Book picks similar to
Miranda by Margery Scott


romance
historical-romance
historical-fiction
western

The Chef's Mail Order Bride


Cindy Caldwell - 2015
    She'd been raised to bake in her parents' bakery, and after their deaths, she had planned to carry on the family tradition. Devastated to find out she was losing her family's business, she needed something to do to support herself. When she received a letter from her twin sister's husband in Arizona Territory, suggesting she come out to be the bride of his best friend who was opening a restaurant, it seemed like the perfect solution to her problems. Tripp had gone to the best culinary school in the country, and he knew exactly how to create the perfect meal. He spent hours and hours coming up with just the right menu for his restaurant, only to be told he couldn't get a loan for it unless he married. When his best friend came up with the solution of sending for his baker sister-in-law, it only made sense. Her ideas of the perfect menu were different than his, though. Would the two be able to stay together long enough to convince the bank he was a good risk? Would Sadie be able to convince Tripp that the two of them belonged together after all?

A Mail-Order Heart


Janelle Daniels - 2016
    But when nine women arrive, all claiming to be mail-order brides for the same man, his once quiet life is thrown into chaos. Safeguarding them from aggressive suitors is nothing compared to the inner battle he faces over Clara, a woman who heats his blood… but can never be his own.But when Clara is kidnapped by the same person who’s sabotaging their mine, Sawyer must choose between the life he knew and the future he craves.

Westward Winds


Linda Bridey - 2014
    Her doting parents want her to make a good match with a worthy gentleman and live a respectable life. She is beautiful and intelligent and she comes with a hefty dowry. There is no reason that she shouldn’t be able to find an eligible man and settle down.Tessa herself is the reason. The men who are attempting to court her are, in her opinion, boring and conceited. Not only that, Tessa craves excitement and adventure, of which there is little in her social circles. By chance, she comes across an advertisement for a bride brokerage company seeking eligible women of good breeding to go west and find husbands.One man on the list catches her eye and she begins corresponding with him, eventually agreeing to go to Montana to meet him. She can’t resist the possibility of finding someone different and even if she doesn’t, the adventure itself would be worth her time. Tessa makes a successful escape and sets out to make a new life in Montana.Dean Samuels is a Montana rancher who is in over his head. His ranch is struggling and his two children are unruly and in need of a caretaker. It’s clear to his younger brother, Marcus, that he needs help. He tells Dean about a mail order bride service and convinces him that he should utilize it to find a wife.After his wife, Sarah, had passed away, Dean never intended to marry again. His ranch and his children became his life. However, it becomes apparent that Sadie, his daughter, and his son, Jack, need stability and love. The demands of raising his children and keeping his head above water financially have taken a toll and Dean grudgingly gives in to Marcus’ idea.Sarah had been the love of his life and Dean doesn’t intend to let any other woman into his heart. He’s locked those kinds of emotions deep inside, not wanting to take the chance of getting hurt like that again. Because Dean has trouble expressing his feelings in writing, his younger brother Marcus agrees to help write the letters to Tessa. Dean is happy to leave that part up to him.When Dean and Tessa meet, sparks fly between the two strong willed people. Tessa is disappointed that Dean isn’t the romantic, sophisticated man she was lead to believe he was in the letters she received. Dean is aggravated that she isn’t a meek woman who is easily managed. Never mind the fact that she has no idea of how to take care of children and keep a home.Dean and Tessa struggle to find common ground and make their marriage work. Will they each take the risk and open their hearts to one another? Can their marriage survive and will they find love and contentment in each other? Their future happiness hangs in the balance under the Montana skies.

Capital Bride


Cynthia Woolf - 2012
    They could go live with her cousin William, but Sara believes there’s something untoward about his offer and it leaves her feeling uncomfortable. She's qualified to be a governess, but no one will have her because she wasn't married when she had her precious MaryAnn. Matchmaker & Co could be her salvation as mail-order-bride to Mr. John Atwood. Single father, John Atwood, is raising his daughter the best he can in the wilds of the Colorado Territory but knows he needs help. No woman he knows wants to take on the raising of his daughter who hasn't spoken since she saw her mother brutally murdered during a bank robbery. Can Sarah, John and their two daughters overcome their pasts and find happiness together?

Mail Order Mayhem


Kirsten Osbourne - 2012
    After sneaking out of town on a train, she goes to Iowa and marries. She quickly falls for the wonderful man she marries, but does he feel the same? And will she be able to escape her past?

