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Wanted: Women with religious upbringing, high morals, and a strong sense of adventure, willing to marry decent, God-fearing men. Applicants may apply by mail. Must allow at least two months for an answer.
With the matrimonial prospects in her little Michigan town virtually nonexistent, nineteen-year-old Faith, along with her two sisters, Hope and June, answers an ad for mail-order brides. Before she knows it, shes on her way to Deliverance, Texas to marry wealthy rancher Nicholas Shepherd.
But from the moment she arrives in Deliverance, sparks fly between Faith, a strong-willed tomboy, and her prospective husband, a man with a strong will of his own! After a string of wedding postponements and a slew of interferences, a union between Faith and Nicholas begins to look less and less likely.
In the meantime, Faith and Nicholas are beginning to care for each other, but is their matching stubbornness destined to forever be a barrier between them?
With the matrimonial prospects in her little Michigan town virtually nonexistent, nineteen-year-old Faith, along with her two sisters, Hope and June, answers an ad for mail-order brides. Before she knows it, shes on her way to Deliverance, Texas to marry wealthy rancher Nicholas Shepherd.
But from the moment she arrives in Deliverance, sparks fly between Faith, a strong-willed tomboy, and her prospective husband, a man with a strong will of his own! After a string of wedding postponements and a slew of interferences, a union between Faith and Nicholas begins to look less and less likely.
In the meantime, Faith and Nicholas are beginning to care for each other, but is their matching stubbornness destined to forever be a barrier between them?
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
245 people are currently reading
2624 people want to read
About the author
Lori Copeland
195 books529 followersLori Copeland was born on 12 June 1941. She had a relatively late start in writing, breaking into publishing in 1982 when she was already forty years old. Over the next dozen years, her romance novels achieved much success, as was evidenced by her winning the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books' Best Seller award. She has been inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame.
Despite her success in more mainstream romantic fiction, in 1995, she decided to switch focus. Her subsequent books have been in the relatively new subgenre of Christian romance. She has also collaborated with authors Angela Elwell Hunt or Virginia Smith on a series of Christian romance novels.
Lori and her husband of over forty years, Lance, live in Springfield, Missouri, surrounded by the beautiful Ozarks. They have three grown sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six wonderful grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. She and her husband are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.
Despite her success in more mainstream romantic fiction, in 1995, she decided to switch focus. Her subsequent books have been in the relatively new subgenre of Christian romance. She has also collaborated with authors Angela Elwell Hunt or Virginia Smith on a series of Christian romance novels.
Lori and her husband of over forty years, Lance, live in Springfield, Missouri, surrounded by the beautiful Ozarks. They have three grown sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six wonderful grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. She and her husband are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 232 reviews
June 5, 2019
Enjoyable prairie romance. A light, fun read that had me rooting for Faith and Nicholas to overcome their pride (and his mother) and finally fall in love. I will read the others in the series as I did enjoy the mail order bride aspect.
January 5, 2012
This book is not very historically accurate, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. The main character, Faith, is far too tomboyish for her time. She sometimes wears overalls in public and no one thinks anything of it. Trust me, women did not wear overalls in the 1800s. I don't know why some historical fiction writers have such a hard time with this fact.
August 24, 2019
I did not realize this was Christian Fiction when I got this book, and as I don’t generally read that genre I am not addressing that part in my review. I really really hate not finishing a book, so here we go!
I did not enjoy this book. While I enjoy the Mail Order Bride genre, and it started out with a good premise, it was a disappointing read. Faith and her two sisters sign up to be mail order brides to “decent, God-fearing men”. Faith heads out to Texas to marry Nicholas Shepherd, only to find out that his horrible mother—who lives with him—detests her.
Aaaaand then it went downhill from there. Nicholas is just a jerk. He is a flat and undeveloped character, what little personality he does have, is bad. Right outa the chute he’s mad and embarrassed because his bride to be arrives on a mule when the stagecoach has broken down. He keeps finding excuses to put off the marriage, and he lets his witch of a mother verbally abuse Faith. Liza, the mother, is rude to her church leaders, ruder to the kindly hermit Jeremiah, mean and cold to her son Nicholas, and downright nasty to Faith. When Nicholas (finding another excuse to delay the wedding) leaves on a cattle drive, Liza kicks Faith out of the house.
