6. Short-Straw Bride

Short-Straw Bride. Karen Witemeyer. 2012. Bethany House. 368 pages. [Source: Library]

From the prologue: Ten-year-old Meredith Hayes balled her hands into fists as she faced her tormentor, "Hiram Ellis! Give me back my lunch bucket this instant!"

From chapter one: "I don't think I can do it, Cass." Meredith peered up at her cousin through the reflection in the vanity mirror. Cassandra pulled the hairpin from her mouth and secured another section of Meredith's braided chignon. "Do what?" "Marry a man who wants me only for the land I can bring him." 

Short-Straw Bride is one of my all-time favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite books. I absolutely love this marriage-of-convenience. Is it a true marriage of convenience? Maybe. Maybe not. The two marry due to circumstances, close to a "shot-gun wedding" if you will. (Though our hero and heroine are innocent of any impropriety.) 

Meredith Hayes, our wonderful heroine, overhears a terrible-horrible plot. She's being "courted" by a villain (though she didn't know it at the time). She rides out to the Archer ranch to warn the four Archer brothers....and her time there on the ranch becomes extended after she suffers an injury....her guardian/uncle demands that one of the Archer brothers steps up and does the right thing and marry Meredith.

I really love this super-sweet and delightful romance. I loved Travis Archer. I loved Meredith. I loved ALL of the Archer brothers. I loved everything about this one.

My original review:

This isn't my first Karen Witemeyer book; however, it is the first Karen Witemeyer book that I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED. Short-Straw Bride is a Christian historical romance; it is set in Palestine, Texas in the 1880s.

In the prologue, Travis Archer saves the then-ten-year-old Meredith, her leg having gotten trapped in a hunting trap. The incident stays with her, as you might imagine. First, because she can't forget Travis Archer, he is forever her hero, the stuff of her dreams, despite the fact that that isolated incident is the only time she's seen him. Second, because it left a scar on her leg and the damage to the bone prevented it from growing as it should; one leg being slightly longer than the other. 

The novel opens with Meredith all grown up and living with her aunt and uncle who are her guardians. They have arranged a marriage for her with an up-and-coming businessman, Roy Mitchell. Meredith prays for a sign, an indication one way or another if she should marry the man her guardians have chosen for her, or, if she should be stubborn and refuse their choice. And the sign, when it comes, is definite: she not only overhears him calling her a cripple, she overhears him making unethical arrangements to acquire land. He WANTS the Archer land, and since the Archer brothers won't sell, won't negotiate, won't budge, he's decided that if he burns their barn down, it will be a good first step to getting what he wants.

So what's a woman to do? Well, she does try going to the sheriff--or the deputy?--but when she's not taken seriously, when she's instead ridiculed for being a silly woman with a vivid imagination, she does what she must: she rides out to the Archer land herself to warn them. The problem? She doesn't have the time to ride out there and back before nightfall. And she wasn't counting on her cousin giving into the pressure of revealing her whereabouts. So her heroic ride to warn them just in time turns into a compromising reputation-killer. Her uncle demanding that one of the four Archer brothers step forward to marry her....

I admit this one could sound a bit silly to some readers, but, oh how I loved it!!!! I loved Meredith! I loved Travis! I loved their relationship, their marriage, their courtship-coming-after-marriage. I loved seeing how Meredith's presence on the Archer farm transforms the place, transforms the brothers. I loved just about everything in this one!!! There were quite a few giddy-making scenes!

Will Short-Straw Bride appeal to every reader? I doubt it. It's definitely for those that love Christian fiction, those that love Christian historical romance. I could see it having some appeal to non-Christians who love and seek out clean romance novels (smut-free romance novels).

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: A Promise to Love

A Promise to Love. Serena B. Miller. 2012. Revell. 332 pages. [Source: Library]

Last October, I read A Promise to Love. It was LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It was a giddy-making book that I gushed about. It was one I knew I would definitely want to reread! I decided to read A Measure for Katie Calloway and A Promise to Love back-to-back. It was a wonderful treat for me! (Some characters from the first book make a reappearance in this one: Robert and Katie Foster and Jigger just to name a few.)

A Promise to Love is set in Michigan in 1870-1871. It stars an unforgettable, oh-so-lovable heroine named Ingrid. When readers first meet Ingrid she is a Swedish immigrant working as a servant. She is not being treated fairly; her mistress is very cruel and harsh. But she won't remain in service for long.

Joshua Hunter, our hero, is a widower with five children. His in-laws are accusing him of murder. If they have their way in court, he'll be charged with murder or at the very least lose custody of his children. (They've assumed custody of the youngest, a baby boy just a few months old.) Ingrid sees Joshua (for only the second time) at the inquest. When she sees his four daughters, when she hears the judge say that he will lose his children because he can't provide the care they need, her heart compels her to stand up and speak. She comes close to proposing to him right then and there! She knows she can be a good mother to those kids, and she knows that she can take good care of him too. If he'll let her that is!

Within the first month, Ingrid has taken on the responsibility of a house, a husband, five children, and a mother-in-law. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ingrid's relationship with her mother-in-law. I love how happy she is to welcome her mother into their small home, not as a burden, not as a responsibility, not as a duty, but as pleasure.

I love the characterization. I love all the major characters and plenty of the minor characters too! I loved the story; it was oh-so-satisfying. If you enjoy historical fiction, or, historical romance, then this is a MUST read.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Love Comes Softly (1979)

Love Comes Softly. Janette Oke. 1979. 240 pages.

The morning sun shone brightly on the canvas of the covered wagon, promising an unseasonably warm day for mid-October. Marty fought for wakefulness, coming out of a troubled and fitful sleep. Why did she feel so heavy and ill at ease--she who usually woke with enthusiasm and readiness for each new day's adventure? Then it all came flooding back, and she fell in a heap on the quilt from which she had just emerged. Sobs shook her body, and she pressed the covering to her face to muffle the sound.

Love Comes Softly is one of my comfort reads; it has been for decades. It is about a marriage of convenience or necessity. Clark, the hero, is a widower with a two-year-old daughter, Missy. Mary, the heroine, is a pregnant widow who is forced to bury her first husband and marry her second on the same day. (The preacher only comes around about two or at most three times a year.) She's young; she's grieving; she has no experience in the home. But Clark--who's grief is only a few months older than Marty's own--is patient, kind, understanding. He has a way of knowing when to speak, when to act, and when to be silent and appear not to notice whatever would bring her pain or embarrassment. But even though Clark is such a dear, pioneering life can be exhausting. AS she is preparing for the birth of her first child, the Lord is preparing her heart to love again...

I absolutely love and adore Love Comes Softly. There are plenty of memorable scenes in this one. I love the chapters leading up to Christmas. The chapter on Christmas day itself--and how they choose to celebrate it despite initial disappointments is sweet. There's also a great Easter chapter. There's so much to love about this one. It can be sweet and romantic (especially towards the end), but it can be funny as well, like when Marty makes her first batch of biscuits!

Do you have a favorite scene from Love Comes Softly?

“The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen, it's his promise that he will be there with us--when they do.”   

“Sometimes love isn't fireworks, sometimes love just comes softly.”

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible