Simply Angela : The Christmas Mail Order Bride by Kit Morgan

Sheriff Clayton Riley asked for a pair of boots for Christmas, not a mail order bride! Unfortunately for Clayton, his brother and mother figured a bride would look better on him than a new pair of boots! After all, he'd been sulking around long enough after the death of his wife, and his family decided it was time to take matters into their own hands and see to it Clayton had a very merry Christmas!

Summer James was young, she was beautiful and, an impoverished orphan. Who would want such a woman? Obviously no one. For here she was, eighteen and now of age to set out on her own. But New Orleans was full of men with evil intent for one such as herself, and she saw no other choice but to take the only offer for survival she could find and become a mail order bride. What she didn't count on was becoming Sheriff Clayton Riley's Christmas present!

Summer James has lived in a New Orleans orphanage her entire life. She’s soon to turn 18 and she has two choice: become a mail order bride or fall into the hands of a man whose intention are for his personal gain. Opting to become a mail order bride, Summer packs up and heads to Nowhere, Washington Territory.

Sherriff Clayton Riley had no idea that his brother and mother conspired against him and found him a mail order bride for Christmas. He’s opposed at the idea having lost his wife a few years before and to make matters worse, when his new bride arrives, he accidentally shoots her.

While Summer convalesces, she begins to develop feelings for her soon-to-husband. Although Clayton’s still resistant but he can’t deny there’s a certain something about Summer that draws his eye.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Kit Morgan and I plan to read more particularly from this (the Holiday Mail-Order Brides) series. I’ve always loved the mail-order bride trope. Two people being thrown together in marriage often out of desperation and this one didn’t disappoint, although unlike others in this trope, the marriage came at the end of the book rather than the beginning.

The book was what I was expecting it to be, a quick, sweet, clean, little Christmas romance. It would be the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter’s night.

Summer was a little overly whiney. Sure she was an orphan who was never adopted and she was going to have trust issues, but hers was a little over the top. And what got me was the fact she trusted the wrong people. I thought, being from an orphanage, she would have had a better sense of what people were up to.

There was so much about Clayton that should have been explored. I felt, with him, I only got to see the tip of the iceberg not the massive hunk of himself that was buried below the surface. There was more about him career wise than personal wise and I would have loved to seen him address the situation about his wife dying a bit more. It was mentioned, although it seemed the author just glossed over it. It would have made for more interaction between Clayton and Summer.

The romance was slow yet steady and although there was an attraction between the characters, it was more like a will-o’the-wisp rather than a raging inferno. I think it had to do with the fact the hero and heroine rarely had page-time together. Most of her story was developing a relationship with his mother and settling in to her new home.

What lacked a bit for me was the character growth. I needed to see more of an arc with both, although surprisingly this still was a sweet little read.

This is a Christian romance so it was a nice, clean read that touched on aspects of faith without coming off life a sermon.

Overall, it was a quick little Christmas read that entertained and intrigued me to read more in this series.

The Holiday Mail Order Brides Series Order

1—Mail Order Christmas Bride

2—The New Year’s Bride

3—His Forever Valentine

4—Her Irish Surrender

5—The Springtime Mail Order Bride

6—Love In Independence

7—Love at Harvest Moon