Faith is taken in by some locals, and starts spending a lot of time with a young widower who treats her well. But she is in love with Nicholas. WHY?! Aside from the fact that he’s rich, he doesn’t appear to have any redeeming qualities, and lives with his hag mother. Faith is kind of a colorless heroine, and I didn’t feel like I even liked her.
I did not enjoy this book. While I enjoy the Mail Order Bride genre, and it started out with a good premise, it was a disappointing read. Faith and her two sisters sign up to be mail order brides to “decent, God-fearing men”. Faith heads out to Texas to marry Nicholas Shepherd, only to find out that his horrible mother—who lives with him—detests her.
Aaaaand then it went downhill from there. Nicholas is just a jerk. He is a flat and undeveloped character, what little personality he does have, is bad. Right outa the chute he’s mad and embarrassed because his bride to be arrives on a mule when the stagecoach has broken down. He keeps finding excuses to put off the marriage, and he lets his witch of a mother verbally abuse Faith. Liza, the mother, is rude to her church leaders, ruder to the kindly hermit Jeremiah, mean and cold to her son Nicholas, and downright nasty to Faith. When Nicholas (finding another excuse to delay the wedding) leaves on a cattle drive, Liza kicks Faith out of the house.
Faith is taken in by some locals, and starts spending a lot of time with a young widower who treats her well. But she is in love with Nicholas. WHY?! Aside from the fact that he’s rich, he doesn’t appear to have any redeeming qualities, and lives with his hag mother. Faith is kind of a colorless heroine, and I didn’t feel like I even liked her.
November 23, 2021
I just gave another one-star rating so you know what that means. It's review time.
I had seen this book around on Hoopla quite often and borrowed it while it was a bonus borrow. It started out decent but then went down from there.
I felt that the time period was completely wrong for this book. The protagonist seemed to think that she lived in today's society as opposed to sometime in the 1800s. She wore boys clothes and tried to do the tasks of a male.
Another thing that bugged me was that she was engaged. She lived under the same roof as her fiancé for weeks and they never get married until the very end. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a huge no-no back in the day.
And speaking of Nicholas, there was no way they could ever be a couple. They did not talk the whole book and when they did, he was acting as a father would (Nicholas is old enough to be her father by the way) by correcting Faith's behavior. And then suddenly Faith and Nicholas realized that they were IN LOVE. Nope. Not buying it.
Nicholas's mother drove me insane. There comes a point when someone has to stand up for themselves. This book basically had the message that God wants you to be a good Christian and lay down and take what others throw at you. Nicholas and Faith did whatever Liza asked, no matter how unreasonable. Nicholas is in his 30s and his mother still controls his life as if he were 10 years old. Nicholas rarely stood up for Faith when his mother was being a jerk to Faith. And someone please tell me when you can honestly threaten to tan the hide of grown adults. And then tell Liza the same answer.
I admire Faith for wanting to open a school for the blind, however, once a woman was married, she was expected to stay at home during this time period. I highly doubt everyone would have been fine with her starting up her own school.
I know this review is a bit of a jumbled mess, but so was the book.
1 Star
I had seen this book around on Hoopla quite often and borrowed it while it was a bonus borrow. It started out decent but then went down from there.
I felt that the time period was completely wrong for this book. The protagonist seemed to think that she lived in today's society as opposed to sometime in the 1800s. She wore boys clothes and tried to do the tasks of a male.
Another thing that bugged me was that she was engaged. She lived under the same roof as her fiancé for weeks and they never get married until the very end. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a huge no-no back in the day.
And speaking of Nicholas, there was no way they could ever be a couple. They did not talk the whole book and when they did, he was acting as a father would (Nicholas is old enough to be her father by the way) by correcting Faith's behavior. And then suddenly Faith and Nicholas realized that they were IN LOVE. Nope. Not buying it.
