This request comes from Grace. Thanks, Grace!
Sarah: Beverly Jenkins is a great choice, for sure. She does mail-order/marriage of convenience stories very wellI have a weirdly specific rec request. I guess you could just call it mail order brides, but more specifically: Sarah Plain & Tall vibes?
I’ve been re-watching the Sarah Plain & Tall movies with my grandma lately. I’ve loved the book & movies all my life and they were VERY formative in becoming a romance addict, but being from the kids’ POV, we only see an outside view of the adults’ developing relationship.
I’ve always wished for a grown-up behind-the-scenes version of it, focusing more on the relationship building and feeling each other out, growing affection (and sexual tension), overcoming (emotional) obstacles, that you know must have been happening but don’t see.
So I’m looking for romances with similar vibes: mail-order brides, probably – precocious kids, trial period, and still-grieving widow(er) status optional – and more focused on the characters and emotional development than outside conflict. Don’t need too much action, danger, evil villains, etc – some is okay, but I mostly love character growth and gradual building of affection and intimacy, which is hard to find done well.
I’ve read and really liked several Beverly Jenkins books, but otherwise have NO idea where to start with westerns. Some are very action/adventure, older ones often don’t hold up well, and it seems half of the recent ones I look at turn out to also be in the Christian romance category, and it’s hard to tell if they just mean there’s no sex (not a dealbreaker) or overtly religious (not my thing).
I’d love some recs of books or authors that might satisfy my longtime itch for Sarah Plain & Tall vibes but more focused on the romance!
With the caveat that it has been a long time since I’ve read some of these, so I’m not 100% sure if they fit the brief (please correct me if I’m wrong on any of these!)”
In Want of a Wife by Jo Goodman
The Admiral’s Penniless Bride by Cara Kelly ( A | K | G | AB )
Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath
Duncan’s Bride by Linda Howard ( A | BN | K ) might work, but I recommend with caution because Howard’s books don’t usually work for me.
Julie Garwood has written a few arranged marriages, but her heroines are VERY plucky and usually not plain.
Kit McBride Gets a Wife by Amy Barry ( A | BN | K )
Also, way back in 2017, we did a Rec League for mail order historicals that weren’t overtly religious, so this list should pair very well as an update to that one!
Claudia: LaVyrle Spencer also has a few, in Morning Glory ( A | BN | K ) the female main character places an ad for a husband (and helper, she’s a widow with kids during WWII)
Kiki: I really liked Julianne MacLean’s Prairie Bride—( A | BN ) mail order bride from the city meets farmer who has lost all his family and been spurned before, very focused on them learning to work together. Also it has one of the coolest settings I’ve ever come across in a romance. They live in a sod house that’s dug partially into the ground!!
I’m seconding LaVyrle Spencer, with the note that her books are 30ish years old so maybe read her Westerns with care!
Also kind of Western adjacent (similar vibes to a western but they take place in Fredonia, NY which is west of some places but is certainly not The West) is Wendy Lindstrom’s Grayson Family series. I think they did gradual emotional development suuuuper well, especially the second and fourth ones: Shades of Honor and Lips That Touch Mine. ( A ) And of course I always love some Upstate/Western NY representation.
[note: they also have closed door versions with different titles which is a weird and annoying concept to me but whatever]
Amanda: Maybe Rebel Carter? I think someone read these?
Kiki: Yes! Rebel Carter always as a Western recommendation. Not all of those books have worked as well for me, I think sometimes they don’t take the time needed for the emotional development, but absolutely worth trying out!
Are there any mail-order bride romances that give Sarah, Plain & Tall vibes? Tell us in the comments!
My suggestion is not a mail order bride scenario but it might have the qualities you’re looking for. I haven’t read any Western historical romance for a long time and individual titles tend to fade from my mind but this one stands out. LaVyrle Spencer’s Years is about a young schoolteacher who comes to live in the house of a widowed farmer (because his farm is close to the school) with a teenage son. The setting is North Dakota in 1917 and I remember feeling immersed in an earlier time as I read this book back in the day. The romance is slow burn and very much set in a real community. Linnea and Teddy never felt like cookie-cutter characters I’d read a hundred times before. I don’t know how well the book would stand up for me today but I found it uniquely realistic and moving at the time.
(Sorry if this has already been mentioned; my phone is slow to refresh on the comments.) Another LaVyrle Spencer book involving a mail-order bride is THE ENDEARMENT. Not sure how well it holds up today because Spencer did have some stylistic and narrative formulas that haven’t aged well, but I remember enjoying it when I read it years ago. Also, the hero is a virgin.
The Bride Wore Spurs by Sharon Ihle is a mail order bride book set in Wyoming. It’s an older book, so I’m not sure how well it will hold up, but I do remember enjoying it.
I do have an enthusiastic song recommendation that is a great story-song by Mark Knopfler, called Prairie Wedding. It’s always been one of my favorites. Give it a listen!
We only knew each other by letter
I went to meet her off the train
When the smoke had cleared and the dust had stilled
She was standing there speaking my name
This does not match the old west setting, but does have a similar vibe: The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel. I know I have read this, but it pre-dates my usage of Goodreads, so that means it was at least 15 years ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy. It takes place during World War II in rural Colorado. They also made a Hallmark movie of it which I seem to remember better, with Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich, and I do remember enjoying it quite a lot, although they simplified some of the non-romance plot in a way I didn’t really like.
I second the Admiral’s Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly recommendation, but I seem to remember the last time it was mentioned that some were negative on it, but I can’t remember why. If you have not read Carla Kelly before, be warned that she writes very emotionally affecting material. I love her writing, but her books are often very realistic in some of the dark parts of history.
Maggie Osborne wrote really really good westerns IMO, starting with The Wives of Bowie Stone. The books had all kinds of different situations.
There’s an old Debbie Macomber about a mail order bride but IIRC it’s wacky relatives who sort of set the heroine up. Her books aren’t my jam, but throwing it out there.
Also wondering if there are any mail order bride plots that aren’t westerns? Maybe involving eastern Europe? or is that too creepy?
If you’re open to m/m, I feel like Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit and Ocean’s Echo have this vibe. They’re mainly arranged marriage rather than mail-order, but… And Foz Meadows A Strange and Stubborn Endurance.
And definitely yes to Jo Goodman’s In Want of a Wife!
This might be an off the wall suggestion: “Ishmael” by Barbara Hambly. It’s a Star Trek novel, in which Spock ends up back in 19th century Washington State suffering from amnesia. Though the main plot is Spock interacting with the people in this town, there’s a rather closely linked subplot involving a set of mail order brides who have just arrived.
(It’s one of my favorite Star Trek tie-in books)
These aren’t mail order brides, but are marriages of convenience/arranged/forced:
Across the Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun – f/f western marriage of convenience w/one disguised as a man
Heart series by L Dreamer – f/nb Alaska gold rush marriage of convenience
Summer Chapparral by Genevieve Turner or The Hidalgo’s Wife – m/f, first is a shotgun marriage, the second an arranged marriage (both set in California)
Oregon series by Jae – f/f marriage of convenience w/one disguised as a man, Oregon trail
Compromised into a Scandalous Marriage by Lydia San Andres – m/f, Caribbean shotgun marriage (set up by the FMC’s brother, she isn’t in on it)
Possibly Stacey Kayne’s Mustang Wild, maybe?
It’s only available in paperback and I haven’t read it in years, but Lynda Trent’s “Beloved Wife” was my favorite romance for many years. It’s a Harlequin Historical, and it’s pretty much just this–she answers and ad for a mail order bride, finds he has 5 kids instead of the 2 she expected. It’s mostly them getting to know each other, her settling in, and the family getting over their grief; most of the tension comes from a local woman who wanted to marry him.
In terms of the Admiral’s Penniless’ Bride, I remember that the dark point was really dark in terms of loss of trust and unexpected cruelty. Once I read it, I never reread it though Summer Companion is one of my comfort books. It does fit some of these tropes but there’s a real darkness to it.
You might like Kate Bridges’ Mountie series, they take place at a wilderness fort in – Calgary? I think? Some of the women are part of the town/fort, some are from outlying ranches and some are mail-order brides. I’ve really enjoyed the ones I’ve read although CW for the occasional wildly incorrect/inappropriate word choice (as a former editor they either send me into gales of laughter or set my teeth on edge.)
For some reason I am also thinking Lucy Maud Montgomery, if you’ve never read Anne or Emily.
And if we’re also recommending songs, big props for Mail Order Annie by Harry Chapin, one of the sweetest songs ever.
Maybe A Bride for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath? It’s not mail-order, but Mina is hauled off in a carriage by her half brother and offered up as a bride to the prizefighter Nye, all in the first few chapters, so it has that strangers getting married/woman in an unfamiliar setting vibe. It’s also a very good middle/working class romance. I’ve only read this book but I think the other two in the series have a similar set up with a wedding early on in the book.
There’s an series of short story anthologies (Timeless Romance) that I pick up on e-reader to check out new authors. I’ve found three new-to-me writers that way.
Book 16 in the anthology series is Mail Order Brides. I haven’t read this particular anthology, but it includes two authors who I’ve enjoyed: Sarah Eden and Heather Moore.
Hm, that reminds me, there is a Debbie Macomber with a mail-order bride/ugly duckling story where the woman doesn’t actually change, but how the guy sees her changes, and I loved that. It’s MORNING COMES SOFTLY, and I still reread it occasionally.
It would be worth checking out Super Librarian’s blog – https://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspot.com/ She is especially fond of westerns and has been reviewing romance books for years.
It would be worth checking out Super Librarian’s blog – https://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspot.com/ She is especially fond of westerns and has been reviewing romance books for years.
