What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fairfax Brides #3
From Runaway to Pregnant Bride
Carrying her rescuer's baby!
Annabel Fairfax fled West in disguise to find her sisters. But on her way a threat catches up with her--and she's forced to turn to a ruggedly handsome stranger on horseback!
Clay Collier, her reluctant protector, tries to keep his distance from the beautiful runaway--but neither can resist one stolen night! Honor demands he marry her, but discovering Annabel's affluent background convinces Clay she doesn't belong in his dangerous world. Except his forbidden bride is already secretly pregnant...
Annabel Fairfax fled West in disguise to find her sisters. But on her way a threat catches up with her--and she's forced to turn to a ruggedly handsome stranger on horseback!
Clay Collier, her reluctant protector, tries to keep his distance from the beautiful runaway--but neither can resist one stolen night! Honor demands he marry her, but discovering Annabel's affluent background convinces Clay she doesn't belong in his dangerous world. Except his forbidden bride is already secretly pregnant...
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published June 20, 2017
35 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Tatiana March
40 books21 followersTatiana March is the author of several romantic novels. She lives in the UK near the river Thames with her boyfriend of 22 years. No kids, no pets, except for spiders and various other forms of wildlife seeking temporary shelter.
When Tatiana is not reading or writing, she enjoys camping, hiking and travelling, particularly in Arizona where her historical western romances are set.
Tatiana is fanatical about research and is currently immersed in the history of Southern Arizona in the 1870s and late Medieval Scotland.
When Tatiana is not reading or writing, she enjoys camping, hiking and travelling, particularly in Arizona where her historical western romances are set.
Tatiana is fanatical about research and is currently immersed in the history of Southern Arizona in the 1870s and late Medieval Scotland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 9, 2017
The final Fairfax Brides series is about the youngest sister, Annabel, and her journey to join her sisters in the west. After Miranda runs away with Gareth hot on her heels, Annabel receives money from Thomas and decides to follow them west. Not long into her journey though, she is robbed, and instead ends up disguising herself as a shoeshine boy and working her way west on the trains shining shoes. On one of the trains, she runs into her cousin Gareth, who no longer remembers who he is, but does find her familiar. Running away in fear, Annabel jumps off the train and ends up in the company of Clay Collier.
Clay works in a mine, and reluctantly takes Annabel with him when he heads back. He became an orphan at 6, and after losing his only two friends, he doesn't want to get close to anyone again. He quickly realizes that Annabel is a woman, and the two of them have to hide that she is one from the mine owner, Mr. Hicks who hates women. Annabel grows to enjoy working in the mine, and the freedom she has there, but that all comes to an end when Hicks dies in a mine accident. The two of them consummate their relationship and plan to marry when they return to town. Annabel is worried to tell him the truth about who she, and Clay is worried that he's only in love with her because she is the first person to show him affection.
Annabel ends up kidnapped by bank robbers when she tries to withdraw some money her sister has sent her. Clay goes to rescue her with Gareth (who has popped up once again), and in the course of things, he learns who she is, who Gareth is to run, and Gareth regains his memory. Clay chooses to leave, and Gareth and Annabel go to her sisters.
My first problem with this book is the title and summary. You would think that the pregnancy happens fairly early in the storyline, or at least by the halfway point. Instead, it happens in the second to last chapter. The title itself spoils the story.
Secondly, I hated the resolution of Gareth's storyline. I don't care for amnesia stories where a person's entire personality changes because of a hit to the head. In this case, it was more of a reversion to his former personality, but I still wasn't a fan of it. I also hated that the sisters forgave him so easily. He tried to rape Charlotte! He planned to do it again! Sorry, but it would be really hard for me to forgive the man that tried to rape me or my sister, but all of three of them did so in five minutes and gave him all of their money. The entire rationale for his actions was that their dad was actually dick and took away Gareth's inheritance which doesn't justify his actions in my eyes. Also, Gareth said that their dad blackmailed him to keep his mouth shut but his leverage was keeping him away from the sisters which seems like a really shitty blackmail incentive to me. Gareth ended up pretty much doing that on his own. Also the "I didn't give you stuff because we had no money" thing didn't really fly with me either.
I also didn't really get why their dad was suddenly an English lord. I know that back in the first story they mention that their dad followed the English manner of inheritance and left everything to Charlotte, but that doesn't really explain to me why a Boston shipping merchant is an English lord as well. Also, no matter what he did, Gareth would still be a lord now. It's really hard (to impossible) to give up a title, so even if he stopped using it, Gareth would still inherit it and any entailed properties.
I did like the romance between Annabel and Clay itself. I thought they were both well drawn characters. Annabel grew up over the course of the story, and Clay learned to trust and give his heart away again.