Nicholas's mother drove me insane. There comes a point when someone has to stand up for themselves. This book basically had the message that God wants you to be a good Christian and lay down and take what others throw at you. Nicholas and Faith did whatever Liza asked, no matter how unreasonable. Nicholas is in his 30s and his mother still controls his life as if he were 10 years old. Nicholas rarely stood up for Faith when his mother was being a jerk to Faith. And someone please tell me when you can honestly threaten to tan the hide of grown adults. And then tell Liza the same answer.
I admire Faith for wanting to open a school for the blind, however, once a woman was married, she was expected to stay at home during this time period. I highly doubt everyone would have been fine with her starting up her own school.
I know this review is a bit of a jumbled mess, but so was the book.
1 Star
August 24, 2019
I did not realize this was Christian Fiction when I started the book, and as I don’t generally read that genre I am not addressing that part in my review.
I did not enjoy this book. While I enjoy the Mail Order Bride genre, and it started out with a good premise, it was a disappointing read. Faith and her two sisters sign up to be mail order brides to “decent, God-fearing men”. Faith heads out to Texas to marry Nicholas Shepherd, only to find out that his horrible mother—who lives with him—detests her.
Aaaaand then it went downhill from there. Nicholas is just a jerk. He is a flat and undeveloped character, what little personality he does have, is bad. Right outa the chute he’s mad and embarrassed because his bride to be arrives on a mule when the stagecoach has broken down. He keeps finding excuses to put off the marriage, and he lets his witch of a mother verbally abuse Faith. Liza, the mother, is rude to her church leaders, ruder to the kindly hermit Jeremiah, mean and cold to her son Nicholas, and downright nasty to Faith. When Nicholas (finding another excuse to delay the wedding) leaves on a cattle drive, Liza kicks Faith out of the house.
Faith is taken in by some locals, and starts spending a lot of time with a young widower who treats her well. But she is in love with Nicholas. WHY?! Aside from the fact that he’s rich, he doesn’t appear to have any redeeming qualities, and lives with his hag mother. Faith is kind of a colorless heroine, and I didn’t feel like I even liked her.
I did not enjoy this book. While I enjoy the Mail Order Bride genre, and it started out with a good premise, it was a disappointing read. Faith and her two sisters sign up to be mail order brides to “decent, God-fearing men”. Faith heads out to Texas to marry Nicholas Shepherd, only to find out that his horrible mother—who lives with him—detests her.
Aaaaand then it went downhill from there. Nicholas is just a jerk. He is a flat and undeveloped character, what little personality he does have, is bad. Right outa the chute he’s mad and embarrassed because his bride to be arrives on a mule when the stagecoach has broken down. He keeps finding excuses to put off the marriage, and he lets his witch of a mother verbally abuse Faith. Liza, the mother, is rude to her church leaders, ruder to the kindly hermit Jeremiah, mean and cold to her son Nicholas, and downright nasty to Faith. When Nicholas (finding another excuse to delay the wedding) leaves on a cattle drive, Liza kicks Faith out of the house.
Faith is taken in by some locals, and starts spending a lot of time with a young widower who treats her well. But she is in love with Nicholas. WHY?! Aside from the fact that he’s rich, he doesn’t appear to have any redeeming qualities, and lives with his hag mother. Faith is kind of a colorless heroine, and I didn’t feel like I even liked her.
January 5, 2018
I felt this to be lacking depth with problems popping up and resolving just for the sake of it, and characters having sudden change of hearts through finding faith.
December 21, 2011
Not worth the time. Characters not believable.
September 18, 2012
What's not to love. Pioneers, romance, mail-order brides... It may be predictable but I still enjoyed it. Of course it was free.
April 4, 2013
Great story and a nice book to start a wonderful series. I gave 4 stars.
October 18, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
Read
December 20, 2024I'm on a guilty pleasure kick okkk
March 26, 2025
Basically I don't have anything to add to the review of June, so I'll repeat that review here for Faith. I might have liked reading this one first because this one made a touch more sense.
