A Bride for a Loan

Mail Order Brides of Miles Gulch, Book 2

By: Susannah Calloway

Narrated by: Dini Steyn

Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

Briana Matthews despairs of finding a husband in her native Boston, so she writes a Mail Order Bride agency. A rancher named Kevin Bannon in Miles Gulch, Wyoming, responds, agreeing to marry her.

Yet, Kevin has a secret. He doesn’t want to marry at all. What he does want is to secure a loan from a bank manager who believes married men are a better risk. Briana marries Kevin, and finds him standoffish, aloof, and unloving. What has she stepped into?

Briana learns of the loan. She’s devastated - and furious. She confronts Kevin over his lies and tells him she plans to leave, but events take a drastic turn. Briana finds a dying woman and an infant on their property.

Kevin wants her to stay. When the woman dies, Kevin tells Briana the baby will be their first child together. Kevin brings the sheriff to identify the dead woman. She is the daughter-in-law of criminal Pete Bailey. They bury the woman, and Briana starts to think of the baby as her own. She and Kevin name him Justin.

But Pete Bailey wants his grandson, and he’ll commit murder to have him. Kevin and Briana embark in a deadly battle to keep their new son. Can they survive the evil of Pete Bailey? Can they possibly keep Justin? Will Kevin’s and Briana’s growing love survive?

©2021 Tica House Publishing LLC (P)2021 Tica House Publishing LLC

Fantastic Mail Order Bride Romance!

Briana Matthews is having no luck finding a suitable husband in her native Boston, so she writes a Mail Order Bride Agency for assistance. Lo and behold, fate intervenes, a match is made, and Briana is off to Wyoming on the next train! One tiny problem, her intended, a rancher named Kevin Bannon isn’t being completely honest. He failed to disclose that he needs a wife to secure a loan and is seeking a marriage in name only! What ensues is a fantastically written story, beautifully brought to life by fabulous narration! There is real emotion here, and that comes through loud and clear in both the writing and the narration! My heart broke for Briana once the truth came out. I was on the edge of my seat as they dealt with various situations I can’t divulge for fear of revealing spoilers! Suffice to say there is no lack of action, intrigue and a few bullets flying! This is a complete story. I felt as if I was eavesdropping as I listened to these two process what they are feeling and then navigate through what they expected versus what might now be possible when their true feeling begin to be revealed. And then finally, my heart soared as they found their hard fought happy ending! I loved every second! I will be listening to this one again and again!

Cute Historical Western Romance

This cute novella is about finding love as a mail order bride. Breanna finds herself involved in meeting Native American and a shootout. Narrator Dina Steyn did a great job.

Sweet story, but a bit disconnected at times

Kevin has a problem. He's trying to get a loan from a bank, but the bank manager believes that married men are in a lower risk category. So, Kevin needs to get married, stat.
He signs up with a mail order bride service and, shortly after, greets and later marries Briana who followed his call. Of course he doesn't tell her about the loan - she learns about that through one of his friends, which doesn't help her feelings towards Kevin.

The story has a lot of really lovely elements - however, sadly they are added together in a way that feels, at times, a bit disconnected and a bit out of nowhere. It's still pretty easy to follow along, but it makes the story a fair bit less believable or reasonable.

Dini does a lovely job as narrator - she has a lot of warmth and love to her voice, and the exchanges between Kevin and Briana are lovely. I really got to like the town's sheriff, Billy, too.
And, she really did a great job characterizing ol' Bailey and his evilness.

The narrative parts themselves, however, are a little bit more on the reading side of things (rather than a storyteller performance). Which is fine - in that, she is expressive and engaging, it's just a different style.

Note: I was given a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Great book

Really enjoyed this book but I really needed more of this couple. Narrator was amazing too