The story of Grace, a school teacher that has gone blind, and the cowboy Clayton, who is helping her to earn money for a horse, was so sweet. I really enjoyed how Clayton pushes Grace to cope with her blindness. At the time it made him seem a little mean, but in the end you see that he is only trying to help her.

No Match for Love
I really loved the last book I read by Carol Cox. She is a master of humor, mystery, and romance. This story felt a bit rushed. It seemed that the author had a hard time fitting the story she wanted to tell into the allotted word count. However, it was very enjoyable. It was my second favorite, probably because I like feisty old ladies.
I laughed as Lucy learned how to make tea and other chores she had never done in her privileged growing up years. She was a delightful character and made up for all the story’s shortcomings. It was a wonderful little story.

Meeting her Match
I have a lot of friends on Goodreads who review the same books I do. When I read the first part of this story by Mary Connealy I could not understand the negative reviews and then I kept reading. I sadly have to concur with many of my reviewing buddies: this story was bad.
Although subtle, this story seems to take a stab at large families. It made it sound like the reason people had more than four is if the father was an ogre who wanted boys. Now I understand that may not have been the author’s intention, and I might have been able to overlook that but, there was another huge issue.

I found the romance in this story disturbing. At first it is sweet. An awkward guy and sweet girl like each other but don’t say anything. However, it quickly turned from sweet to uncomfortable. *Spoiler alert* They somehow spend half an hour in a locked room. Everyone assumes they have slept together, and so they are forced to marry. *End Spoiler alert*


Overall this is a delightful collection of romance stories. There is some kissing, nothing too excessive. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves good, clean romance stories and westerns. I would, however, caution you about the last story in the collection.

I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed on my blog at www.brittreadsfiction.wordpress.com.

A Match Made in Texas is a simply wonderful collection of western novellas. Each and every story was a joy to read and each one touched my heart in its own way. I love the way each author began their stories in the town of Dry Gulch, Texas. This little town and a mysterious matchmaker is a thread throughout the four stories.

Karen Witemeyer starts the collection off with her story of Neill Archer and Clara Danvers. Fans of this author’s work will recognize Neill’s name immediately and be able to enjoy the story she spins that gives the final Archer brother his happily ever after. This story has attraction, romance and danger all rolled into one engaging package.

Regina Jennings provides the next story in the book. Picking up a little bit after the first novella leaves off, the author introduces us to a heroine that is losing her sight. Once a strong and self-assured woman, Grace feels that she could be losing even more than the ability to see. Alone on a homestead, unable to provide for herself, will there be the possibility for happiness for Grace? Could she possibly be able to find a husband to keep her company in the days ahead? And dare she even hope to find love? A beautiful romance.

The next novella is written by Carol Cox and also begins in Dry Gulch. But, thanks to the mysterious matchmaker, Lucy ends up as a companion to an older woman far away in another Texas town. The interaction between the two women is very enjoyable, as is the growing attraction between Lucy and Andrew, who is the nephew to the woman that Lucy is a companion to. A romance with mystery and danger thrown in.

Mary Connealy ties up the collection in a sweet story. It seems that everything that could go wrong in Hannah’s life has. Will she ever get her happily every after? Could shy Marcus possibly ever fill the role of loving husband to Hannah when he can’t find the words to even hold a conversation with her? A satisfying conclusion to a great collection of stories.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion, which I have given.

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[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by 4 different authors knitting their stories together, what a wonderful idea!

The first two stories I would give 5 stars! Well written, they didn't feel rushed, and the stories and characters were intriguing.

The third story left much to be desired. It didn't live up to my expectations (per the first 2 stories). I was interested in the first few chapters, but by the time the character was settled in her new home we were expected to believe this mystery and whirlwind romance within the last half of the book! The characters were interesting, the concept was great. But it needed more depth and time before it ended. I'd give it 3 stars.

The fourth story could have been great. It would have had more success as a full size book. Again, the first half of the story doesn't have enough build up to make the ending believable. The characters were wonderful, concept interesting, but no depth. Also, while I expect the author to mention the 3 previous stories, to tie them all together, it was over kill. It was more than over kill. She mentioned all the other couples multiple times as if she was explaining it each time for the first time. She mentions Grace about 10ish times and always goes into depth about how she's blind. Yes, we know she's blind, we just read an entire story about Grace. She only needed to mention the other stories once and focus on Hannah and Mark. That certainly threw me off every time she wrote about it. It was distracting to the reader. I'd rate it 2 stars.

