Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

American Mail-Order Brides #7

Adelaide: Bride of Maryland

Rate this book
Escaping an arranged marriage to a cruel man, Adelaide Baker flees west to marry a total stranger as a mail order bride. Only the man at the final stop didn’t place the advertisement in the Grooms Gazette.

John Rivers wishes to live in peace on his own land after he lost everyone he ever loved, but his friends have other plans. They post an announcement in the Grooms Gazette for a wife. Now, John must decide if he will protect this young woman, or himself from certain heartbreak.

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2015

37 people are currently reading
152 people want to read

About the author

Ciara Knight

120 books804 followers
Ciara Knight is a USA Today bestselling and Maggie Award-winning author of heartwarming romance.

Her popular sweet romance series, Sweetwater County (rated for all audiences and enjoyed by over a million readers), is a small-town romance full of family trials, friendly competition, and community love.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
141 (51%)
4 stars
84 (30%)
3 stars
42 (15%)
2 stars
4 (1%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Ashley.
823 reviews46 followers
December 16, 2015

I have always been a lover of any book that has a historical feel to it and this book hit that mark for me. However, this book hit on a topic that was new for me.

After a fire destroyers her place of employment in Maryland, Adelaide has only one option. She hops on a train and flees her arranged marriage to a horrible man to marry a man she knows absolutely nothing about. John is a man who never planned on getting married. However one of his ranch hands wives decides that he needs a wife. When Adelaide steps off the train everything changes for John. Can these two end up happy together or will they clash? Did Adelaide make the right choice?

I am absolutely speechless about this book. This is a 49 book series, one book for each state and written by different authors. This is the first one I have read and I will definitely be reading the rest at some point. I fell in love with the characters and the story very quickly. I felt like I was living in that time and that I was a part of this book. The author did an absolutely amazing job of making this book feel authentic to the time.

As I said I will be looking up the rest of this series. Beyond that I will also be looking up more books by this author. Thank you for such an amazing book!
323 reviews4 followers
April 26, 2016
I love mail order bride stories. This was an especially good one, because Ciara Knight is an especially good author. Her characters are interesting and complex. This story was her entry into a series of mail order bride stories each written by different authors. Even so, it is my hope that Ms. Knight will find a way to write a sequel to this story. The heroine was 9month pregnant at the end of the story, so I wanted it to continue.
Profile Image for Diane.
2,863 reviews22 followers
July 17, 2017
There is something so satisfying to me about the mail order marriage trope that never fails to engage my heart while it also reinforces my faith in the sanctity of the institution of marriage. I really enjoyed Adelaide and John's budding romance and all of the hills and valleys they had to cross to reach their happily ever after but I really wasn't a fan of the despicable and dastardly Mr. Salter. And I have to admit to being very annoyed when the author used two totally different names for the same character off and on throughout the book! I can't imagine how this author managed to miss all of those glaring and inexcusable mistakes. I rate this book 3 & 3/4 stars.
716 reviews14 followers
March 29, 2020
What a heartwarming story. Adelaide is one strong woman that you cannot help but admire. I found that I could not put the book down once I started it because I just had to know what would happen next. This is not going to be a long review because to make it very long would give away too much. Even if stories about the old west aren’t your usual read, you should read this one. I think John Rivers is the unsung hero of the story, but that may just be my opinion. You should decide that for yourself
Profile Image for Sarah.
610 reviews43 followers
June 13, 2017
Book 7 in the American Mail-Order Bride Series. A fire in the factory and not wanting to marry an abusive guy, causes Adelaide to answer an ad. Friends of John, write an ad for him. He is not aware. Arriving at the station, an evil man tries to claim Adelaide as his bride. Not really wanting to marry, John takes her as his bride. The evil neighbor causes trouble. John doesn't want to be responsible for his wife and get hurt, like he did with his late sister. A great read!
417 reviews
August 9, 2018
Nice Continuation of the Series

This is an American Mail Order Brides series book, really a novella at 13 chapters. The story involves a well to do lady with a streak of independence which caused her to go to work at the factory that burns down. The rancher she marries has ongoing problems with a nasty neighbor. With believable twists and turns, the problems resolve creating a nice story.
Profile Image for Brittany.
3,550 reviews27 followers
November 17, 2016
This one is differently one of my favorite reads in the series. Adelaide is looking to find a safe haven from a suitor that is just horrible. She becomes a mail-ordered bride but when she arrives craziness ensues. I won't spoil anything but you must give this one a shot. You really don't have to read the others in the series to follow the story so jump right in!
Profile Image for Barbara "Cookie" Serfaty Williams.
2,705 reviews5 followers
June 21, 2017
Adelalide: Bride of Maryland (American Mail-Order Bridal Series Book 7)

The love story of Adelaide and John. Adelaide is run from an arrange marry to a man she known is a monster, so she become a mail-order bridal to John River, a man say to be kind but she walk into a big range war. Can she find happinesses?
Profile Image for Mikayla.
268 reviews3 followers
July 21, 2020
A cute short romance about Adelaide and John. Glad it ended how it did. I wish there would have been a chapter before the end events. It just felt like there was something missing. Good book though. Excited to read the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Jennifer Guffey.
1,113 reviews41 followers
November 30, 2015
Adelaide: Bride of Maryland (American Mail-Order Bride #7)
By: Ciara Knight
5/5 stars

With the fire at the Brown Textiles Mill, many women were left without family to take them in, there were no job prospects and most had very little money saved. They had to live together in groups in order to be able to get by. But the previous manager found the Groom’s Gazette and came up with the idea that the single women could and should become mail-order brides as a way out of their current dire situation.

