Leah Wyett, $0.99, ISBN 978-1310318702
Historical Romance, 2014
Eliza May Berry and her sister Maggie are with a group of women headed to San Francisco to be, yes, mail-order brides. Maggie will marry a man called Charles Smits while Eliza will be wed to Garrett Wilder.
Alas, when the story opens, the group leader announces that their boat that will take them to San Francisco won’t be able to dock until the next morning due to engine issues, and they well have to spend the night at Aspinwell before taking the train the next morning to meet their boat in Panama City.
It’s only a night. Surely, nothing can go wrong… right?
Yes, nothing can go wrong, because the next day everyone is on their way without any fuss or muss.
See, that’s my issue with the otherwise very readable Mail Order Bride: The Journey. The author set things up, making me think that surely something must happen. Otherwise, why take the trouble to introduce such a development, right?
Nope. Things happen, but there’s nothing to see here, so everyone let’s just move on.
Likewise, Maggie is initially acting all reluctant and worried because Charles is much older than her, but he soon wines and dines her and she’s ooh, in love.
I’m ready to cringe when the story then focuses on Eliza, but to my pleasant surprise, Eliza is far more mature and introspective. She displays a clear head when it comes love and men, and I really like her.
Although, to be fair to Maggie, that lass has been hit in the head by a horse when she was a kid and she hasn’t been quite the same since.
Back to Eliza, she however ditches the guy she is supposed to marry because another guy catches her eye. This is where a part of me still feels bad for poor Garrett, who from all accounts is a nice man with some angst and woe to make him far more interesting than the bloke Eliza has her eye on.
Also, she’s a mail-order bride, so is she going to give back her mother the money scraped together by the poor woman to send her and Maggie all the way to San Francisco? There’s something about her going la la la, sashay away like she’s visiting the ball instead of coming all the way here on her mother’s sweat and tears that makes her appear irresponsible and even frivolous.
It doesn’t improve matters that Eliza doesn’t try very hard to get along with Garrett, and she’s quick to dump him for a guy that she finds handsome. I suppose in a way it’s nice that she ditches that poor man instead of dragging him into some love triangle, but still, she doesn’t have to appear so fickle and superficial while she’s at it!
Oh, and I should warn folks: Maggie gets married here, so I guess her story arc ends here. However, her love story is as deep as a puddle—the guy looks scary until he does nice things for her and then she likes him now, yay—while Eliza’s thing with Matt is only beginning by the end of this story. Hence, there is a “to be continued” kind of ending here, which may not make some people happy.
At any rate, this story could use a little more drama to make things more interesting. Also, I’m perplexed by how Eliza can be insightful and yet shallow all at the same time!
Still, this one doesn’t cause any agitation or ill will in me, and despite its fault, it’s an easy read to finish in a single sitting. I don’t find these characters particularly memorable, but I don’t find them obnoxious either. All in all, it’s the epitome of a three-oogie read.