All in all 2 out of 4 I'd read again, the first two. The last two are great concepts, but needed more time to develop than just 100 pages.

[Margaret Chind]

ON MY WISHLIST

informational post: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2...

Meeting Her Match by Mary Connealy
Oh, the bumbling hero! I just love about everything that comes from the pen of Mary Connealy and this short story counts right up there. Who doesn't love a schoolteacher romance? While in reading other stories I had already come to love tree character but through her story, I was able to cheer for her heart and watch things unfold as my pages turned.

Excellent shorter read. I read this one via an eBook from Overdrive.

[Heidi Robbins (Heidi Reads...) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first story by Karen Witemeyer! I was anxious read about Neill Archer, the youngest brother from her book Short-Straw Bride (which was wonderful). A sweet relationship developed quickly between Neill and the strong Clara, and the action from the plot was non-stop. There was a nice balance between moments of character development and romance, and the excitement really moved the story forward.

The second story by Regina Jennings turned out to be my favorite. The unusual premise was so interesting and the main characters so vivid. Again, several sweet moments between them as their relationship developed, and the personality clashes kept things lively. Great romantic tension and chemistry!

The third story by Carol Cox was okay, but the characters were not developed enough for me to feel an emotional connection to their story. There didn't seem to be any reason for the main characters to fall in love other than that they were there and convenient. The attraction was stated, and then all the focus was on the mystery. A three star rating for me on this one, but the other stories were strong enough to carry the five star rating overall :)

The last by Mary Connealy was a story of unrequited love full of emotion and tempered with a huge dose of humor, as usual. It was fun to read the story of the matchmaker and how the town conspired to make her match.

[Jaye Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was delighted to discover I could get this book to review because I pretty much devour anything that has Karen Witemeyer’s name on it. A Match Made in Texas is a wonderful collection of romantic novellas all linked to a town in Texas and a particular matchmaker. Of course, I especially enjoyed A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer. She is one of my favorite authors, and I just loved her books about the Archer brothers. So I was very anxious to read about Neill, the last of the Archer brothers to find a girl. It had me giggling plenty of times, and then getting nervous near the end. I would have loved to have it novel length, but it still felt very complete. Each story was very cute and enjoyable, and I highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys a good historical, Texas romance. And might I add that is has an absolutely gorgeous cover!

I received this book free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

[A.M. Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a whole this collection was FAN-TAS-TIC. With a variety of authors compiled together in one book, it’s common to like some and dislike others. A Match Made in Texas stands out as one of my favorite collections since every last novella was a hit with me.

A Cowboy Unmatched was a great conclusion to the Archer brother stories. I loved it as much as I had loved the previous two.

An Unforeseen Match goes down in history as one of my absolute favorite novellas. I loved Grace and Clayton and the hardships they faced only endeared them to me even more.

No Match for Love hooked me from page one. It was a short but enjoyable read.

Meeting Her Match was another sweet, sweet novella. I really liked Mark since he reminded me of my own shy husband.

Rating and Recommendation: I’m giving A Match Made in Texas 5 stars and recommending it to anyone who enjoys Christian Historical Fiction.

[Aerykah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this book! My only complaint is that it ended much too soon.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK 

I just love this book. Each story is so sweet and special and there is no way I would pick a favorite? I mean, Karen Witemeyer, Connealy, Regina Jennings and Carol Cox are for of my top rated authors so I knew every story had to be top rated! And I love having a book with four novella’s because sometimes you just don’t have time for a full book.

Each of these stories turn out to be a beautiful love story. Though the couples don’t know it for a while. I enjoyed the matchmaking and the journey of each of these four couples. The all make for a Heartwarming read. If you don’t have time to read a big book at this time, check this one out. Or if you are like me and just need a shorter story for a while, this us an amazing one to check out!

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Lylah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sounds perfect."