I am about to add a whole lot of books by Lori Copeland -- I was told my mom would like her books. I did not realize that I was reading them out of order, but I read each one within a 24 hour period so it wasn't an issue. Clean romance. The book reminded me of an old tv series titled "Here Come the Brides". The series is fun (both the tv and the books), ludicrous at times; still, I thought back to some recent tv series and movies I've watched and they were ludicrous as well. The book series is also highly Christian, but somehow I didn't mind it. The books were a good diversion.
I am about to add a whole lot of books by Lori Copeland -- I was told my mom would like her books. I did not realize that I was reading them out of order, but I read each one within a 24 hour period so it wasn't an issue. Clean romance. The book reminded me of an old tv series titled "Here Come the Brides". The series is fun (both the tv and the books), ludicrous at times; still, I thought back to some recent tv series and movies I've watched and they were ludicrous as well. The book series is also highly Christian, but somehow I didn't mind it. The books were a good diversion.
December 9, 2020
A good book that was clean and sweet. Easy to read.
March 6, 2022
Lovely Christian story!
May 26, 2022
Dnf this author obviously lost a touch of the plot of her story. She should go back and try to write it better.
April 8, 2025
Ok you know I'm a sucker for slow and steady love....like, Love Comes Softly or The Beauty of Ordinary Days ... this was along that same vein, but with mail order brides.
It's book #1 in a series, and I'll definitely keep reading if I don't get distracted with the other umpteen books I'm reading.
It's book #1 in a series, and I'll definitely keep reading if I don't get distracted with the other umpteen books I'm reading.
March 15, 2017
Very enjoyable! :)
September 13, 2021
This had to be one of the most boring, unromantic mail-order bride books I’ve ever read.
Nothing really happened and I felt there was no chemistry between Faith and Nicholas. They hardly spent any time together, had nothing in common, didn’t talk all that much and the few times they did they were irritated and annoyed with each other, and I couldn’t understand their so-called “attraction” to each other by the end. It was too unbelievable.
Faith was the only character I sort of liked and I enjoyed her interactions with Dan and his family and her wanting to start a blind school, but I didn’t like that whenever she would stand up for herself she would then immediately chastise herself for being disobedient and apologize. Completely ridiculous.
I didn’t care for Liza at first because she was such a shrew. Then I gradually liked her near the end when she became nicer and apologized for being an entitled jerk.
I don’t think I ever really cared for Nicholas throughout the book. He was just really uninteresting and went back and forth between being a wimp- letting his mother run his life, letting her treat Faith like dirt- and somewhat of a jerk- basically ignoring Faith, unless she was doing something he didn’t like and then he would talk down to her and treat her like a child. He also came across as possessive and domineering at times. Not buying their “love” at all. 🙄
I also thought the townspeople could have been featured more. This is just the first book in the series and I hope they get better.
Nothing really happened and I felt there was no chemistry between Faith and Nicholas. They hardly spent any time together, had nothing in common, didn’t talk all that much and the few times they did they were irritated and annoyed with each other, and I couldn’t understand their so-called “attraction” to each other by the end. It was too unbelievable.
Faith was the only character I sort of liked and I enjoyed her interactions with Dan and his family and her wanting to start a blind school, but I didn’t like that whenever she would stand up for herself she would then immediately chastise herself for being disobedient and apologize. Completely ridiculous.
I didn’t care for Liza at first because she was such a shrew. Then I gradually liked her near the end when she became nicer and apologized for being an entitled jerk.
I don’t think I ever really cared for Nicholas throughout the book. He was just really uninteresting and went back and forth between being a wimp- letting his mother run his life, letting her treat Faith like dirt- and somewhat of a jerk- basically ignoring Faith, unless she was doing something he didn’t like and then he would talk down to her and treat her like a child. He also came across as possessive and domineering at times. Not buying their “love” at all. 🙄
I also thought the townspeople could have been featured more. This is just the first book in the series and I hope they get better.
January 23, 2016
In the BRIDES OF THE WEST SERIES we learn that sisters Faith, Hope, & June have decided to become mail order brides. Faith is off to Texas to wed Nicholas Shepherd. When she gets there, she is met by a man of little words, and a mother-in-law that has nothing positive to say about Faith. When their wedding date is postponed on four different occasions, Faith begins to wonder if God brought her to Deliverance, Texas for reasons other than marriage. She soon gets attached to the children of a widower and has fancy ideas of opening a school for the blind. Nicholas is in a state of confusion. He doesn’t like Faith’s forward ways, and with his mom continually telling him why Faith is all wrong for him, he begins to wonder if his marriage is doomed before it even transpires.
I enjoyed FAITH, though at times, I thought the pace was slow. I like the character of Faith because she was an idealist and didn’t let social graces get in the way of what she wanted to do. Nicholas was a little passive for me. I prefer a man who is a take charge kind of guy. But overall, the book was enjoyable and I will be reading HOPE next.
I enjoyed FAITH, though at times, I thought the pace was slow. I like the character of Faith because she was an idealist and didn’t let social graces get in the way of what she wanted to do. Nicholas was a little passive for me. I prefer a man who is a take charge kind of guy. But overall, the book was enjoyable and I will be reading HOPE next.
May 5, 2012
I really enjoyed reading this good Christian romance.
In this book Faith travels to Texas as a mail order bride. She and her sisters all decided this was the choice God had wanted them to make after the unexpected passing of their father. Faith's choice is immediately questioned when she meets her grooms mother, who doesn't seem to want or like Faith's presence in her new life.
Faith struggles with creating her relationships with her soon to be mother in law and husband as several attempts to get married fail due to outside influences. A calf being born, a town fire, a baby born and the sale of stock all seem to take precidence to her nuptuals.
Faith begins to wonder if God really chose her to become a wife or if the decision to travel to Texas was a mistake. As she creates friendships in the town and seems to become more distant with her future husband she realizes that she loves him, but she doesn't think he loves her.
As Faith is getting ready to leave town, her soon to be husband realizes how much he cannot live with out her. Her dreams seem to come true creating a family that she loves in a town with friends she cares for.
In this book Faith travels to Texas as a mail order bride. She and her sisters all decided this was the choice God had wanted them to make after the unexpected passing of their father. Faith's choice is immediately questioned when she meets her grooms mother, who doesn't seem to want or like Faith's presence in her new life.
Faith struggles with creating her relationships with her soon to be mother in law and husband as several attempts to get married fail due to outside influences. A calf being born, a town fire, a baby born and the sale of stock all seem to take precidence to her nuptuals.
Faith begins to wonder if God really chose her to become a wife or if the decision to travel to Texas was a mistake. As she creates friendships in the town and seems to become more distant with her future husband she realizes that she loves him, but she doesn't think he loves her.
As Faith is getting ready to leave town, her soon to be husband realizes how much he cannot live with out her. Her dreams seem to come true creating a family that she loves in a town with friends she cares for.
April 10, 2025
First sentence from prologue: "You're what?" The tip of Thalia Grayson's cane hit the floor with a whack.
First sentence from chapter one: "She's late." Liza Shepherd slipped a pinch of snuff into the corner of her mouth, then fanned herself with a scented hankie. Nicholas checked his pocket watch a fourth time, flipping it closed. Mother was right. His bride-to-be was late. Any other day the stage would be on time.
Premise/plot: Faith (and her sisters Hope and June) respond to advertisements for mail order brides. Faith, our heroine, agrees to marry Nicholas Shepherd a rancher from Deliverance, Texas, who lives with his mother, Liza. She comes with ideas: she'll wear overalls and essentially fulfill her role as a helpmeet by being a ranch hand. His mother, Liza, can surely keep on keeping house. Nicholas has ideas of his own: his wife will be feminine, respectful, kind, nurturing, sweet. Not brash (in-your-face), argumentative, and unreasonable. These two clash from the start. Make that these THREE clash from the start. Liza is gruff, grizzly, mean-tempered. Faith is uppity, entitled, unreasonable. (I *hate, hate, hate* to use that word. But in this case I think it fits.) Nicholas is, well, insensitive and logical. (Is logical the best fit? No. Probably not. He is realistic and has common sense and knows what's what.) Faith, meanwhile, seems to have little to no decorum, no respect for the way things are, or common sense.