Clay works in a mine, and reluctantly takes Annabel with him when he heads back. He became an orphan at 6, and after losing his only two friends, he doesn't want to get close to anyone again. He quickly realizes that Annabel is a woman, and the two of them have to hide that she is one from the mine owner, Mr. Hicks who hates women. Annabel grows to enjoy working in the mine, and the freedom she has there, but that all comes to an end when Hicks dies in a mine accident. The two of them consummate their relationship and plan to marry when they return to town. Annabel is worried to tell him the truth about who she, and Clay is worried that he's only in love with her because she is the first person to show him affection.
Annabel ends up kidnapped by bank robbers when she tries to withdraw some money her sister has sent her. Clay goes to rescue her with Gareth (who has popped up once again), and in the course of things, he learns who she is, who Gareth is to run, and Gareth regains his memory. Clay chooses to leave, and Gareth and Annabel go to her sisters.
My first problem with this book is the title and summary. You would think that the pregnancy happens fairly early in the storyline, or at least by the halfway point. Instead, it happens in the second to last chapter. The title itself spoils the story.
Secondly, I hated the resolution of Gareth's storyline. I don't care for amnesia stories where a person's entire personality changes because of a hit to the head. In this case, it was more of a reversion to his former personality, but I still wasn't a fan of it. I also hated that the sisters forgave him so easily. He tried to rape Charlotte! He planned to do it again! Sorry, but it would be really hard for me to forgive the man that tried to rape me or my sister, but all of three of them did so in five minutes and gave him all of their money. The entire rationale for his actions was that their dad was actually dick and took away Gareth's inheritance which doesn't justify his actions in my eyes. Also, Gareth said that their dad blackmailed him to keep his mouth shut but his leverage was keeping him away from the sisters which seems like a really shitty blackmail incentive to me. Gareth ended up pretty much doing that on his own. Also the "I didn't give you stuff because we had no money" thing didn't really fly with me either.
I also didn't really get why their dad was suddenly an English lord. I know that back in the first story they mention that their dad followed the English manner of inheritance and left everything to Charlotte, but that doesn't really explain to me why a Boston shipping merchant is an English lord as well. Also, no matter what he did, Gareth would still be a lord now. It's really hard (to impossible) to give up a title, so even if he stopped using it, Gareth would still inherit it and any entailed properties.
I did like the romance between Annabel and Clay itself. I thought they were both well drawn characters. Annabel grew up over the course of the story, and Clay learned to trust and give his heart away again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 7, 2017Miniseries: The Fairfax Brides
November 6, 2022
Most of the book is great, I was glued to all the parts that take place at the mine, where our h is a boy in disguise, she does a ton of scary brave stuff, and there is a sweet slow burn with a rather lovely H. Seriously loved it.
Everything after that - meeeh. Going in I had no idea this book #3 in a series (M&B never tell you on the book covers) so I skipped all the stuff with her family because I honestly had no idea. Not the author's fault, it's the publisher not making it clear this is part of a bigger ongoing story.
The conflict and separation parts really didn't work for me (she's waaaaay too chill and forgiving for a woman whose been abandoned), and for a book that sells itself as being about a pregnant woman, she preggo for like 8 pages. Again, not the author's fault, the publisher was pushing a trope that really wasn't there. Since most of my gripes are with publisher decisions and not the author/book itself I'm giving it 4 stars when I kinda wanted to give it 3.
Everything after that - meeeh. Going in I had no idea this book #3 in a series (M&B never tell you on the book covers) so I skipped all the stuff with her family because I honestly had no idea. Not the author's fault, it's the publisher not making it clear this is part of a bigger ongoing story.
The conflict and separation parts really didn't work for me (she's waaaaay too chill and forgiving for a woman whose been abandoned), and for a book that sells itself as being about a pregnant woman, she preggo for like 8 pages. Again, not the author's fault, the publisher was pushing a trope that really wasn't there. Since most of my gripes are with publisher decisions and not the author/book itself I'm giving it 4 stars when I kinda wanted to give it 3.
November 11, 2023
This is the last in the trilogy about the three Fairfax sisters. They're all okay stories, not great but a fast read. Annabel disguises herself as a shoeshine boy to head west but ends married to Clay Collier who decides she's not for him once he discovers she's really a wealthy heiress. The story is kind of nonsensical, but fine and it does provide a resolution to the three sisters getting their fortune finally.
November 10, 2017
I was torn between admiring her stubbornness and endurance and thinking I was too old to be reading about an 18 year old heroine.
Read
August 24, 2017"March’s final book in her Fairfax Bride series is exciting, emotional and sensual. Readers will enjoy the unique setting, fast-paced plot, mad adventures and passionate romance between a runaway heiress and a taciturn miner" (4 stars @ RT Book Reviews).
Miniseries: The Fairfax Brides
Miniseries: The Fairfax Brides
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews