Finally a Bride by Vickie McDonough

Finally a Bride by Vickie McDonough

Published: 2011

Publisher:Barbour Books

Series: Texas Boardinghouse Brides(book 3)

Goodreads Summery: Keep your eyes wide open for romance in Lookout, Texas. Noah Jeffers enters town determined to make up for past misdeeds. Reporter Jacqueline Davis is determined to nail her story. Will she uncover Noah’s secret before he can capture her heart? With nowhere else to go, ex-con Carly Payton returns to the Lookout boardinghouse. Garret Corbett is looking for an upstanding wife, not some jailbird. What will he do when overpowered by Carly’s unassuming appeal? Does love deserve a second look?

Jacqueline “Jack” is now 10 years older and all grown up. She wants to be a reporter for the big city of Dallas but first feels like she needs a big story for her small down of Lookout to get there. She is still the tomboy you know and love from the first two books but she is now a woman. She is hot on the trail of the Mayor as she feels he is hiding something for the city and she will do just about anything to get the story.

Noah finds himself back in Lookout now as the preacher not the troublemaker he was 10 years ago. The town does not know its him and either does Jack. Noah has never forgotten her and he hopes to show her and the town that he is a changed man and maybe he can even win her heart.

Carly who was the 3rd mail order bride is also back in the final book. She has served her time in jail and now wants to start her life in Lookout if the town’s people will except her. Garret is finally ready to settle down and find the right woman and he find’s himself with growing feelings for Carly but will he be able to put her past behind them both and find true love?

Its always bitter sweet to come to the final book in a series like this because you have come to know the characters very well and this is the final chapter. The book did not disappoint! Jack is such a fun character she had me laughing a lot and shaking my head at some of her silly attempts at getting the story. Jack also had to face her abuse from her first father in this book as she comes to care for Noah. I really like how the author touches on some sensitive subjects but includes humor and a realness that just makes the book great.

The side store of Carly and Garret was okay. Again this could have been its own book. These characters again seem to get short changed and never get to fully develop like the lead characters did. It was a good story though and I was glad to see everyone find happiness in the end.

Over all a great ending to a fun series. When I was done reading this book I felt the story had been fully told and did not leave me wishing for another book like some series I have read. If you like western romance then this is a great series and a must read! I am looking forward to reading more books from this author.

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DISCLOSURE: I was provided a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley to review it. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

Second Chance Brides by Vickie McDonough

Second Chance Brides by Vickie McDonough

Published:2010

Publisher:Barbour Books

Series: Texas Boardinghouse Brides(book 2)

Goodreads Summery: Fans of The Anonymous Bride, will feel for Shannon O’Neil and Leah Bennett who are stranded in Lookout, Texas, without husbands or future plans. Thankfully, the marshal has ordered the rascally Corbett brothers to pay for the women’s lodging at the boardinghouse, but will the brothers’ idea of hosting Saturday socials really bring these women the kind of loves they long for? Will Shannon choose to marry just for security? Will Leah reject love when the challenges mount?

This book starts up at Luke and Rachel’s wedding. The book is told through the eyes of Leah and Shannon the left over mail order brides. Luke has told his cousin’s that they have to pay room and board for the ladies until they either find a job or get married. In an attempt to speed the process up the brothers organize a Saturday night social so all the bachelors can meet the ladies and hopefully marry them.

The thing Mark did not expect was to start to fall for Shannon. Will he over come his past pain to find love? Leah finds herself drawn to the livery owner. But will her promise to never have kids keep her from finding true love?

I will be honest I tend to hold my breath a little when it comes to the middle book of a series. I have found from past experience that it tends to be the one I end up liking the least. I was hoping it would not be the case for this book but in the end it was. It was a good book and I enjoyed seeing Leah and Shannon find there match. But for me I was more interested in Jack, Rachel’s daughter. She is still young but the author is laying the ground work for the 3rd book which will be her story and I found myself caring more about her then the two main characters in this book.

Since we are reading about both Leah and Shannon I felt the character of Leah was not developed as much as Shannon. We did get to hear from Mark but we did not get to hear from Leah’s love interest Dan which for me made it harder to get into that part of the story. I honestly would rather have seen this series in 4 books with Leah and Shannon each having a more developed story.

Shannon was my favorite of the two ladies. She starts out so timid and by the end of the book she is starting to see her self worth and her character really starts to shine. Mark finally comes out of his brothers shadow and starts to live the life he wants. I enjoyed watching these two fall in love!

I was disappointed with Leah. I felt her character could have been expanded more but with two story’s in this book hers got a little less attention. I also would have loved to gotten to know Dan better. I so wanted to know what he was thinking at times! Also the climax of this story held so much promise but again it was hurried a long and felt kind of flat. I really think it could have been its own book! I did enjoy these two just wished they would have been given a little more page time.

Over all it was a good book. I love series like this where the characters  intertwine through out the series. I love stepping into a new book and already knowing some of the charters as well as the setting. I highly recommend reading the first book before this one so you know the back story.

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DISCLOSURE: I was provided a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley to review it. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Anonymous Bride by Vickie McDonough

The Anonymous Bride by Vickie McDonough

Published: 2010

Publisher:Barbour Books

Series: Texas Boardinghouse Brides(book 1)

Goodreads Summery: Check yourself into the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series by Vickie McDonough, where you’ll meet Luke Davis, marshal of Lookout, Texas, who flippantly tells his cousin he’d get married if the right woman ever came along. When three mail-order brides are delivered to Luke a month later, he’s in an uncomfortable predicament. How will he ever choose his mate? Rachel Hamilton’s long-time love for Luke is reignited with his return to town. So when three mail-order brides appear, she panics. Will she find the courage to tell Luke that she loves him? Or take an anonymous part in the contest for his hand?

Ten years earlier Rachel had broken Luke's heart and married another man. Luke left town and joined the Calvary. Now he is returning to Lookout to be the towns marshal. Rachel is now widowed and has a 10 year old daughter. Her daughter is running all over town dressing like a boy and getting into trouble. Luke’s cousins think getting Luke a mail order bride will help him get over his past feelings for Rachel but the plan back fires when 3 brides not 1 come to town. Will Luke pick one of them or will his old feeling for Rachel relight? Will Rachel tell Luke the secrets of her past so they can move forward together or will she lose Luke forever?

I enjoyed this book. I really like series like this where you get to know quite a few characters and then get to read the stories of some of the side characters in other books in the series. In this book the main story is between Rachel and Luke. We also get to see the romance from Rachel's 10 year old daughters eyes which I thought was kind of fun. I found myself really liking Jack even though she was causing so much trouble.

The only down side was I felt the first book told the story from a few to many of the future book characters. All 3 of the mail order brides and both the cousins where told in this book and I found myself at times wanting to get back to the main story.

I found it interesting this book touched on rape, spousal abuse as well as child abuse. Lots of issues but the author did a wonderful job of working it into the story line. The ending was a good one but also left me wanting to read the next book in the series. Over all a great start to the series!

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Source: I bought this book from Amazon.com