The wedding doesn't happen for various reasons. Days go by. Weeks go by. Still no moving forward--though she's living in their house--with the wedding. Then it's time for him to go on a cattle drive. Liza makes no hesitation to throw Faith out when Faith is having one of her ultimatum tantrums. (To be fair, Liza seems just as likely to have a tantrum without a moment's notice.) Nicholas returns to find "his" bride living with another family and spending most of her days (though not her nights) with a widower and his family. He refuses to talk to her believing her to be courted by this widower.
Will these two ever get together?
My thoughts: This was a 'bonus borrow' at my library. I listened on audio; it was narrated by Holly Adams.
Am I a fan of the narrator? NO. No. A thousand times no. I found her pretending to be male voices tortuously painful. Until she started narrating a three year old child, then I learned what true torture was. Her narration of Faith was not pleasant--my impression of Faith's attitude might have been influenced by the narrator's tone of voice. But it wasn't awful. Liza's voice was an impression of Thelma Harper (aka Mama from Mama's Family). Except Liza was never funny.
I will say this for Liza. She wasn't in the wrong all the time. I thought she had some good insights about Faith. I could see exactly why Liza found Faith so annoying and obnoxious. And for better or worse, I thought the way the town assumed the Shepherd family should donate EVERYTHING (in this case a church steeple but later a school for the blind because there is one blind child in town) to the town because they have money in the bank to be OBNOXIOUS and stupid.
Nicholas' view of Faith also seemed to make sense to me. Faith did some incredibly dim/stupid things. That being said, Nicholas could be insensitive and inconsiderate in how he handled situations.
Am I a fan of the romance? Do I think Nicholas and Faith suited one another? Honestly I'm conflicted. I think BOTH have a lot of raw edges that would need to be softened in order to be harmonious together. I think Faith is extremely immature and needs to calm down most of the time. If I got paid a dime for every time she cried, I would have enough money to BUY a book--probably a hardback. It's a wonder that she's not in a constant state of dehydration the way she cries every single day. Nicholas has his own issues. I could see a few red flags if you are looking for perfection. I think he probably has a temper. I think he doesn't choose his words well. I think he speaks without thinking. I think even when he's technically in the right, the words and mannerisms he uses makes him wrong, or partly wrong. We see these two bicker and fight and fuss every time they are together....mostly. Yet the resolution that they are madly in love comes swiftly. Neither one particularly changes or adapts or compromises. Just suddenly they are IN LOVE. I think Nicholas and Faith have different love languages, have difficulty communicating, and both are prone to thinking themselves justified and right.
Am I a fan of the writing? the dialogue? the description? Not really. No. Particularly the dialogue and description. Though the descriptions are usually the worse of the two. Her scenarios can be....well....stupid. For example, HOW COULD ANYONE AND I MEAN ANYONE find it believable that Faith would intentionally SEEK REFUGE IN THE OUTHOUSE FOR HOURS (and have to be sought out by Nicholas) to avoid doing housework. Seriously. AN OUTHOUSE. Use your imagination or common sense. Does that seem likely? Or how about instead of a snowball fight, having a fight with SAWDUST and flinging it in each other's faces as a flirting technique. SAWDUST. This someone isn't Nicholas, by the way, but the widower. Nicholas sees his future wife slinging/flinging sawdust at another man, giggling and foolish, and says WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING? Those aren't his words. But he is not wrong. In this situation, his face is described as turning black as a witch's hat? maybe cap? It was an audio book and I was a little bit thrown by the description. (Do people's faces turn *black* in anger?) Not to be outdone, later Faith's LIPS turn BLUE while praying.
I typically enjoy marriage of convenience and/or mail order bride stories. I typically enjoy books set in Texas. I thought I would enjoy this one more than I did. But I am too much of an overthinker to accept that ANYONE would seek to hide out in an outhouse for hours just to avoid doing a chore--in this case darning socks.
First sentence from chapter one: "She's late." Liza Shepherd slipped a pinch of snuff into the corner of her mouth, then fanned herself with a scented hankie. Nicholas checked his pocket watch a fourth time, flipping it closed. Mother was right. His bride-to-be was late. Any other day the stage would be on time.
Premise/plot: Faith (and her sisters Hope and June) respond to advertisements for mail order brides. Faith, our heroine, agrees to marry Nicholas Shepherd a rancher from Deliverance, Texas, who lives with his mother, Liza. She comes with ideas: she'll wear overalls and essentially fulfill her role as a helpmeet by being a ranch hand. His mother, Liza, can surely keep on keeping house. Nicholas has ideas of his own: his wife will be feminine, respectful, kind, nurturing, sweet. Not brash (in-your-face), argumentative, and unreasonable. These two clash from the start. Make that these THREE clash from the start. Liza is gruff, grizzly, mean-tempered. Faith is uppity, entitled, unreasonable. (I *hate, hate, hate* to use that word. But in this case I think it fits.) Nicholas is, well, insensitive and logical. (Is logical the best fit? No. Probably not. He is realistic and has common sense and knows what's what.) Faith, meanwhile, seems to have little to no decorum, no respect for the way things are, or common sense.
The wedding doesn't happen for various reasons. Days go by. Weeks go by. Still no moving forward--though she's living in their house--with the wedding. Then it's time for him to go on a cattle drive. Liza makes no hesitation to throw Faith out when Faith is having one of her ultimatum tantrums. (To be fair, Liza seems just as likely to have a tantrum without a moment's notice.) Nicholas returns to find "his" bride living with another family and spending most of her days (though not her nights) with a widower and his family. He refuses to talk to her believing her to be courted by this widower.
Will these two ever get together?
My thoughts: This was a 'bonus borrow' at my library. I listened on audio; it was narrated by Holly Adams.
Am I a fan of the narrator? NO. No. A thousand times no. I found her pretending to be male voices tortuously painful. Until she started narrating a three year old child, then I learned what true torture was. Her narration of Faith was not pleasant--my impression of Faith's attitude might have been influenced by the narrator's tone of voice. But it wasn't awful. Liza's voice was an impression of Thelma Harper (aka Mama from Mama's Family). Except Liza was never funny.
I will say this for Liza. She wasn't in the wrong all the time. I thought she had some good insights about Faith. I could see exactly why Liza found Faith so annoying and obnoxious. And for better or worse, I thought the way the town assumed the Shepherd family should donate EVERYTHING (in this case a church steeple but later a school for the blind because there is one blind child in town) to the town because they have money in the bank to be OBNOXIOUS and stupid.
Nicholas' view of Faith also seemed to make sense to me. Faith did some incredibly dim/stupid things. That being said, Nicholas could be insensitive and inconsiderate in how he handled situations.
Am I a fan of the romance? Do I think Nicholas and Faith suited one another? Honestly I'm conflicted. I think BOTH have a lot of raw edges that would need to be softened in order to be harmonious together. I think Faith is extremely immature and needs to calm down most of the time. If I got paid a dime for every time she cried, I would have enough money to BUY a book--probably a hardback. It's a wonder that she's not in a constant state of dehydration the way she cries every single day. Nicholas has his own issues. I could see a few red flags if you are looking for perfection. I think he probably has a temper. I think he doesn't choose his words well. I think he speaks without thinking. I think even when he's technically in the right, the words and mannerisms he uses makes him wrong, or partly wrong. We see these two bicker and fight and fuss every time they are together....mostly. Yet the resolution that they are madly in love comes swiftly. Neither one particularly changes or adapts or compromises. Just suddenly they are IN LOVE. I think Nicholas and Faith have different love languages, have difficulty communicating, and both are prone to thinking themselves justified and right.
Am I a fan of the writing? the dialogue? the description? Not really. No. Particularly the dialogue and description. Though the descriptions are usually the worse of the two. Her scenarios can be....well....stupid. For example, HOW COULD ANYONE AND I MEAN ANYONE find it believable that Faith would intentionally SEEK REFUGE IN THE OUTHOUSE FOR HOURS (and have to be sought out by Nicholas) to avoid doing housework. Seriously. AN OUTHOUSE. Use your imagination or common sense. Does that seem likely? Or how about instead of a snowball fight, having a fight with SAWDUST and flinging it in each other's faces as a flirting technique. SAWDUST. This someone isn't Nicholas, by the way, but the widower. Nicholas sees his future wife slinging/flinging sawdust at another man, giggling and foolish, and says WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING? Those aren't his words. But he is not wrong. In this situation, his face is described as turning black as a witch's hat? maybe cap? It was an audio book and I was a little bit thrown by the description. (Do people's faces turn *black* in anger?) Not to be outdone, later Faith's LIPS turn BLUE while praying.
