The cowboy with a broken heart. The mail order bride with more than one secret. Desperate for a wife, Silas advertises for a mail order bride. But Genevieve comes to Dalton with more than the bags in her hands.
The schoolmistress married the richest man in Dalton, leaving Silas lonely and heartbroken. All the plans that Silas made seem to be a waste of time, and the cabin he built for a wife is now lonely and solitary. Dalton is his home, but there’s no other woman in Dalton that he wants to marry.
But what about a mail-order bride? His advertisement is answered by a New Orleans belle named Genevieve LaPierre who is eager to leave her home behind for a new beginning in the West, where the past isn’t held against a person and a woman can start a new life. She and Silas correspond through the winter and Silas’ anticipation grows as the spring approaches. But when Silas goes to Cheyenne to meet Genevieve, his bride reveals a secret. She hasn’t come alone. Are his dreams destined to be dashed again? How can he love a woman who has withheld her secrets from him? How many more secrets does she have? He didn’t expect marriage to a mail-order bride to be so complicated.
"Life didn't hand out sugar plums" his daddy always said and that was the truth. Silas was so hurt that the woman he had loved married another. Having built a cabin and working on plans for his farm, he just felt lonely and heartbroken. But as fate often goes, he decides to advertise for a mail order bride. When his ad is answered and he meets his bride to be, nothing is as he thought but he wasn't a man not to honor his word. Genevieve LaPierre, was from New Orleans and had needed to start a new life and thought out west would be the place to go. But when she comes off the train, she brings more than herself and Silas wonders what other secrets will come out! Such a sweet story that I read quickly in one sitting. I loved Silas, he was such a good man and as I warmed up to his bride, you could not help but feel for her too! Just a wonderful story that I am finding this author always writes and it just made my heart smile at the end. Cannot wait to read more!!
This is my second book by Bethany Rose. I must say I cared for this one better than I did Loretta. I connected to the characters better in this story. Although, it seems odd to me that Genevieve kept her servant and baby a secret from Silas when she agreed to marry him. And her reasons for becoming a “real” wife to Silas were more to protect her secret then because of religious convictions. At some point she had to assume that Silas would figure out her secret. Plus, I can see why she might hide the fact she was bringing a baby and hope that Silas would marry her anyway once she arrived but I think if I was her she would have been more willing to be upfront with him before incurring all the costs to send her belonging ahead and the extra costs for her to arrive. What if he had refused to marry her after Silas felt she had been duplicitous with him. I think a couple more chapters would have been nice to help to show the couple developing deeper feelings for one another. But over all it was a cute and clean story.
This romance portrayed some of the difficulties that comes from marrying someone from a different culture. There were secrets the pair needed to deal with and there was a lot of issues to be resolved. The author did it well. A thoughtful story.