Once Upon a Mail Order Bride

Broday concludes her Outlaw Mail Order Bride series with this thrilling historical romance set in 1882 Texas (following The Mail Order Bride’s Secret). Adeline Jancy, unable to speak following three years of solitary confinement in prison, travels to the outlaw town of Hope’s Crossing to marry Ridge Steele, a former preacher on the run from bogus rape and murder charges. Ridge introduces Addie to the town’s inhabitants while she finds a way to communicate with him in writing. As the pair grow closer, she reveals that her religiously fanatical father connived to lock her up after she helped rescue the son he fathered with an underage girl from growing up under his thumb. Now that she’s free, her father is after her again. Both still wary about being hunted, Ridge and Addie develop their relationship, survive a tornado, and contend with bounty hunters—and during a tense altercation, Addie regains her voice in the nick of time. Supporting characters, including a female banker who receives a glamorous makeover, a hardworking teenage boy who moves in with Addie and Ridge, and the town’s gruff female doctor, add spark and depth to the environs. Daring escapades and well-developed characters make for a jam-packed finale that’s sure to please. [em]Agent: Gail Fortune, the Talbot Fortune Agency. (Nov.) [/em]