Book picks similar to
The Perfect Wife by Mary Burton


historical
historical-romance
romance
western

Short Straw Bride


Dallas Schulze - 1996
    Tired of worrying about who to leave the ranch to when they were gone.Luke could imagine the perfect wife --- biddable, tidy and willing --- and when he saw Eleanor Williams in church one Sunday, he thought she'd do just fine. But little did he know that the practical Eleanor had a mind of her own --- and other ideas about marriage!

Joe's Wife


Cheryl St. John - 1999
    Nothing will stop her from saving Joe's dream. The war has taken nearly all the able-bodied men--and a devilishly handsome bad boy seems her only choice. Town pariah, Tye Hatcher has a reputation as a hell-raiser, but he's looking to prove himself and has his own plans for the land. Meg's proposal might be too good to be true, but he's willing to take the risk, even if the risk is his heart. Struggling with guilt and the rejection of the townspeople, Meg must learn that her convenient husband is a man who takes risks and does what's right for the sake of others. Her vulnerable dreams and their hard work will be for naught unless she and Tye reveal their secrets and face what they're both coming to understand--they can't change the past, but the future is in their hands

Cantrell's Bride


Suzanne Ferrell - 2012
    She’s the only witness to the murder of a senator—an act that someone has helped the assassin cover up—and the murderer knows her name and is hunting her. Desperate to flee the area, she agrees to become a mail-order bride. The last thing Nathan Cantrell wants is a new wife, especially one with secrets. What he needs is someone bound to stay on his Colorado farm to help care for his daughter, a child who has limited contact with the world around her. For his daughter’s sake, he advertises for a mail-order bride. Nathan is surprised to be tempted by the woman who arrives as his wife and wants to send her back East. Laura’s ability to care for his daughter prevents him from sending her packing. Soon their marriage is more than a one in name only, but the secret from her past threatens not only their tentative union, but their very lives.

Always A Lady


Sharon Sala - 1993
    Out of her need to escape, she left her L.A. life behind and answered an ad in an Oklahoma newspaper for a round-up cook. She hadn't counted on meeting Case Longren and he hadn't been expecting Lily, either, but now that she was there, he didn't plan on letting her go.

A Bride for Jeremiah


Christine Sterling - 2018
    Until the loss of her position as a governess forces her into becoming a mail order bride. After losing his beloved wife, Jeremiah Price is left with a broken heart, five children and a farm to take care of. Desperate for a new wife to ease his workload, and after three successive brides balk at the prospect of such a large family, he insists on a proxy marriage for his fourth. Whatever happens, he needs this one to stay. When Esther and Jeremiah finally meet, neither is what the other is hoping for. But they could turn out to be just what the other needs. This is a sweet historical romance, the first in a multi-author project releasing every two weeks. Each book is a stand-alone HEA romance. Here is the release order for The Proxy Bride Series: A Bride for Jeremiah by Christine Sterling A Bride for Clay by Marianne Spitzer A Bride for Nathan by Barbara Goss A Bride for Abel by Cyndi Raye A Bride for Finn by Linda Ellen A Bride for Carter by Wendy May Andrews A Bride for Charles by H. L. Roberts A Bride for Sterling by Parker J. Cole A Bride for Henry by P. Creeden

Mail Order Bride's Baby And Her Mismatched Rancher


Florence Linnington - 2019
    There will be no more singing in saloons, no more late nights. Sam Sayler has everything he wants, a ranch of his own, loyal ranch hands, and a life under the wide Colorado skies. All he needs now, is a wife. When Abbie arrives in Sunny Springs, they realize a terrible misunderstanding has taken place: the mail order bride agency has mismatched Abbie to Sam. Abbie has a baby. And a baby is the last thing Sam wants. Sam’s dark past is stopping him from accepting Abbie’s baby as his own. But Abbie can see that deep down, Sam likes children. Sam finds it hard to face his own fears. While a snowstorm forces Abbie to stay at his ranch, he intends to send both mother and child packing as soon as the weather clears. Finally Abbie is forced to give him an ultimatum: love her and her child or lose them both. Will Abbie and her baby be forced to leave her new home in search of another fresh start? Or will Sam overcome his past, and allow Abbie to redeem him?