An Unexpected Mail Order Bride


Blythe Carver - 2021
    She wants a man. Not some silly boy who plays pranks. She’s not one to wait for life to come to her. She’ll seize it by the horns. And she does just that, ending up in the wild west with nothing but her money and her companion.Nate Winchester and his two boys were abandoned by his wife. She simply up and left them. Who does that? Now, Nate’s had to figure out how to be mother and father to his sons. Lucky for him, he’s got siblings who have helped him. But that’s not enough. Children need a mama.When his sister comes up with a plan for getting him a bride, he’s not interested. Yet, his sister Melissa is persistent.Lo and behold, here comes Theresa Baldwin. A ray of sunshine in his otherwise bleak life.Theresa has no idea that her appearance has been orchestrated by Nate’s sister. She’s thrilled to have found this woodworking, ranching man’s man in the wild west. Until she learns the truth…

Abby: Mail Order Bride


Verna Clay - 2012
    Left with three children, he's desperate to find a mother for them. Ten year old Jenny does her best to care for two year old Ty, and fourteen year old Luke works the ranch with his father, losing himself in dime novels to ease the pain of his mother's passing. Brant's options are limited since eligible women seldom pass through Two Rivers, much less settle in the small Texas town. In desperation, he places a classified advertisement for a mail order bride. Marrying a woman he'll come to know through a newspaper advertisement scares the bejesus out of him, but at this point, he's out of options.Abigail Mary Vaughn always dreamed of having her own family, but caring for her elderly parents, as well as working as a teacher to help with finances, ended that dream. Her parents are now dead and she's faced with the reality of her lonely existence. After reading Mr. Samson's advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer, she garners enough courage to respond. Since she is considered an old maid at the age of thirty-eight, she'll more than likely spend the rest of her life wondering "what if" unless she does something unconventional.Sensual love scenes.

Emma


Ashley Merrick - 2014
    She and her group of girlfriends, who all met in the orphanage, are barely getting by, working as nannies, cooks, and live-in maids for rich families. When Emma's employer, Gerald, threatens her with losing her job if she doesn't submit to his very unwanted advances, she stumbles onto an opportunity to be a mail-order bride and decides that couldn't possibly be worse. Except that the groom in question had no idea that his brother sent for a wife. When Emma shows up, at the train station in Bozeman, MT, it's her groom's brother, Joshua that is there to greet her. As it turns out, Ethan is furious that his brother went behind his back and sent for a wife. He's still grieving from the unexpected death of his wife Allison only a year earlier, and spends all his time when he's not working, being a good dad to his only child, Emily, who is three. Montana is hugely different from Boston, and Emma is surprised that she immediately falls in love with the area. Though taken aback at first to discover that Ethan wasn't aware that she was coming, she's secretly relieved to have a little time to get to know him and her new home. She is also quite fascinated by his family. Ethan is the oldest of ten, and eight of them are brothers, and except for Joshua, all are single. Emma has an urge to play matchmaker, and in book two, her best friend, Julia comes West to meet the brothers.

Belle of the Ball


Pam McCutcheon - 2003
    But a wish at a magical rock formation is about to change all that, in a most a-MUSE-ing way. . . . The three Sullivan sisters, named for the Three Graces of Greek legend who embody beauty, charm and grace, don’t live up to their names. Belle is no beauty. Charisma lacks charm. And Grace is somewhat less than graceful. But this doesn't deter their ambitious mother from bribing three bachelors to escort them to Colorado Springs’ beautiful Garden of the Gods. When the girls overhear their escorts mocking how little they resemble their names, each girl makes a wish at the magical Three Graces rock formation. Belle wishes aloud for beauty, but only so she can use it as a weapon to punish the cads who hurt her sisters. Her true wish is for revenge. Handsome viscount Kit Stanhope regrets his rude remarks and apologizes to Belle. He’s surprised when she tells him that's not enough. If he truly regrets his behavior, he has to make her beautiful in time for the Founders’ Day Ball. Kit isn’t sure he’s up to the task. But, intrigued by the spirited Belle, he agrees to assist her transformation from an ugly duckling into a swan with the help of a mysterious Greek dressmaker with muse-like qualities. Unfortunately, Belle makes a rather awkward swan. Still, after a few embarrassing escapades, she masters the flirtatious language of the fan and takes the town known as Little London by storm. Belle soon finds herself falling for the viscount and his sinful mouth. It seems he returns her regard, but she can’t renege on her promise to humiliate him . . . can she? Will her secret muse grant the wish she voiced . . . or the one she holds in her heart? Note to readers: This title was originally published in 2003 by Zebra Ballad.

Lacy's Legacy


Elaine Manders - 2019
     Ethan Wilkes plans to go west to start a horse ranch, but he sure isn’t ready for a wife, especially a grieving widow, great with child. But his Aunt Milly, proprietress of the Western Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency, disagrees. She believes Lacy Avant is perfect for him, and after she explains Lacy's plight, he heads to Montana Territory. When he arrives in Buffalo Run to claim his mail-order bride, he finds Lacy fighting a ruthless rancher who’s taken over the town, run off half the farmers, and murdered her husband. Can he win Lacy’s heart while hunting down the killer before he strikes again? Can Lacy trust Ethan with her life and her heart? And is the land really worth the risk of losing another husband? The bullets will fly and faith and love will be tested in this fast-paced Christian romance set in untamed Montana Territory, the first in a new multi-author series taken from case files of the eccentric matchmaker who runs the Westward Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency.

Ruby


Juliet James - 2014
    The good news is she's traveled to Pittsburgh and found a good job as a schoolmistress. The bad news is, the school's owner, the portly, whiskey-breathed Mister Murphy, has developed wandering hands, and Mrs Murphy's preparing to leave to visit her sister for a month in New York.Ruby sees an advertisement in the Matrimonial News and takes a desperate chance, writing away to the handsome Six-feet-four James Drinkwater.Will James be the answer to Ruby's plight? Is the handsome Montana man all that he seems? Or will someone else come to Ruby's rescue, so together they can find true love?The Come-By-Chance series consists of:Book 1 - RubyBook 2 - EmilyBook 3 - VioletBook 4 - KateBook 5 - Rose ~ Due out December 2014 ~Book 6 - Emmy-Lou ~ Due out January 2015 ~

Love on the Prairie


Ciara Knight - 2017
    Despite the fact the union soldiers took everything from them during their march through Atlanta-their lands scorched, house burned, food stolen-she won’t give up. With a plan in place, she sets out for Kansas to her second cousin under the guise of marriage. But instead, she plans to convince him that the seven of them can help run the homestead for him. Her plan is full proof, until she makes the arduous journey to discover he’s dead. Owen Baker vows to never have a woman in his life again after the death of so many in his life, but when Abigail McKinnie struts onto his land claiming ownership on behalf of her dead cousin, he’s dumbfounded by her drive and beauty. Despite her abilities and their attraction, he vows to throw her over his horse to deliver her to the first train home the minute she recuperates from her trip.

McKenna


Clara Kincaid - 2015
    Still reeling after the death of her parents, her uncle shows up with ownership paperwork, confiscating the store right out from under her. McKenna didn’t know what would become of them. She had four sisters at home and only enough money to last a year. She vows that she’d never marry, but then a handsome stranger, Cole Winters, stops by, proposing they go into business together in faraway Silver, Nevada. McKenna gives it serious thought, since opening a mercantile store in a gold rush town would be a very profitable venture. The only problem is that in 1875, it’s not proper for a woman to travel alone with a man. When Cole proposes they marry in name only, can she truly trust him? And is it worth the risk of losing her heart?

A Rose Blooms Twice


Vikki Kestell - 2012
    . . even to a country she does not know.Set in the American prairie of the late 1800s, this story of loss, disillusionment, rebirth, and love will inspire, challenge, and encourage you.

August


Kit Morgan - 2014
    Kit Morgan’s books are fun, whimsical, sweet stories about the old west, its people, but especially about Clear Creek. One of the wackiest little towns in the old west! Also by Kit Morgan: The Prairie Bride Series, beginning with ‘His Prairie Princess’ And: The Holiday Mail Order Bride Series, beginning with ‘The Christmas Mail Order Bride’ Clear Creek was a quaint little place, one most men took one look at, and decided to settle. There was only one problem. There were no women. In fact, the town was so small, most women took one look at it, laughed, and whipped their horses into a frenzy to get as far from it as possible before their husbands could protest. This of course left a mighty big hole in the hearts of what men were left behind in the little community. Duncan Cooke, aka The Duke of Stantham, also had a problem. He had a huge estate in England to manage, one not far from London, and it came with all the problems one would expect with an estate in disarray. Including six unwed cousins, women no man would touch for fear of losing either a limb, or worse. Strange things happened to all who tried to court them, so they were left untouched, and very unwed. But Duncan realized that Clear Creek had exactly what he needed. Men! And so with the help of his brother’s wife Sadie, he concocted a plan to send his cousins to Clear Creek as mail order brides! He just hoped the calamity that often followed them, didn’t find its way across the sea as well …