Author: Dana Wayne
Genre/Age: Historical Romance/Adult
Series: None
Publisher: Y & R Publishing
Format: ebook via The Romance Reviews
Rating: ✺✺✺✺
Links: Goodreads
Synopsis: “Find a husband in thirty days or lose the ranch when I die.”
Emma Marshall is stunned by her dying father’s ultimatum. With Twin Oaks to run alone, she avoids dealing with it, unaware of advertisements he placed seeking a groom.
Soon, prospects arrive, spurred by the promise of control of a prosperous ranch and a beautiful bride. Angry, embarrassed and heartbroken by her father’s tactics, she fights for her independence.
Tyler Roundtree responds to his best friends’ request and applies for position of temporary foreman at the Marshall place. Surprised to find his new boss is a beautiful, jean-wearing, gun-toting woman with enough grit to go bear hunting with a switch, he happily accepts the job.
Distracted by persistent suitors and a dangerous man intent on getting control of her ranch, Emma is totally unprepared for the instant attraction to Ty. Thrown together by chance, she wonders if he may be the answer to her problem. However, it soon becomes clear she knows everything about running a ranch, and nothing about being a woman.
A world-weary Southern gentleman, a fiery, independent woman; will a marriage of convenience bring them happiness or more heartache?
A headstrong woman meets her match.
Emma isn't your average woman. Growing up without a mother, she's learned the ways of a rancher much more than those of a lady. She wears britches and cusses just as good as any other man. So when her father gives her an ultimatum, marry in thirty days, Emma isn't thrilled with the idea of being shackled to someone who might try to control her.
Tyler wants to do a lot of things to Emma when he meets her. Taking away her freedom isn't one of them. Becoming the woman's new foreman gives him a front seat to the crazy show of suitors vying for her hand. And after a shady man tries to force Emma into marriage, Ty takes it upon himself to save her. By agreeing to marry her, instead. Whoa.
But even though both Ty and Emma are agreeable to the marriage, there are several others who are not. And these men are willing to do most anything to end the couple's relationship. Ty must do his best to keep his new wife and himself safe from the scheming suitors who threaten their happiness and their future.
This was a pretty good book. I liked Emma from the start, even though her argumentative streak was a tad annoying in the beginning. I think she overreacted sometimes, when she felt her freedom was at risk. But as she begins to mature into a grown and married woman, we see a change in her demeanor. It was nice to see her learn to trust Ty and come to love him.
Tyler impressed me from the first page, too. He was firm when he needed to be, soft when it came to caring for his woman, and always attentive. A nice combination. But the poor man seemed to attract flying bullets. I was surprised by the twists and turns in this book. Definitely didn't see most of them coming and I hadn't guessed who one of the villains was before they were revealed. It was a steady and satisfying plot.
I just have one small problem with this book and that is the title. From the name of the book, you would guess that Tyler came to be Emma's husband as a mail order groom. He didn't. In fact, I only remember seeing one mention of mail order grooms and it's in passing. The story was good but if you were expecting it to be about one thing and it wasn't, I could see that frustrating readers in the future. Just food for thought.
In closing...
A fun romp in the historical western hay. Four suns!
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