The Lucky Hat Mine

By: J.V.L. Bell

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

A recipe for true love or murder? Ingredients: one Southern belle, one Colorado gold miner, a wife wanted classified, and a fainting goat. Let simmer.

What's a Southern belle to do in 1863? Wife-wanted ads are always risky business, but Millie Virginia never imagined she'd survive the perilous trip across the Great Plains to find her intended husband in a pine box. Was he killed in an accident? Or murdered for his gold mine? Stuck in the mining town of Idaho Springs, Colorado territory, without friends or means, Millie is beleaguered by undesirable suitors and threatened by an unknown assailant. Her troubles escalate when the brother of her dead fiancé, Dominic Drouillard, unexpectedly turns up.

Dom is an ill-mannered mountain man who invades Millie's log cabin, insists that his brother was murdered, and refuses to leave until he finds the killer. Compelled to join forces with her erstwhile brother-in-law, Millie discovers the search for Colorado gold is perilous, especially with a murderer on their trail.

The Lucky Hat Mine interlaces the tale of a feisty heroine with frontier legend and lore making for an arousing historical murder mystery.

©2016 J.V.L. Bell (P)2016 J.V.L. Bell

As a Coloradan, this was fun!

Any additional comments?

The story of a mail-order bride who arrives to find her husband-to-be dead. I read a lot of mysteries, but this felt new.

This story has it all!

I really enjoyed this book. It had mystery, romance, and was filled with humor (thanks in part to the fainting goats). I liked that the book is filled with strong female characters. Its funny that the main character refers to her hair as "auburn with a few streaks of red" because as a child, whenever someone commented about my red hair, I would tell them, "My hair is not red, its auburn." My husband would probably attest to the fact that life with a redhead is very similar to how it is portrayed in the book. All the characters were entertaining and I loved Millie's reaction to them.

I listened to the Audible audio version of this book narrated by Nancy Wu. She did an EXCELLENT job with the narration. All the voices were really unique and really demonstrated her range well. I had never listened to anything she has narrated before, but I will definitely be checking out more of her work.

If you like mystery and romance, but like to laugh, too, I highly recommend this book. This is the first book I have read by J.V.L. Bell, and I enjoyed it so much that I want to see more from this author.

Quality writing in a mail order bride concept

A very entertaining and well-written mail order bride'ish story mixed with mystery/suspense. I don't like mail order bride stories, but this one is really quality work, when it comes to the writing.

However, besides the entertainment and action of this novel I didn't really care for the characters or events. Many things isn't believable at all and I don't need to waste my time. I had hoped for real history and real people.

Narrator Nancy Wu did a wonderful job and I'll check out more of her work. She nailed the suspense, voices and emotional aspects of this story.

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend this to anyone who like historical mysteries set in America.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like Millie and Dom equally. I enjoyed their banter and all their little arguments. I found it quite funny in places.
The side characters were also well written and provided much amusement. The darker characters were menacing enough that the suspense and intrigue had me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed this book and would certainly look out for more by the author.

Have you listened to any of Nancy Wu’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narration was very good and I found it easy to listen to.

Any additional comments?

I voluntarily received a review copy.

What Fun!

What made the experience of listening to The Lucky Hat Mine the most enjoyable?

I loved the Lucky Hat Mine. It made me laugh and taught me some fun Colorado History.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Buttercup, of course!

Which scene was your favorite?

The runaway stage coach and meeting Dom.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes