Mail-Order Christmas Brides Boxed Set: Her Christmas Family / Christmas Stars for Dry Creek / Home for Christmas / Snowflakes for Dry Creek / Christmas Hearts / Mistletoe Kiss in Dry Creek

Mail-Order Christmas Brides

by Jillian Hart, Janet Tronstad

USA TODAY bestselling authors Jillian Hart and Janet Tronstad will capture your heart with stories that celebrate the joys and excitement when you combine Christmas with mail-order weddings. Enjoy six romances of adventure and faith in one great bundle!

A little girl longs for a new mother for Christmas so she convinces her single father to advertise for a mail-order wife, whose arrival offers them the chance to forge a real family.

A would-be bride discovers her intended groom has abandoned her before she even arrives but then she unexpectedly falls for the groom's brother.

A gruff rancher's marriage offer to a widowed single mother is based solely on convenience…until it becomes a matter of the heart.

The six charming individual stories are:

HER CHRISTMAS FAMILY by Jillian Hart

CHRISTMAS STARS FOR DRY CREEK by Janet Tronstad

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS by Jillian Hart

SNOWFLAKES FOR DRY CREEK by Janet Tronstad

CHRISTMAS HEARTS by Jillian Hart

MISTLETOE KISS IN DRY CREEK by Janet Tronstad

Genres: Christmas, Historical Fiction, Holiday, Novella, Westerns

563 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 17, 2014

About the author

Jillian Hart grew up on her family's homestead in Washington state, where she raised cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time.
After earning her English degree from Whitman College, she worked in travel and advertising before selling her first novel.
When Jillian isn't working on her next story, she can be found puttering around her rose garden, curled up with a good book and spending quiet evenings at home with her family.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good set of stories. The stories are short an easy to read. I would recommend this set to anyone who likes historical stories with a Christian theme without preaching to the reader.

[Jo-Ann Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a group of short stories which centers around being a mail ordered bride in the late 1880s. The author groups the stories by two of women who meet on their way to get married and meet on the train but get off at different stations. It's an interesting set of stories each time.

Each story is well written and realistic for the most part. I could picture most of what happens to each women. You really do feel for each heroine and hero. I know with at least one story I could relate to it very easily. there were a few instances I didn't believe, but for the most part it's pretty well believable.

[Janet McMillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected but Still an Uplifting Series

Good short stories of Mail-Order bride's who arrive just before Christmas. They all have a bit of religious slant. Each story takes less than an hour to read.

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

very nice

This was a very nice collection of books by Jillian Hart and Janet Tronstad. All the books were short but were very interesting in there own way and enjoyable to read.

[Amanda Kay Storts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story

This is a great collection of stories I loved all of them .I would recommend them to any one who is looking for a good Christian story.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a set of 5 novellas revolving around the phenomena of mail-order brides in the late 1800's in the Western Territories. I am taken with this historical event because it seems so unimaginable, yet there were many who did it and found happiness. I realize it was a way to secure a home and possibly a family when there may not have been another option. These stories were short, rather formulaic, Christian references - but not overdone, some better than others, but intriguing and enjoyable. It was nice Christmas fluff for a change - free on Bookbub, too!

Mail-Order Mistletoe Brides set:

Christmas Hearts -
Widowed Mercy Jones and her 7-year old son arrive in Montana territory in answer to a little girl's wish for a new mother for Christmas. Store owner Cole Matheson wants a mother for his rambunctious daughter, Amelia. A mail-order wife offers them all the chance to forge a real family.

Mistletoe Kiss in Dry Creek -
Maeve Flanagan with her 4 year old daughter, Violet, arrive for a marriage-in-name-only so she can cook for a rancher and his crew. Noah Miller was a rancher who's wife quickly tired of their life and ran off, divorcing him and leaving him with his heart and pride in pieces. A meddling crew, his former wife and a couple of baby-to-be draws the new family together.

Mail-Order Holiday Brides Set:

Home for Christmas -
Christina Eberlee has no money, no family, no home and no where to go but to accept and hope for love and a family from pig farmer, Tom Rutger in the Montana Territory. However a purse thief, a broken arm and a helpful marshall change her mind when Tom's true nature and motives are revealed, leaving her back where she was: alone, homeless and cold. However, Marshall Elijah Gable and Toby discover a gem in the process and a family is born.

Snowflakes for Dry Creek -
Annabelle, a would-be bride, discovers her intended groom has abandoned her before she even arrives but the groom's brother and children take her in and capture her heart as they prepare for a family Christmas the likes they have never enjoyed.

MAIL-ORDER CHRISTMAS BRIDES Set:

Her Christmas Family -
Little Gertie has been asking for a mother for Christmas for the past few years since her mother ran off. Tate Winters gives in and sends for a "mature" in-name-only mail-order bride. Felicity "Filly" [a dreadful nickname] arrives to marry Tate and be the mother for Gertie however her beauty and kindness is off-putting and he puts off the marriage until he realizes that being together at Christmas is the best for everyone, even himself.

Christmas Stars for Dry Creek -
"Please be my ma for Christmas." Felicity Sawyer can't resist little Gertie's heartfelt letter. Tate Winters seeks a bride for Gertie's sake, not his own. But as his reserve thaws before Felicity's sunny optimism, this new family learns that togetherness is the best way to celebrate the season.

