The Romantic Ruse

Publisher's Summary

Amazon Best Seller in April 2016.

Desperate circumstances called for bold action. Lily couldn't resist the invitation to masquerade as her friend Emma to escape an undesired courtship. Her ruse backfires when she falls in love with Emma's intended. How could she possibly tell him her real identity? This deceit has also put her life in danger. Gus finds her working in a saloon and turns his back on her. Now her main objective is to win him back - no matter what it takes. A sizzling clean romance.

©2015 Barbara Goss (P)2017 Barbara Goss

Trust and Love, Lies and Deciet

Lies, deceit, being forced to do what she did not want nor should not have to do. Losing, trust, love, and confidence in the one person he thought he could count on. . . toss in a kidnapping, a saloon, and a merry race and you have one great action packed love story!

Barb tells another great story! I love the way Barb weaves her western stories and how she takes her readers through the lives of imperfect people who discover who they are while holding on to their faith and working through their problems. This one does not disappoint!

For me, Ann M. Thompson's performance was okay. Her character voices were good, but I personally had problems with the choppiness of some of the narration. I could very well be me though.


This audio book was given to me for an honest review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great story

There are so many twists and turns in this book but it is very easy to follow.
Lily 'borrows' a ticket and leaves home under a cloud to meet up with her sister-in-law, Emma's potential mail order husband. She masquerades as Emma and this is where the fun begins.
The story is full of potential danger, 2 kidnappings, new and old friendships, family ties, adventure and the building of trust and love between two very special people.
I loved the way my attention was held throughout and would have been totally happy to have the story continue, but all good things must come to an end I guess and thank goodness there are more books by this author that I can still read or listen to.
The narration of the audiobook version by Ann M. Thompson was interesting. I think she has a good voice but doesn't always use it to her full acting potential, however, it was adequate as a read story.
The audiobook version was provided by the author at no cost and this is my honest and unbiased review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good, clean fun

I loved the story of Gus and Lily. They had a lot of ups and downs but they put God first and made it through. Lily decided to take a train ticket and pretended to be her sister in law Emma to run from her arranged marriage. Emma was writing Gus and decided to marry Lily's brother. Lots of suspense and drama. I was given a copy through ARC for an honest review. I highly recommend.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Romantic Ruse

Lily needed a way out of the relationship her father forced her into, so used a train ticket intended for her friend Emma to go out west as a mail order bride. That was the start of many adventures including mistaken identity, kidnappings, working in a saloon and more. It also set the chain of events in place for Lily to experience forgiveness, unconditional love and ultimately the love of God. Good, clean and enjoyable romance.

Narration was well done and easy to listen to.

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

Perils of Pauline?

[AUDIO] The somewhat overly bouncy vocalizations of the first chapter quickly smooth down and even out as the plot and characters take charge of the action in this clean, sweet, Christian Western Romance. We have some wild goings on, mistaken identity and multiple happy endings in this delightful novella.

DISCLAIMER: “I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.” Actually, I selected and requested this particular title because it sounded like fun--and it was!

Fun Western Romance

Any additional comments?

Lily has no interest in an arranged marriage and flees, pretending to be her friend Emma. When she falls for Gus, Emma's intended, the deceit backfires in grand fashion. Let the fun begin!

Fast-paced and loaded with adventure, The Romantic Ruse is sure to please. Filled with twists and turns, this was such a fun listen! Gus and Lily's road to love was definitely a bumpy one, fraught with peril and distrust. Oh, the things we do for love. The narration was very good and enhanced my listening experience. The Romantic Ruse was a pleasure to listen to and I would recommend it.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator. This review is my honest opinion.

Not what I expected

Any additional comments?

It was OK to begin with but I thought it went down hill after that. The heroin I felt made stupid mistakes. She didn't seem to think through things before she acted. I also didn't believe that she would work in saloon when she had other options. I also felt that they forgave her too easily and she expected repercussions yet she did not fight for what she really wanted!!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

the romantic ruse

I loved it. the narrator was awesome. Lily and Gus had a hard time in their relationship, but made it work.

Interesting Take on Mail Order Brides

I got this book via audiobook boom. This love story was very rocky and filled with several twists and turns. But it was a good clean romance that was filled with kidnappings, threats of beatings, betrayal, and deceit. The hero was a man of strong character but he was also flawed. But in the end, he saved the girl and won a wife.The narrator was good and fit the story. I also enjoyed that the secondary characters also found love.

full of suspense and twists at every junction

I received a free copy in return for a fair review. This was a fun and crazy book about what two people will do for love! From the description you know the gist of the story, but let me tell you, it’s not what you expect! So many twist and turns, every time I thought I knew what was going to play out, I was shocked or surprised, angry at the characters or disappointed! I love going through so many emotions reading a book! Thanks Barbara for such enjoyment! I look forward to reading more of your books! I recommend this book for those who don’t want a predictable romance! Which should be all of you! Enjoy! I know I did!

Update** May 19, 2017

I enjoyed the audio version of this book. The narrator did a good job, but sometimes when two women were talking I had a hard time figuring out who was speaking because their voices were too similar. I had read this book over a year ago and had forgotten some of the twists and turns!