This clean, sweet romance anthology includes the novellas Mail Order Bride Leah and Mail Order Bride Tess, books 1 and 2 of the series. Enjoy each of their journeys in overcoming their challenging situations in New York. Note that each is a sweet stand-alone book, but they also are the first two books in the Montana Mail Order Brides Series. Mail Order Bride Leah Leah is a school teacher in Albany, New York during the 1880s who was devoted to her mother until she passed away. Her father lost his business and Leah did not want to spend the rest of her life living with her protective brother. She begins to correspond with a man from Montana who ran an ad for a mail order bride. Could she have found someone who also loves literature and shares so many of her interests? How does Leah handle her brother's negative reactions to the correspondence that now was the focus and light of her life? Can she leave the desperate situation in New York and find that joy that her heart dreams? Or is she destined to live a life without fulfillment? Will Leah find happiness in Montana? What secrets does her love keep to himself that makes him so hard to reach and read? Can Leah help Henry open up his heart or will she give up? Can his scars heal from the past? Book 2: Mail Order Bride Tess Tess is a seamstress in upstate New York during the 1880s. She fears she will be working in the sweltering shop her whole life and never find true happiness by finding a man who loves her. A married friend shows her a newspaper that has ads for mail order husbands and Tess shyly studies it with guarded hope. Tess is quite bashful with a lot of fear, but also worries what her life would be like without a big change. Will she find happiness out west or be stuck in the sweltering shop in New York? Why does Luke withdraw from her emotionally and can he let go of his past loss? Will Tess return home in defeat and be broken inside? Can their love blossom? Each of the books is a stand-alone clean romance without a cliffhanger. They are sweet westerns appropriate for all ages. Book six, Mail Order Bride Jessica, is now available and is also in Kindle Unlimited. Books three to six in the series is available in the boxed set titled, Mail Order Brides Felicity, Frank, Verity and Jessica and was recently released.
Mail Order Brides Anthology: Leah and Tess Books 1-2 (Montana Mail Order Brides Series) by Rose Jenster I’ve always been fascinated by mail order bride stories. I’m sure that there were real mail order brides back in the day. That was the only way to have decent women to move to these remote towns that are filled with men, many of which want wives, not saloon girls. The authors that write these books make you feel the brides stories and their mates reaction to having them come to marry them. The stories are sweet and fun reads and you can only believe that many of these stories could have been true because back in the day you were either an old spinster or a teacher, etc. or you got married. If you couldn’t or didn’t want to get married to anyone in the town you live in, moving to another community is the only way and they didn’t often have backing from their family to leave so by writing letters and receiving money to travel is the only recourse they had. I love these stories and find the different authors who write these stories to have great minds in coming up with something new and fresh for each bride! I do recommend these books if you like these types of stories. This book was given to me in a kindle format in exchange for an honest review.
Here is the description as found on Good Reads: This clean, sweet romance anthology includes the novellas Mail Order Bride Leah and Mail Order Bride Tess, books 1 and 2 of the series. Enjoy each of their journeys in overcoming their challenging situations in New York. Note that each is a sweet stand-alone book, but they also are the first two books in the Montana Mail Order Brides Series.
Mail Order Bride Leah
Leah is a school teacher in Albany, New York during the 1880s who was devoted to her mother until she passed away. Her father lost his business and Leah did not want to spend the rest of her life living with her protective brother. She begins to correspond with a man from Montana who ran an ad for a mail order bride. Could she have found someone who also loves literature and shares so many of her interests?
How does Leah handle her brother's negative reactions to the correspondence that now was the focus and light of her life? Can she leave the desperate situation in New York and find that joy that her heart dreams? Or is she destined to live a life without fulfillment?
Will Leah find happiness in Montana? What secrets does her love keep to himself that makes him so hard to reach and read? Can Leah help Henry open up his heart or will she give up? Can his scars heal from the past?
Book 2: Mail Order Bride Tess
Tess is a seamstress in upstate New York during the 1880s. She fears she will be working in the sweltering shop her whole life and never find true happiness by finding a man who loves her. A married friend shows her a newspaper that has ads for mail order husbands and Tess shyly studies it with guarded hope. Tess is quite bashful with a lot of fear, but also worries what her life would be like without a big change.
Will she find happiness out west or be stuck in the sweltering shop in New York? Why does Luke withdraw from her emotionally and can he let go of his past loss? Will Tess return home in defeat and be broken inside? Can their love blossom?
Note: Each of the books is a stand-alone clean romance without a cliffhanger. They are sweet westerns appropriate for all ages. Book six, Mail Order Bride Jessica, is now available and is also in Kindle Unlimited.
Leah...the first 1/3 of the book was wonderful! I loved reading the letters she and Henry shared. He seemed like he couldn't wait to meet her. They seemed perfect for each other. Then when she arrives in Montana, he barely looks at her, and acts like he made a mistake?! The poor dear cried in her room after experiencing such joy and anticipation at meeting him. Henry eventually somewhat warms up to the idea of her, albeit grudgingly. Even passionately kisses her once. Then...he starts to all but ignore her while she's pregnant with his child? Really Henry? Then the vixen, Melody - his previous love who spurned him and treated him like trash comes back in town and he barely introduces Leah to her, while she was flirting with him...a married man? And when Melody invites him, or maybe "them", to a dinner party, he accepts? Henry never even said the words "I love you" to poor Leah until the day she gave birth.
I really became disappointed in this book. How could he be gushing and seemingly in love with Leah in the letters, then act like she was an annoyance for the first year of the marriage? That made no sense. And it ruined the mood of the book. The beginning was wonderful. I'm not sure I want to read the send story now. But I may later and add on to this review.
Both Leah and Tess hard lives that seemed to be going nowhere until they found the ads in the paper of a couple guys wanting brides. Both stories are heart warming and I loved reading them.
The one problem I had with these 2 books was they need to be proof read better. Really a comma in the middle of a word and using Henry's name instead of Luke's to point out 2 mistakes. You need to get a better proof reader.
Short and sweet. Exchanging letters allow two couples to fall in love.
A quick easy read. Two friends from Albany become mail order brides that travel to 1880s Montana. Shy, quiet ladies search for a new start by answering mail order bride advertisements. A fun read. The Montana location was described as being picturesque.
Light romance read. Mostly interesting for the historical perspective (what would it have felt like to be trapped in your life, including work and a position within your family, so trapped that you would consider a mail order husband?). The instant connections felt by the characters in their written letters was both sweet and perhaps parallel to internet dating today.
Short stories, but most excellent. These are sweet romances, the kind that tug at your heart. The men are quiet and reserved, not at all what they seemed in their letters. The women are downhearted at first, but things pick up.
The endings are rather quick. The characters are mentioned in each book, but you don't really need to read them in order.
The stories were nice, predictable, clean, two woman two stories both from N.Y. Both go to Montana as mail order brides. Woman are friends in New York married friends in Montana. Nice simple stories. Recommend
Leah & Tess Mail Order Brides by Rose Jenster is the first 2 stories in this series of short stories, each is a stand alone. Each story takes you on a journey with the couple. They had to over come their own doubts and fears and stop over thinking everything. Very nice read. Thanks
Most of the stories were taken up with correspondence and little with actual married life. Characters were fairly well developed, but again, once the couples were married the stories fizzled out.
Refreshing read! Uncomplicated plots that were easy to follow, had the right flavor of romance without the gory details, and the link up between the two stories was both imaginative and left me rooting for all concerned in the plots to succeed. Well done Ms. Jenster. I will follow any future writing!
A well written take of the lack of eligible women in the West and the courage of the mail order brides who left behind their familiar way of life to marry them.
Very good book. Anxious to read book 3. You get to understand the early years for single men and the hopes and dreams for young ladies to make a home for themselves
Sweet Clean novellas perfect for an afternoon read. While part of a series they are perfect as a stand alone read. Each has a daring action event and of course the HEA readers are looking for.
These were very good books. I really enjoyed both books but actually liked Tess's story better. I was happy that both story's were about friends who eventually ended up in the same town as mail order brides. Both of course were from different backgrounds. I thought that the part about Leah trying to fix her new husband a meal was funny. I would recommend these to someone who likes a good clean read.
I have enjoyed there stories very much! There is romance, and it is written in very good taste! It's realistic, and it holds your interest. I will be looking for more if these type of books!!
I just finished reading both stories in this book and I loved both! The author made me fall in love with both couples! It was so romantic! Want to read more!!!! <3
Both of these stories are wonderful. Each young lady was looking for a life that they could share with husband and family. I found that both women had strong faith in God. They were moving across the US to a state that would be new to them.