"A Cowboy Unmatched" by Karen Witemeyer is the final "Archer Brothers" story that can be read within the "A Match Made in Texas" novella collection. I absolutely adored this little tale - it was so full of faith, love, humor and non-stop action.

I greatly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally Appeared on Reflections of a Book Addict: http://wp.me/p18lIL-2sc

Several months ago I read a book entitled Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer, the second book in her Archer Brothers series. (The first book was entitled Short-Straw Bride). I chatted back and forth via email with Witemeyer about how much I loved the Archer Brothers and that I hoped she had ideas for future stories about them. Imagine my glee when she responded that a short story about one of the brothers would be appearing in the anthology A Match Made in Texas. 

From Goodreads:

In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can't keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straits with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she's also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?

A Cowboy Unmatched
Neill isn't sure who hired him to repair Clara's roof--he only knows Clara desperately needs his help. Can he convince this stubborn widow to let down her guard and take another chance on love?

An Unforeseen Match
Hoping to earn an honest wage on his way to the land rush, Clayton ends up on Grace's doorstep, lured by a classified ad. He may have signed on for more than he expected though--and he may have found the one woman who can keep him from moving on.

No Match for Love
Andrew can't fathom how refined Lucy ended up as the caretaker to his dotty aunt, and somehow her arrival has prompted even more bizarre occurrences around the ranch. When they join forces to unearth the truth, will the attraction between Andrew and Lucy develop into more?

Meeting Her Match
When the tables are turned and a tender-hearted meddler becomes the beneficiary of a matchmaking scheme, her world is turned upside down. As her entire life changes, will she finally be able to tell the banker's son how much she cares for him?

I initially read this anthology JUST for Karen Witemeyer's short story. In the end I was pleasantly introduced to three authors I've since added to my to-read list.

My favorite kind of anthology is one where all the stories are connected somehow. It creates the feeling that you're reading a larger story, rather than several disconnected short stories. In the case of A Match Made in Texas, each author wrote about a character living in Dry Gulch, Texas. One of the four characters is a matchmaker who attempts to bring joy, happiness, and love to several of the women living in Dry Gulch. One woman is a pregnant widow who is being threatened by her former father-in-law over who will be raising her child. Another is a newly blind woman, struggling to face her new future. The final woman whom the matchmaker helps is a woman who is tricked into being the caretaker of an older woman many believe is going crazy in her old age. And our matchmaker? She longs for a man who is too shy to make a move.

The writing across the four authors is flawless; the stories flow effortlessly together while remaining individualized just enough to allow each author her moment in the spotlight. While I was initially drawn to this anthology to read Karen Witemeyer's story A Cowboy Unmatched, I have to say it was Regina Jennings' An Unforeseen Match that wound up being my favorite. A curmudgeonly hero and blind (!!!!!) heroine? Love it. If you've read any of my reviews of Tessa Dare's books, you'll know that flawed heroines are my absolute favorite because they are the types of women who don't usually get a voice. How many romances are written around the flawless beauty? The smart successful woman who uses her hot body to get any man she wants? Where are the overweight women? The women that struggle to make ends meet? The women who most men would look past? Regina Jennings gets a huge high-five from me for writing Grace's story, AND for writing a hero who was man enough to choose to love a blind woman. That cannot be an easy road for a sighted person to walk down.

The last two stories in the anthology, No Match for Love & Meeting Her Match, were a bit off the wall plot wise and definitely could have used a bit more story. Their plots could have worked (I think) if they were full length novels rather than novellas. In all, even though half of the stories were amazing and half were mediocre, I'd still recommend reading the entire book.

Fun characters, awesome authors, and intense loves make A Match Made in Texas an anthology you won't want to miss.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A COWBOY UNMATCHED
by Karen Witemeyer
Clara Danvers is a widow expecting a child, a child who she is trying to keep from being taken away from her the minute it's born. Her father-in-law is watching her like a hawk, he even assigns guards to her homestead when she gets close to time to deliver. She will do anything to protect her child from being raised by him.