Christmas Stars for Dry Creek

Eleanor McBride's outgrown her dreams of romance—but not her wishes for motherhood. Wedding Sergeant Adam Martin will give her a daughter to cherish. Yet it's not just shy, sweet Hannah who's captured her affections. And Eleanor's arrival in Dry Creek could be the start of a journey to true love.…

[Bess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pure fluff, as expected. Christmasy, in mostly pleasant ways. I thought the authors' pairing of their novellas was neat, but overall I think the stories were a little uneven in quality. At first I thought I didn't care for one of the two authors, but on investigation the same author wrote my favorite and least favorite novella of the set.

I enjoyed the overall theme of "mail-order": men and women meeting through letters and one traveling to the frontier and a life unknown. Kind of like a permanent blind date. I was pleased that in at least one of the stories, the "twist" is that one of the intended pairing is quite unsuitable... I suspect that was far more often the case than happily-ever-after.

My big problem was with "Her Christmas Family" due to the unrealistic way one of the characters is portrayed. The male lead had something really horrible happen to him. He was attacked in his own home, then later blamed for the crime spree of which he was one of the victims. He was jailed for years due to the mob-like connections of the perpetrators. Then at some point in the recent past, the real crooks are "caught", he is released and tries to pick his life back up. And everyone in town still thinks he was probably responsible for the crimes.

The author's description of these past terrible events is not much longer than mine, yet the character is clearly still horribly traumatized. As a reader, it is hard to understand whether this guy is actually really safe at this point. What is portrayed as a vast network of bad guys is just "caught"? No chance of reprisal? And then as a Christmas miracle, this traumatized and miserable fellow gets all better because of Christmas and a woman's love. The end.

Seriously? The guy seems to have PTSD, and for really good reason, and he should probably still be worried that bad guys are out to get him, since the author has given us one thin clause of reassurance that this is over. And people with PTSD, or depression, or whatever simply do not get all better overnight. And I'm sure Christmas, a woman's love, and prayer really help balm the soul, but it's not a problem that goes away in a short time. This novella is probably really insulting to people who genuinely have PTSD. And his emotional pain is painted in such heavy-handed, dark strokes that it's hard to understand why he hasn't attempted suicide or something. He's got a lot to deal with in an era where there's no psychologists or psychiatrists. But don't worry, it can magically, in the space of a few hours, get all better because of Christmas.

Maybe the author should have spun this one into a full novel, or maybe she had a ruthless editor who wanted to redline anything that sounded too dire. In any case, that one novella really annoyed me. Everything else was fairly pleasant, Christmasy, romantic fluff.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian-oriented, cloyingly sweet, schmaltzy, squeaky clean, highly improbable, predictably formulated, and those are just some of the reasons I LOVED these stories! Set in the late 1800's in the rugged high plains of Montana, I was fascinated at this glimpse into the social phenomenon of any woman gambling it all in consenting to become a mail-order bride.

These romances range in length somewhere between short story and novella. They are cleverly linked together by each of the mail-order brides befriending another mail-order bride on the train to Montana. (hard to explain but it works) The heroines and/or heroes have all fallen on hard times or have had tragedies befall them which explains their desperation in finding companions for themselves or their children.

Part of the attraction of these warm-hearted stories is the suspense and unknown of total strangers meeting each other and how they overcame almost impossible problems and differences relying on their faith in God to somehow fall in love and make a new family unit with each other.

The principals in these Christmas stories, for the most part, are all cast as handsome and/or beautiful but not all of them. Author Jillian Hart and Janet Tronstad feature a few less-than-perfect characters with physical disabilities or other flaws to complicate the matchmaking schemes which I really appreciated.

If you like Hallmark movie style Christmas romances full of complicated difficulties, happy endings, lovable children, plus admirable heroes and heroines, these stories are for you!

[Joanne Bagley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Wonderful Christmas Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of mail-order bride adventures. Even true love doesn't always run smoothly and these stories of strangers making commitments to one another face additional challenges. A total joy to share their journeys and their roads to the altars. I think you will enjoy these glimpses into this bit of our history.

[Lynsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this boxed set, however it should have been ordered differently. Mail order Christmas Brides should have been first, as the hero and heroine of Janet's story ended up being secondary characters in her story in Mail order Holiday. So, the boxed set should have been, Christmas then Holiday then Mistletoe.

[Kathy Barter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Christmas brides box set, fun read

The two authors wrote stories that intertwined together to make a series about mail order brides meeting on the train on the way to marrying grooms they only met by mail. Every story was different.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the three books in the box set. They are good sweet warm stories. The only problem I found is the stories are so similar and that gets a little boring. I will never read a box set again.

[Patricia Duvall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome collection.

I chose to give this collection a five star rating because I couldn't stop reading them. I hope anyone who reads them the same enjoyment I had.

[Judy A. Ptacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt Stories

If you like clean sweet maIl-order bride stories, you will enjoy this six book set. I liked all six books.

[Lynn Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful stories

It's wonderful that writers can come up with compelling stories with good morals, good grammar and the message that there are still decent people in this world.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the premise of the books but just never really got engaged in the characters. These are def. Christian/God centred.

[Lisa C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books were very childishly written. They were so predictable, I had to force myself to keep reading.

[Carol Greenwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming stories.

Delightful stories of mail ordered brides who came to Wyoming in the 1800's. The bravery these women portrayed was amazing.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

These 5 novellas were OK on their own or even two at a time. However, since they were so similar in plot, 5 in one set was too many.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun and promise

Not every story was the same but every one was fun and exciting. Nothing like a good holiday romance to make it complete.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of editing errors, happy endings occur too quickly to be believable, it was an OK read without much sustenance