Published March 29th, 2017
Print Length: 162 pages
Genre: Historical Romance, Fontier & Pioneer Western Ficion, Western Romance

Amazon / Goodreads

My Review

I found this book while looking for mail-order bride stories on Audible Escape. The fact that the series is called Mail-Order Grooms was even more attractive to me. While making this review I was pleasantly surprised to find out I actually own a copy on my Kindle.

Adam Harrington was born and raised to be a rancher but when some questionable situations made him lose his childhood ranch, he decided to start anew someplace else. An add on the papers looking for a groom that was also a rancher caught his attention and after exchanging letters with the woman that put up the advertisement, he took what was left of his belongings and head west to marry.

Susannah Smith inherited her father’s ranch but in order to keep it, the will said she had to marry. The people in Virginia City saw her as a fallen woman so she had no other option than to put an advertisement on the papers. Being a single mother she took precautions that were not a good way to start a relationship with any potential husband. She found out quickly how much it wasn’t good in her new husband’s eyes that she deceived him.

What I Like:

• The narrator, Ken Solin was fantastic at telling the story, his intonation was perfect and his deep voice, at least for me. I did listen a little faster than normal but that didn’t distort his voice or anything. To be fair, I love a male narrator with a deep voice and a slightly southern accent, especially for cowboy stories.

• Character development is something that I always look in the stories that I read and Amelia Smarts did a pretty good job with Adam and Susannah, especially the latter one. You can see her changing slightly over time and even though she didn’t become the perfect woman, she was relatable and true to her character.

• The historical setting was well defined and I could visualize the situations in my head while listening to the story. I could also understand the way people around the main characters thought and their reactions made sense all things considered. All this coming from someone that doesn’t study history in depth.

What I Didn’t Like:

• I’m someone that was brought up with corporal punishment and I remember how effective those were when delivered correctly. That being said, I did not like the scene when Adam punished Susannah for behaving in a bratty way. Don’t get me wrong, he did everything right but at some point, I felt it was a little bit excessive.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes historical romance with steamy scenes between the couple, and an alpha male correcting his woman to make her a better person. Also, if you like reading about spankings, in particular, this book is for you.

About the Author

Amelia Smarts is a USA Today bestselling author who writes kinky romance novels containing domestic discipline, spanking, and Dominance/submission. Usually, her stories involve a cowboy, and they always involve a man’s firm hand connecting with a woman’s naughty backside. Amelia holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in creative writing and English. She loves to read, which allows her writing to be influenced by many different genres in addition to romance, including mystery, adventure, history, and suspense.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon