Mail Order Marion - A Clean Historical Mail Order Bride Story

Chapman Mail Order Brides, Book 1

By: Kate Whitsby

Narrated by: James O. Barnes

Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Marion Johnson arrives by coach in Twin Falls, Idaho, along with Maggie Clement and Melody Hanson, on their way to a remote cabin in the Snake River wilderness. They find Parker, Paul, and Prescott Chapman waiting to take them by wagon the rest of the way to their new home. The three men and the three women evaluate one another for the first time, establishing first impressions and first attractions. Marion’s heart sinks when she discovers that, unlike his brothers, her intended groom, Paul, hasn’t even bothered to change out of his work clothes to meet his future wife. Marion finds herself drawn instead to the dapper Prescott, while Maggie, originally matched with practical Parker, develops an attraction for the maverick Paul. On the first evening of their journey to their homestead, they all decide to recombine their pairings to better suit their tastes.

The party stops at the cabin for two weeks so the brothers can take advantage of deer season to bolster their food supply for winter. The women stay in the cabin, while the men camp in the barn until they can travel to Boise, Idaho, to get married. In the meantime, they all begin to get to know each other better, leading to further complications and conflicts. Deeper attachments and attractions form between the brides and the brothers.

Meanwhile, all three brides harbor their own secret motivations for leaving their homes for the hardship and uncertainty of the frontier. Petite but always helpful, Melody hasn’t spoken to anyone since she boarded the train in Cleveland. She presents the greatest mystery.

©2014 Kate Whitsby (P)2020 Kate Whitsby

3 Mail Order Brides - 3 brothers, shuffle resuffle

3 Mail Order Brides - 3 brothers. Shuffle resuffle. Marion is one of three mail order brides sent on the same trend to marry 3 brothers, but reshuffling may occur. Clean, sweet, predictable, but enjoyable. The narrator would have done better with a greater variance on character voices and a greater array of pause placements in sentences so the narration sounded less sing-songy . This is book 1 of a 3 book series. Many aspects of the story continue to book 2 and 3.

Good start to a series

This narrator is great.
This book. Hmmm. Let's see. The idea is good. I like how there were 3 brides traveling together to meet brothers. I like that the were not married right away. However. I don't know if it was because all the brides names started with M and all the grooms, P. But man, I kept getting confused on who and what was happening. Maybe that was just me that day listening to it, or others felt the same. The book is great tho, don't get me wrong. I look forward to the next in the series. Maybe his time I will write things down.