Kelly O’Connor McNees’ In Need of a Good Wife has several mail-order brides as protagonists. It’s much more historical fiction than romance, but there was some romance, and respect and liking too! If you want some real-life stories, look for Hearts West by Chris Enss.
Daniel’s Bride by Linda Lael Miller isn’t a mail-order-bride scenario, but it’s definitely a marriage of last-minute convenience. The heroine is about to be executed in a small prairie town, and the titular Daniel speaks up and offers to marry her instead. I do recall that there’s a Big Mis not too far in, where Daniel has sex with her assuming she’s a “fallen woman” and is shocked to find out she’s a virgin.
Cheryl St. John’s Land of Dreams. It’s more MoC, than MoB, but there is an orphaned niece and a grieving uncle. The FMC is a tall woman, who is considered a spinster.
Amelia Smarts has a few series. Mail Order Husbands, Mail Order Brides and Cowboys in Charge. They all have spanking in them, so if you don’t mind that, I think you would enjoy them.
There is the McBride series by Amy Barry. June bug is the youngest and only girl living in the mountains out West with 5 brothers. She is tired of doing all the “girl” work so advertises for a bride for the older brother. It is light hearted and Junebug is wonderfully precocious and snarky. They aren’t too angst ridden. I read the first two and they were what was advertised. Lots of longing that turns into consent.
I think if my mom were a reader of this site, she would recommend Westward The women, which is about a wagon train of mail order brides. I haven’t seen this movie yet, but one of Beverly Jenkins’ books, Always and Forever, gave me those vibes. A Chance at Love is about someone who makes this trip, and initially doesn’t plan to be a bride, but is picked by these kids to be their mom/mother figure without their male guardians permission or knowledge at first. I think he’s their uncle or something.
SHORT STRAW BRIDE by Dallas Schulze has the MOB and a Western setting, but no widower or kids.
I haven’t read A BRIDE MOST BEGRUDGING by Deeanne, but it sounds like it might fit the bill.
I enjoyed HEAVEN IN THIS ARMS by Lisa Ann Verge, but I’ve had feedback from someone who found the depiction of Native people offensive(I didn’t, fwiw). This is set in 1600’s Canada, French fur trapper hero.
DUNCAN’S BRIDE definitely does not have a Sarah Plain & Tall vibe, the heroine is a city glamour puss, it’s more a fish out of water story.
Just remembered that Carolyn Davidson is an author I’ve enjoyed in the past. She wrote heaps of Western-set romances and some of them have this kind of vibe, if not exactly the same scenario.
Oops, the author of A BRIDE MOST BEGRUDGING is Deeanne Gist
Now I need to read Patricia MacLachlan again.
If you just want the suddenly married, getting to know you vibe, I’ve read a few Indian/desi romances with this.
@KarenF: I’ll second your recommendation of “Ishmael” by Barbara Hambly. (As with you, it’s one of my favorite Star Trek books!)
A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist might fit the bill, although it’s been so long I barely remember if I actually read this one or just looked through it.
It’s about a so called Mercer bride in the Pacific Northwest, who thought she was signing up to be a cook. Deenne Gist writes inspies, but they’re pretty low key, at least for my taste. Any sex is closed door but she’s good at slow burn UST.
I recomend you check Naomi Rawlings backlist. If you can’t find at your local library or the Libby I recommend buying directly from her store. (She has a newsletter in which she has sales quite often. I also recommend Carolyn Davidson. I saw on the free website Ereaderiq (in the US and UK) one of her titles is on sale for .99 today. I also recommend Family of Convenience by Victoria W. Austin, The Wolf Creek series by Penny Richards starting with Wolf creek wedding. I also recommend The Last Chance Cowboy by Jody Hedlund. I recommend A Convenient Sacrifice by Ann Elizabeth Fryer (KU), The Lost Lieutenant by EricaVetsch, A Belle in Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews and the backlist of Winnie Griggs as well as The Mistress of Tall Acre by Laura Frantz (not my favorite of her backlist but most of her backlist is in KU; fabulous author). If you can’t find these in your public library/Libby and prefer to read in paperback check out Discoverbooks online and always use a coupon code (on their Facebook page/website/email list to save more.Fabulous selection and a wishlist feature. I forgot A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears and An Inconvenient Marriage by Cheryl Bolen.
I dropped in to recommend Debbie Macomber’s MORNING COMES SOFTLY which, at thirty years old, comes from her standalone romance period. (As opposed to her earlier category romance period and later–ongoing—community fiction period.) Anyway, though it is a contemporary, it IMO totally contains the tone that you are looking for.
@KarenF @Kareni: Call Me Ishmael also ties in with the TV show Here Come the Brides, which was loosely based on the Mercer Girls. It starred Bobby Sherman and David Soul, as well as Mark Lenard, who played Spock’s father in TOS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Come_the_Brides
I devoured Linda Lael Miller’s western historical (and contemporaries) for a while about 10 years ago. She definitely has some mail order brides on the backlist. Easy reading with a bit of steam if I remember.
@Sandra: That is neat. Thank you!