I typically enjoy marriage of convenience and/or mail order bride stories. I typically enjoy books set in Texas. I thought I would enjoy this one more than I did. But I am too much of an overthinker to accept that ANYONE would seek to hide out in an outhouse for hours just to avoid doing a chore--in this case darning socks.
October 7, 2013
Ok, I love mail order bride books. Faith is a fun read and the beginning of a series. I love when an author shows that Christians have their ups and downs in life. Definitely a trait that Faith and Nicholas and his mother, Liza all experience.
January 23, 2022
I was delighted to find both lightheartedness and serious, real life situations in this book. It was well written. I give this book an A+, and I am a pretty, particular reader. I like good writing.
March 30, 2010
Easy and fast to read. Perfect book to read when you want something light, happy, no thinking required, clean entertainment.
August 15, 2011
Quick, easy, read. Clean, wholesome.
Sometimes I thought it moved too slow, other times too fast and unrealistic.
Sometimes I thought it moved too slow, other times too fast and unrealistic.
July 29, 2011
Three sisters set off to answer "Mail-Order" Bride ads. Humor, love, and good clean entertainment. Thumbs up to Lori Copeland.
March 21, 2012
This story shows how the jealousy of a mother can drive a wedge between her son & his bride-to-be. Faith was a brave & industrious 19 year-old. The story had its ups & downs but was a good read.
July 9, 2014
Really enjoyed this lighthearted historical romance. Looking forward to reading the other two in the series.
December 19, 2019
I don't like being overly negative in book reviews, even if I don't care for a book. Books are personal for both the creator and the ones who read and enjoy them. I struggled a lot with various aspects of this book. The characters were not overly likeable and I had a hard time believing there could have been a love connection considering the lack of opportunity with all of the ignoring going on, etc.... I am a person of faith but disagreed in how some scriptures were used, meaning my interpretation was vastly different then the author's (or character representative in the book). Being patient with others is important, but so is protecting yourself. I felt the scriptures were used to allow what I would consider un-Christian-like behavior towards someone. Beyond my own personal feelings on the negative, I do enjoy mail order bride stories. I met my husband online and much of the foundation of our relationship was built on writing one another, and a lot of faith. I can relate to that aspect of the story.
January 3, 2018
3.5 Stars
First, must keep in mind when this novel was first published (1998) so for the time it was published it fits the style of the 90s.
The beginning keeps a fast pace but things slow down when Nicholas has to do the cattle drive and then the two main characters spend majority of their time apart for different reasons.
This book is funny, mostly in the beginning and the end, and some of the characters really get you upset at their behavior (which is good on the Author's part for causing a reaction to their writing).
I recommend this book because it has faith-based nuggets and it's a nice story, though I wish the characters had more scenes together to get to know each other more. Still, for the time it was written and the setting of the book, keep that in mind.
I am ready to read the next book though and will be starting it shortly. Faith is part of the Brides of the West series and I love series like this where you get to read about familiar characters and how their own stories play out.
Next to read
First, must keep in mind when this novel was first published (1998) so for the time it was published it fits the style of the 90s.
The beginning keeps a fast pace but things slow down when Nicholas has to do the cattle drive and then the two main characters spend majority of their time apart for different reasons.
This book is funny, mostly in the beginning and the end, and some of the characters really get you upset at their behavior (which is good on the Author's part for causing a reaction to their writing).
I recommend this book because it has faith-based nuggets and it's a nice story, though I wish the characters had more scenes together to get to know each other more. Still, for the time it was written and the setting of the book, keep that in mind.
I am ready to read the next book though and will be starting it shortly. Faith is part of the Brides of the West series and I love series like this where you get to read about familiar characters and how their own stories play out.
Next to read
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