Carmen’s Reviews > Mail Order Sweetheart > Status Update

That's because he's a moron. I wouldn't pin my hopes on him if I were you.

She needed a husband now. As much as she wished it could be Sawyer, she couldn't wait until he was ready.

What? I had no idea she wanted to marry him.

I'm just so bored.

...she recalled all too clearly the crowded conditions when she was growing up. Parents, two grandmothers, seven siblings - one with a husband - and a baby all squeezed into the tiny tenement apartment. She and three sisters and the grandmothers shared a single bed - three facing one direction and three the other. She'd been kicked in the back and shoulders numerous times, but the boys had it tougher. They'd line

Sawyer hesitated. Like most, he tossed up the occasional plea, but the barbarities of war had dimmed his belief that God answered every prayer. This was crucial, though, so after Roland led the prayer, Sawyer answered amen.

God often worked through men, so he pointed out, "We need to be ready to rescue them."

She sighed. "I still hope for a loving husband who follows the Lord. I can only marry a man of strong faith."

Fiona mulled that over. She had once felt the same, but circumstances had destroyed that hope. No man of faith who heard the vile and unfounded rumors about her in the New York newspapers would ever accept her for a wife.

"You deserve better," he said.

She gave him a sharp look. "Who? You?" Her hands braced her hips. "Why should a woman set her sights on a man who hasn't two pennies to rub together?"

Ugh.

I rather like the bookish widow, Louise. She's only a side character but she makes me laugh by how little tolerance she has for the MCs' shit.

She did not have time to waste on Sawyer Evans. He was a fine accompanist and an uncommonly attractive man, but his prospects were dim to say the least. She hadn't worked so hard to sing on the New York stage only to throw her future away on a sawmill worker. She must marry for Mary Clare's sake, but not to just anyone. Her future husband must hold a position of authority. A tidy nest egg would help too.

"You know I have no interest in Mrs. Smythe." The petite widow was quiet and bookish, not at all his type. He preferred Fiona's high spirits.

Marriage would only drain his savings. Even a frugal wife brought added expenses, and the only woman who'd interested him was definitely not frugal.

We're off to a poor start.