Adelaide is escaping her life in Boston. Coming from a prominent family, arranged marriages are bound to happen. But her intended fiancée is a hard, mean man, so to put off her marriage, she started working at Brown Textiles Mill. After the mill burns, her stepfather is more adamant that she finally marry. The only way to escape is to become a mail-order bride.

John Rivers had no immediate plans to take a wife. He wanted to be sure that he was able to take care of her beyond the shadow of a doubt. But he also has meddlers in his life, who just want to make him happy and believe that once he gets a wife, his life and attitude will change for the better.

There is more going on in the background when Adelaide arrives and finds herself in the middle between two bachelors. In order to protect Adelaide, John agrees to marry her that day. From then on, they have to figure out their relationship.

I really liked the drama that was happening in this book and how their lives were depicted on the Montana ranch & the difficulties facing free-range to fenced land in those days.
Profile Image for Kathy .
1,304 reviews4 followers
January 30, 2016
I really loved the characters in this story, but I was disappointed it took place in Montana. I guess I was just hoping that each of these books would be more representative of the state it's named for. Instead it seems that they are stories about a women who happens to be born in that state but goes west as a mail- order bride. So far in this series, on bride is in Oregon and two are in Montana. I wish there hasn't been such a jump between events at the end though. I'm glad justice prevailed but I would have liked to know more about how it prevails.
Profile Image for Jeene Hobbs.
558 reviews1 follower
January 28, 2016
Fleeing to Montana

Another textile worker who was burned slightly in the fire flees to Montana to escape an arranged marriage with an abusive man.

I liked Adelaide and John. I may be tired of reading about power hungry abusive villains. The story didn't touch me as some others have. I plan to read the whole series.
Profile Image for Kasey.
278 reviews7 followers
July 23, 2016
This story takes place mostly in Montana. I enjoyed everything about this book and wished it was 100 pages more. I loved the main characters and the story. The author did a great job of putting a lot in the story within a short amount of pages. I felt that everything was put to a close and like many other books in this series, I want more!
Profile Image for Sharon.
1,304 reviews10 followers
January 6, 2017
First one of these books in the series, and I admit, I am intrigued enough to finish the other 49 books (plus the prequel)
Nice enough story, slightly bland, hopefully this series is not going to be a case of same story. different names and location. Not as racy as other romances I have read in the past.
16 reviews
January 14, 2017
The best of this series! A must read!!!!!

The author wove a fantastic tale through this storyline and kept it suspenseful, lively and entertaining. Having read through a lot of this series and being disinterested in other storylines, this was a great treat. I enjoy Ms. Knight's writing and this was another one to add to my ever-growing bookcase of favourites.
Profile Image for Donna Rogers.
280 reviews4 followers
November 26, 2015
Good read!!

It was a good book don't get me wrong but it almost felt like this book has been done before. It needed Maryland in the book and it wasn't .. ok so she was from Maryland but she was living in Boston so the book was another Massachusetts....
Profile Image for Melissa.
351 reviews19 followers
December 13, 2015
Sweet Story

I enjoyed reading Adeline's story. When the man you are promised to is a brute then it is a good idea to take a leap of faith. John wasn't looking for a wife but he couldn't let her be destroyed like his sister. These two were meant to be together.
Profile Image for Julie Hicks.
147 reviews6 followers
December 19, 2015
This book was a great read. It allowed for a story from the frontier days take you back for simpler times. The romance was so sweet. Adelaide was a unique independent women to be a mail order bride. Once you start the book you will want to finish it!
69 reviews
December 23, 2015
Amazing read

I really enjoyed this read very little spelling mistakes and the sorry kept you going on wishing for mire. First book I've read by this author but I will definitely be reading more!
Profile Image for Heather.
950 reviews7 followers
July 16, 2016
Sweet

Lovely novel about a woman running from a awful suitor and becoming a mail bride to a loving man with a painful past that he can't let go. Great watching these two help heal one another past that theft them scared physically and a emotionally
Profile Image for Cindy.
2,010 reviews39 followers
July 8, 2017
This series was my first experience with multiple authors working together to write a series on a large scale. I enjoyed every book in the series and found several new authors that I hadn't read before.
Profile Image for gary c lehn.
1,724 reviews7 followers
December 21, 2016
Loved the story...

I enjoyed this story of a Mail order bride. The author has done a great job of bringing the characters together, filling their lives with romance, adventure and bringing it happily to a exciting end.
Profile Image for Babs Wenk.
1,049 reviews5 followers
January 3, 2016
Well executed

This story had all the elements that keep your interest and make you want to cheer that the bad guys never win!- Barbie
9 reviews
September 30, 2016
Great read!

It is so nice to be able to enjoy a story without going into their bedroom and having to witness each move and each sigh.
2,395 reviews17 followers
April 25, 2017
A good mail-order bride story.

This was a good mail order bride story with a tiny bit of suspense thrown in. The characters were good and the story kept my interest.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.