When Neill Archer, just arrived in Dry Gulch, Texas, arrives on her homestead to do repairs she greets him with a rifle. She wasn't expecting anyone and thinks Mack Danvers has hired him to watch and report to him when the baby is born. Neill is there because he received an anonymous note about a widow needing repairs to her home and to meet at the school house the next night to see who will get the job. When he arrives at the school house there is nobody there, just a lit lantern and a note with directions to the widows home and $20.00 for materials to get started on the repairs.


AN UNFORESEEN MATCH
by Regina Jennings
Grace O'Malley has been a school teacher for many years in Dry Gulch, Texas but after going gradually blind the school board has had to let her go. They have set her up on a ranch about two miles outside of town and made arrangements for someone to deliver food to her daily. She can only make out bright lights and some shapes.

Clayton Weber is on his way to the land rush when his horse stumble's and has to be put down. He ends up in Dry Gulch and now has to earn money for another horse and has little time to make the deadline to enter for the race to stake out some land. Clayton has to overcome his past, his father was a horse thief and he has a bad scar on his face to show for it. He sees that the town looks pretty deserted except for the school so he goes there and asks about odd jobs. When he returns to where he stashed his saddle there is a newspaper with an ad circled about a handyman needed at Grace O'Malley's homestead and payment is set aside at the Bank to be paid after the work is inspected.

Grace is frightened when Benny, her dog, alerts her to someone coming up the lane. Grace had mentioned jokingly to a friend that she might put an ad in the paper for a mail-order husband so when Clayton comes she thinks her friend put an ad in the paper and he is the answer to her ad. Clayton is very confused at the questions she's asking him and Grace is very confused when he reads the ad he has come in answer to.

NO MATCH FOR LOVE
by Carol Cox
Lucy Benson has no family left and has been living with her best friends family, but now her best friend is getting married and she feels like she has to find a way to move on. After all she can't continue living there after Dottie is married and she can't live with Dottie and her new husband. This is where the anonymous Dry Gultch matchmaker steps in, they give the pastor a train ticket with an ad to give to Lucy. Since she doesn't want to marry Walter Harris, who has asked her numerous times so Lucy decides to go to North Fork, Texas and be a companion for Andrew Simms's widowed aunt Martha.

When she arrives on Martha's ranch, Martha begrudgingly lets Lucy stay. Lucy doesn't see any of the signs Andrew has mentioned about his aunt imagining things, at least not at first. When Lucy begins seeing and hearing the things Martha has claimed, Andrew is upset that Martha is pulling Lucy into her imaginings, or is she?

MEETING HER MATCH
by Mary Connealy
Hannah Taylor is the teacher at Dry Gulch school as well as the caretaker of her three younger brothers and her father since her mother's recent death. She totes two year old Kevin back and forth to school each day so she can watch him as she works to bring in money to the household. She has given up on marriage after both of her younger sisters have gotten married besides the fact that there is only one single man in town and he will barely speak to her and is a half-wit, his own description of himself.

A few months after Hannah's mother died in childbirth her father surprises her one day after school with his new bride, Essie. The children are to call her ma and Hannah will be moving into Essie's dingy room above the diner in town. Hannah's clothes are all packed ready to be loaded into the wagon and taken to her new home. When she finds out through the town gossip that Essie is pregnant, Hannah's life is thrown into a whirlwind and things happen fast after that.

I really liked all four of these stories and was thrilled when I started reading Karen's "An Unforseen Match" and found out it was a continuation of her books "Short-Straw Bride" and "Stealing the Preacher". I thoroughly enjoyed all four of these stories and each author did a great job of wanting me to continue on and reading late into the night. I like the 'mystery' about the matchmaker, I never did figure out who it was, until the last story of course. Now no cheating and reading the last story first, and just a hint, if you want to keep it a mystery don't read the blurb on the back of the book!

Thank you to Bethany House for providing this book for review. 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

[ضحى الحداد · Rating 3 out of 5]

and with that I finished this anthology, it was fun (except for the second story it was Blah)
So the anthology takes place in the same town Dry Gulch, and the characters from all the stories do know each other but each story can be read alone .. I liked the first story most (A Cowboy Unmatched) and the idea was pretty great, I felt like I visited the town and lived with them

[Debbie West · Rating 5 out of 5]

All excellent stories

All 4 of these stories were fun to read, full of emotion & action. Never a dull moment between the pages.