When I pictured my future, it was always with her. She was always the girl at the end of the aisle when I thought about getting married. Gabriella. My best friend. My everything. But all that changed the day she left town without looking back. Now, all these years later, I'm standing waiting for my new bride with nothing but resentment running through my veins. I should have said no to this, but as the youngest, I didn't feel I had any choice when all my brothers agreed that this was the only way to save our beloved town. It's time I put thoughts of the girl who was never meant to be mine aside for good. But the second a woman steps forward with a single rose in her hand and our eyes meet, my entire world comes crashing down. My girl's come home. Only now she's older, wiser, and a million times more beautiful. Is this the second chance I've always craved, or will my lingering anger stop this hair-brained mail order bride plan before it's even started?
The Mistletoe Brothers are ready to save Snow Valley … even if it means marrying complete strangers. The six women who arrive in this mountainside town all have very different reasons for agreeing to an arranged marriage. And none of them quite know what to make of the six ruggedly handsome brothers who greet them. But they do know this: there’s no turning back.
It’s Christmas, the season for miracles … but is it also the season for falling in love? Join six of your favorite romance authors this holiday as they show you around the most romantic town you’ve ever visited. It’s got an ice-skating rink where you can hold hands, hot cocoa to sip by the fire, and plenty of mistletoe that you can kiss under.
These stories are filled with high heat...because with six brothers, there are plenty of packages to unwrap.
Tracy Lorraine is a M/F and M/M contemporary romance author. Tracy has just turned thirty and lives in a cute Cotswold village in England with her husband, baby girl and lovable but slightly crazy dog. Having always been a bookaholic with her head stuck in her Kindle Tracy decided to try her hand at a story idea she dreamt up and hasn’t looked back since.
No strong representations of diverse characters or minority identities.
Overall: 2.75-stars
I’m really over second chance romances where the Heroine’s life was basically put on pause once she was separated from the Hero. Essentially, the Hero was not celibate during their five year separation but the Heroine was. 🙄🙄🙄
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions
Possible Triggers: None • No abuse • No OTT sad parts
4th brother and the youngest 1st time author Second chance romance High school sweethearts 5 years separation She was celibate (she is a Virgin) He was not !!!( hated that ) Cute epilogue with pregnancy Announcement
This was a quick and sexy and tasty little Christmas read!
I’ve read one other book by this author and now I remember why I loved it so much. Ms. Lorraine knows how to pack so much goodness and deliciousness and happiness into a shorter read and still give the reader plenty of feels.
I loved the grumpiness of Spencer. I adored the shyness and vulnerability of Gabriella (Ella) and how that didn’t stop her from doing what she wanted, not what her mom wanted. She was strong enough to make the decision to sign up for the mail-order bride service. And I really enjoyed the way these two reconciled after 5 years of sadness and anger and regret.
Not only was this a short and sweet and sexy mail-order bride romance, it was also a second chance romance. And it was done perfectly. Loved it!
My reviews always contain spoilers, I write them so I can remember the story.
2/5 stars Spencer is going along with his mom’s plan for a mail order bride like all his brothers to save their small town from a big corporation. He’s not happy about it, he has always envisioned marrying one girl, Gabriella, his best friend and high school sweetheart. After she left he has been a bitter broken shell of his old self. She just left him and never looked back. Imagine his surprise when his bride arrives and it’s Gabriella! (She now goes by Ella.) She has been very unhappy in New York where her family moved when her dad gets a big promotion. When she overhears two women talking about mail order brides she looks up a company and signs up. She happy she will be going back to her old hometown, Snow Valley. She is equally as shocked when it’s Spencer who is her groom to be. He’s angry it’s her and glad, he has so many mixed emotions and doesn’t handle their first meeting well. You genuinely feel bad for the guy, UNTILL you find out he told her he’s done with her if she leaves, not to call him or talk to him. How is a senior in high school supposed to stay in her small town alone while her parents move? She wants a long distance relationship but he doesn’t. At this point I’m done with him. He not only broke his own heart but Ella’s too, just because he was mad she had to move. The situation was out of her control. Did he not after a while cool down and think to reach out to her? Guess he was to busy banging snow bunnies to worry about her feelings. Although he does say he thought of her everyday and has always loved her, not buying it. And of course she is a virgin who feels like her life was on hold until fate helped her get back to Snow Valley. They get married and epilogue one year later with them expecting a baby.
I liked Ella, though she was dealt a bad hand she took steps to better her situation, I would have liked her to have held Spencer accountable for wrecking their relationship, she just lets him off the hook to easy, even apologizes for not reaching out to him. And he never really grovels for his part in their breakup. Spencer was just a big man baby to me.
It’s mentioned in all the books that the parents are good people who are in love with each other after many years together, I don’t understand how some of the boys who see a loving relationship between their parents are such dicks! (Hartley was the worst, total manwhore, Spencer takes second place, bangs snow bunnies when he feels like it, and caused his own heartache by being angry. Christopher was going to trick the system until he falls instantly in love with his bride. Matt’s story hasn’t been released yet, the only one who was kind and thoughtful to his bride is Mason).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This had a silly unbelievable premise. Childhood sweethearts torn apart at 17…. Miraculously, Fate brings them back together 5 years later when his mother orders him a mail order bride. Very coincidently, the h randomly signs up to BE a mail order bride and they are matched. 👀😂 Sure thing.
Of course they meet up and are glad to see their soon-to-be spouse is each other… and neither wonders what would have happened if they hadn’t been matched by pure serendipity. 🤔🤔
I was annoyed that the h was virgin (the H was not) and that remarkable circumstance is barely acknowledged by the H. 👀😐. WHATS THE POINT OF MAKING HER CELIBATE DURING THE SEPARATION IF THE H IS JUST GONNA SHRUG. 😐
Bottom line? This was boring and it could have been so much better. I was waiting for the H’s head to explode when he realized that the h had signed up to be a mail order bride. That would have been a fun read. 🤷🏼♀️ This was boring. ⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️ - no cheating or sharing - no OW/OM drama - and more’s the pity 😅 - no dubcon - h is a 22 yr old virgin - H is not a virgin, he was not celibate during the separation. But we don’t get much details. the h doesn’t seem to care. 🤷🏼♀️
Spencer, Book 4 of the Mail-Order Brides For Christmas series, was about 22-year-old Spencer Mistletoe, and 22-year-old Gabriella "Ella" Bentley.
When the Mistletoe family learned that their small town was about to be sold to a large corporation that would turn their world into a tourist attraction, the six brothers decided to pool their inheritance together to buy it instead. There was only one problem with that idea, though. The town's founder had created a legal and binding codicil that stated whoever owned the town had to be married to do so...and none of the Mistletoe brothers were married. Fortunately (or unfortunately for the brothers, depending on how they looked at it), their mother had the perfect plan to circumvent the codicil...each brother would have a mail-order bride and be married before the New Year hit. This was Spencer's story.
Spencer had been in love with his best friend forever, but she broke his heart when she left town without a backward glance. Years later, when his mother had set him and his brothers up for a mail-order bride in order to save their town, the last person he expected to be marrying was his former best friend, Gabriella. and yet, she was the one standing in the airport holding the rose that would point him to his future wife.
This was the first book in the series where the two main characters had a history together, broke up, and upon reuniting, had a rough meeting back up. Spencer was heartbroken when Ella left five years earlier, even though she was a teenager and had no choice in the matter. Still, Spencer held a grudge, was not celibate while they were apart, and gave her a hard time when they reunited. The push/pull was pretty decent and didn't last very long, thankfully.
I couldn't give this book as high a rating as the last story because of the attitude of the MMC. First, he said throughout the story that Ella was the love of his life, and yet while they were apart, he didn't have any problem bedding anything with two legs. When they saw each other for the first time in five years, he treated Ella like crap, something she didn't deserve. He was the one who pushed her away when she told him her parents were moving away and she had to go with them. That wasn't her fault, it was his for not being understanding. But then, they were teenagers and very immature. However, he didn't seem to have had any growth in the five years they were apart.
It was a good second-chance story. It just wasn't the best. I only gave it two-and-a-half stars, rounded up to three.
I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to read Spencer by Tracy Lorraine from this anthology! To describe this short story, I would say it was amazing! This story had just the right amount story as it did to steaminess. The two main characters were best friends, but were split apart when they were young. Feeling for each other surface back up when a Mail-Order Bride becomes an option. Gabriella, is struggling with her life after moving to the city, so she completes an application to become a mail-order bride. Spencer is surprised by his mother when she places the order for a bride as his Christmas present. Fate luckily brings them back together. The two together you can tell have so much love and feelings for the other, even with the difficult past. Some scenes in this story are steamy! Perfect way to show their love for one another. I definitely enjoyed reading this story by Tracy Lorraine. I am looking forward to reading the other stories in this anthology!
First things first; I like the cover of this book! Spencer is a novella in the ‘’mail order brides for Christmas’’ collection. This story is short, fast paced and an enjoyable read. I read this book in one sitting and was satisfied throughout. I found the writing style easy to follow, the characters likeable and the storyline enjoyable. Spencer and Gabriella were high school sweethearts until she had to leave town. Five years later and Spencer’s mother gets him a mail order bride who ends up being Gabriella. Will Spencer and Gabriella give love a second chance? The chemistry between Spencer and Gabriella is clear to see and I liked them together. I liked the ending and the epilogue for this story. The storyline for this book is easy to follow and it is an enjoyable read.
I'm all for a good second chance romance. However, I don't like second chance romances like this one. The male...although he claims to have loved his woman for the last 5 years, even though they were separated and had broken up, he moved on and hooked up with a snow bunny whenever one caught his fancy. But yet the female lives the life of a monk and never moves on from the man who broke her heart. Yes, he broke her heart because he basically gave her an ultimatum that if she moved they were over...keep in mind SHE'S A TEENAGER AND HAS TO MOVE WITH HER PARENTS SHE HAS NO FREAKING CHOICE!
So far I have to say, I'm not impressed with this series. I was hoping for romance and love...instead we get the man whore/virgin tropes. Christopher being the exception...but even then we aren't sure if he is or isn't a man whore only that his past wasn't thrown in our faces. I may skip the next book since I'm just not feeling it. Maybe others will like it...it's just not for me and that's my opinion. I'm just once again saying that I think the man whore/virgin trope is too over-done.
The mail-order bride for Christmas series is filled with amazing couples in a compact read. Gabriella and Spencer star in this instalment. This is a perfect second chance romance. You’ll cheer on this couple as they navigate finding each other again under unusual circumstances. Fantastic storyline, great characters, smexy NSFW scenes and the sweetest HEA. Loved it!!!!
This story was ok. I just didn’t care for it. The anger, hate, and betrayal flowed from the page, for a supposed romance. Then to find out it was all him, and he was the one behaving like a self absorbed tool. Not to mention, a very short romance, sort of, then wedding. I think the story could have been better using the last third of the book, rather than trying to sell another book.
Spencer waited for his bride and never expected the girl that broke his heart to be the one holding the red rose his bride to be. Spencer was angry at first at Ella and left her the first day at his house and didn’t come back until later he had needed to work out his feelings for Ella after not seeing her for so long he wants her with him but he is angry she left but he knows Ella is the only one for him.
Ella left Snow Valley five years sho when her father got a job in NYC leave her heart behind with Spencer, her best friend. When she signs up to be a mail order bride she doesn't expect to return to Snow Valley and Spencer but these two get their second chance in this sweet holiday read.
This was another great read in the Mail-Order Brides for Christmas. This was a second chance at love. Spencer and Gabriella gets their happily ever after. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read
This was pretty good. Goodness Spencer can curse a lot. Gabriella and Spencer best friends find each other again. Glad they were able to renew their friendship and turn it into something special.
A fantastic new edition to the Mail order bride series I absolutely love Traceys edition and these brothers are all finding their perfect match this holiday season. Gabriella and Spencer have loved each other since they were kids and yall are going to love their happily ever after.
This short story collection would be great without Spencer. I hated that our h stayed a virgin, but Spencer slept around. This is not a safe read. How hard is it to have him stay celibate for her?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A short sweet story, Gabriella and Spencer were best friends having grown up together but she left to live in NY. 5 years later he’s getting a mail order bride and guess who it is? Fate and destiny have brought them back. Sweet and well written.
Great storyline and characters. The only part that I didn't like was how he treated her, blaming her for ending things. Why is it that when a man ends things they always blame the woman? I guess most men are narcissists.
This was a cute, fun second-chance romance! Spencer and Gabriella have great chemistry and an even better backstory that makes their second chance together that much better! This book definitely has some spice to it and will give you all the warm and fuzzy feels just in time for the holidays.
Second chance romance tugs at my heart. Spencer & Ella’s story was a great way for Mr to wrap up the journeys of the Mistletoe brothers. I think this one is my favorite.
It’s a Christmas miracle. The girl he always wanted to marry was his Mail-order bride. They were given their second chance to make all their dreams come true.