A Lady of the West


Linda Howard - 1990
     Victoria Waverly, noble daughter of the war-ruined South, is sold in marriage to a ruthless rancher. Honor and pride help her endure life as a wife in name only but nothing can quench her forbidden desire for hired gunman Jake Roper. His gaze is hard, but tenderness he can't hide promises to unveil to Victoria the mysteries of love. Only true love can destroy.... Jake curses his burning need for Victoria, for he wants nothing to stand in the way of his drive to reclaim Sarratt's Kingdom -- the ranch that is his legacy and obsession. But ancient wrongs and blazing passions will bind together the aristocratic beauty and the powerful cowboy. In a bloody land war, they will fight for Jake's birthright...and seize at all costs the love that is their destiny.

Knight on the Texas Plains


Linda Broday - 2002
    But when a strange twist of fate—and a poker game he'll never forget—leaves an innocent little girl in his care, Duel vows to defend his new family to his very last breath. If only he knew a single thing about taking care of babies.Just as Duel swears his life can't get any more complicated, a beautiful woman stumbles into the light of his campfire, desperate for help. Jessie Foltry is hungry, tired, and running for her life. She agrees to help Duel care for the child in exchange for his protection, even as she fights to guard her broken heart. But Duel will do whatever it takes to make Jessie see that the Texas plains have more than one kind of knight, and perhaps their salvation is closer than either of them could have dreamed.

Shotgun Grooms


Susan Mallery - 2001
    So he proposed a chaste businesslike "merger" to Miss Emily Smythe, a uniquely enterprising schoolmarm. But how could he keep them wed in name only when all he wanted to do was bed down with his bride in her brand-new inn?And as for his brother ...The fur would fly sure enough when his bear of a brother, Jackson, woke up to find himself hitched to Miss Molly Malone. He'd thought surely she was mistaken. But delirious with fever, he'd unknowingly consummated their marriage. And the Irish firebrand was determined that their union stick "'til death did them part"! Well, now he was guaranteed his inheritance, but what was the miner to do with a wife?

The Anonymous Bride


Vickie McDonough - 2010
    When three mail-order brides are delivered to Luke a month later, he’s in an uncomfortable predicament. How will he ever choose his mate? Rachel Hamilton’s long-time love for Luke is reignited with his return to town. So when three mail-order brides appear, she panics. Will she find the courage to tell Luke that she loves him? Or take an anonymous part in the contest for his hand?

Gerrity's Bride


Carolyn Davidson - 1995
    Her 'citified' ways went next, along with her plans for a quiet, dignified life. Instead, she found herself bound to a hotheaded cowboy in a most inconvenient marriage!Ranch foreman Matthew Gerrity was used to having things go his way... So why was he having so much trouble getting his eastern beauty of a wife to accept that he was the one in charge?And the town of Forbes Junction, Arizona, would never be the same!

Rose


Leigh Greenwood - 1993
    But when she first set eyes on her hero's ramshackle ranch in the wilds of the Texas brush country, and met his utterly impossible brothers, Rose decided even George's earth-shattering kisses weren't compensation enough for the job ahead of her.Never in her life had she seen a place more in need of a woman's touch, or men more in need of a civilizing influence. The Randolph brothers were a wild bunch—carving an empire out of the rugged land, fighting off rustlers and Mexican bandits—and they weren't about to let any female change their ways...not until George laid down the law and then lost his heart to the beguiling spitfire who'd turned all their lives upside down.

Morning Comes Softly


Debbie Macomber - 1993
    Never before has she done anything so reckless, casting the only life she knows aside to travel to a strange place and marry a man she's never met. But something about this man calls to her—and she knows this may be her very last chance at happiness.Tragedy made Travis Thompson the guardian of three orphaned children—and determination leads him to do whatever it takes to keep the kids out of foster homes. When he decides to take a long shot on a personals ad, the results are surprising, and before he knows it, he has agreed to marry a mysterious Southern woman sight unseen.It could be the mistake of a lifetime. But Mary Warner may be exactly what this broken family needs. And with a little faith, a little trust, and a lot of love, two lonely hearts might just discover the true meaning of miracles.

The Bridal Veil


Alexis Harrington - 2002
    And she is far from the woman Luke thought he wanted. Arriving in Oregon with nothing but the gown and veil her sister had intended to wear, Emily had nowhere to go and is in more desperate straights than she can ever let on. But Luke needs a mother for his eleven-year-old daughter, and despite his anger at the deception, he can't turn this proud, yet vulnerable, woman away. He's determined to keep this a marriage in name only--unless Emily's quiet grace and tender understanding can tempt him to open his heart...

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.