โ Scribed by Cynthia Woolf
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Annie Markum grew up with a bible in one hand, and a disapproving father holding the other. At twenty-two, she dared to dream of a different life and risked everything to become a mail order bride. One year later, she finds herself on a friend's doorstep, penniless, pregnant, and a widow. Her husband was an honorable, church-going man, and she believes her father will allow her to come home. To get back to her father in New York will take money she doesn't have. She's got no choice but to accept work as a cook in a local saloon. Her father would never approve, but Annie is determined to earn enough for safe passage for herself and her beautiful new baby girl.
It's never good to lust after another man's wife. Saloon owner, Nick Cartwright, learned that lesson the hard way. He took one look at Annie Markum and fell hard for his friend's mail order bride. A year later, she's back in his life, a widow with a precious daughter to protect. Nick will do anything to convince Annie to give him a chance, except the one thing she demands...sell his saloon. Annie has lived a sheltered life, and her innocence is one thing Nick wants to preserve. Life is rough, and Annie is soft, sweet, and all too kissable. He wants to keep her and her little girl, but Annie is determined to raise her daughter as far away from the saloon as possible.
Annie fights her growing attraction to Nick. She might even be in love with him, but with Nick comes the saloon. And the whiskey. The gambling and the women. One of them will have to sacrifice everything to make a relationship work, and neither wants to budge. When it turns out that Annie's dead husband actually left her a fortune, her future seems set. Until someone decides to take both Nick and her new found freedom away from her. And Annie realizes that sometimes, in life and in love, you have to fight dirty to win.
**
This was a beautiful love story and we catch up with Nellie and Blake which I really enjoyed. I always love to find out what happens to the people we first meet. There are surprises, sex, and wonderful characters. There is abuse between Nick's sister, Sarah, and her husband, John, and with her past history working with abused women at her father's congregation, Annie is right there to help. If you love mail order bride books, and romantic books set in the past, don't miss this series. They don't have to be read in order, but why miss out on Nellie and Blake's story?
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Cynthia Woolf is the award winning and best-selling author of fifteen historical western romance books. She was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.
Their closest neighbor was about one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. At age ten, she wrote her first romance about a little boy she liked at the time.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
Cynthia also writes as CA Woolf and has six titles of scifi romance under that name.
TITLES AVAILABLE
THE HUNTER BRIDE - Hope's Crossing, Book 1
THE REPLACEMENT BRIDE - Hope's Crossing, Book 2
THE STOLEN BRIDE - Hope's Crossing, Book 3
THORPE'S MAIL-ORDER BRIDE - Montana Sky Series, Kindle Worlds
GENEVIEVE: Bride of Nevada, American Mail-Order Brides Series, Book 36
GIDEON - The Surprise Brides
MAIL ORDER OUTLAW - The Brides of Tombstone, Book 1
MAIL ORDER DOCTOR - The Brides of Tombstone, Book 2
MAIL ORDER BARON - The Brides of Tombstone, Book 3
NELLIE - The Brides of San Francisco 1
ANNIE - The Brides of San Francisco 2
CORA - The Brides of San Francisco 3
JAKE (Book 1, Destiny in Deadwood series)
LIAM (Book 2, Destiny in Deadwood series)
ZACH (Book 3, Destiny in Deadwood series)
CAPITAL BRIDE (Book 1, Matchmaker & Co. series)
HEIRESS BRIDE (Book 2, Matchmaker & Co. series)
FIERY BRIDE (Book 3, Matchmaker & Co. series)
TAME A WILD HEART (Book 1, Tame series)
TAME A WILD WIND (Book 2, Tame series)
TAME A WILD BRIDE (Book 3, Tame series)
TAME A HONEYMOON HEART (novella, Tame series)
WEBSITE -cynthiawoolf.com
NEWSLETTER -bit.ly/1qBWhFQ
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