3 out of 5 stars!! A man and woman find themselves in a unique situation and get into an in-name-only marriage, all to save a shop and protect a little baby. However, will they find love along the way?

This was a sweet romance that made me put on my "genealogist hat" as I kept thinking about how this could've happened to my own distant relatives too. Though I liked the "home" that Trace and Katherine came to make with each other and for "their son," it was the romance that I had a hard time believing. I felt this way because of Trace and Katherine’s self-imposed distance that they put on themselves, which seems that they were more friends than anything else. Nevertheless, I liked how this couple worked through everything and how their little town worked together.

I do recommend this novel to anyone looking for a sweet historical novel that throws in only a little romance.

Review By: From Me to You ... Video, Photography, & Book Reviews
-- read more of this review and TWO TEASERS on my blog --

Wedded for the Baby was a book that surprised me -- at first in a bad way, and then in a good way. I'll explain.

After reading the first book in the series and loving it, I thought I would love this book from the beginning on...that wasn't the case. I got frustrated with how loosely marriage was treated. I get that it was a marriage in name only, but to keep mentioning that once he found a solution for the baby and his business, they could get an annulment...I just found that frustrating.

But, as I continued reading I got to really enjoying the story and that surprised me in a good way as I didn't expect to enjoy the book after the beginning frustrations. I liked how the characters from the first book were in this story quite a bit. I didn't really like the ending, as it felt too similar to the first book.

All in all, Wedded for the Baby was a fine read. I didn't love it, but I did end up enjoying the book.

*I received a complimentary eBook copy of this book for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

Wedded for the Baby is a sweet romantic yet stirring story of a man who needs to marry someone before a certain date and Miss Fleming was in the right place and the right time with something he didn't want or did he? They went through a lot together - there is obstinace and patience but most importantly there is GOD who is being turned to and when HE is involved HE can fix all things . Make all things right. Amen? He is being called on but will they listen? Will things work out for those two or will he drop her like a hot potato like he said he would in the start? I could not believe how that baby grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go - so I had to read and read and find out what happened to him. So will you?

Wedded for the Baby is a marriage of convenience story that had some unique twists and choices in the plot that made it enjoyable.
I like the marriage of the convenience stories, where the love grows as the couple gets to know each other. This story had the twist of a baby - a baby that wasn't either of the protagonist's biological child.
Katherine Fleming was a soft-hearted, kind woman who was willing to go to extreme lengths to keep her word and take care of a baby she just met. She had lost the love of her life several years ago and was certain she would be a spinster.
Trace Warren was a wounded man by his past, a bit dramatic, yet kind-hearted and considerate. His self-pity went a little too far for me, as a doctor, he should have known the realities of life as they were at the time. I liked how his character developed, how the new possibilities downed on him, how he slowly but surely opened his heart to Katherine and the baby.
The challenges of the time period, the new frontiers and the demands of the life back then, the culture, the lifestyle, it was told with authority and in a believable matter. The story was enjoyable to read, the characters growth and advancement as people, and as parents were entertaining and appealing.
The Love Inspired stories are Christian novels, and as such, I expect a message of faith and/or faith development, especially if it is pointed out that the main characters have been struggling with their beliefs and convictions. I felt that that part of the story was not carried all the way through. Since the authors have been given this amazing platform, I wish they used it more thoroughly.
Overall an interesting and heartfelt story, where the characters are challenged not only by the environment they live in, but by each other, and the wounds of their past, and the hurt life sometimes bring us.
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

A very descriptive novel set in the West during the 1900's. Katherine was a very tender hearted woman that had been nursing her elderly parents until their death. On the train ride out West she helps a young unwed mother and child. Katy made a death bed promise to the young mother that she would take the baby to the man she was to marry. Trace the soon to be father had his own issues dealing with his wife and baby's deaths. This book went quite quickly but was filled lots of compassion and love. Looking forward to the next book.

Katherine Fleming makes a promise to a dying woman, to deliver her child to Trace Warren in Whisper Creek, WY.

Trace has opened an apothecary shop in Whisper Creek, he is passionate about helping people and knows many cures. But one of the conditions of him opening his shop was that he be married, and he had thought that him being a widower was enough, but it's not, so he arranges to marry a single mother. But when Katherine steps off the train, he offers to marry her for the sake of the baby, in name only.

Katherine is amazed at how much she has come to care for the child so she agrees to Trace's terms, but makes him write them out in paper before marrying him. Can this arranged family find love in Whisper Creek, WY?

Katherine doesn't know much about caring for a child, but Trace does, and she is quick to learn. Trace at first intends to avoid Katherine and the baby as much as he can, but he soon finds that he doesn't want to, and he admires Katherine's loving care for the child that they decide to name Howard. I like the dialogue between Katherine and Trace, as they adjust to life together and convincing the townspeople that their marriage is genuine.

I really like Katherine and her willingness to help and her self-less love for Howard. She also encourages Trace to re-examine his faith, and come to terms with his past.

I loved returning to Whisper Creek, and seeing Audrey and Blake again, as well as meeting Katherine who was my absolute favorite. This was a very enjoyable read, that I loved to the end. Definitely recommend!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and testimonials in Advertising."

This is book two in the Stand-In Brides series, however it is a stand alone book. You do reconnect with people from the first book but it is not necessary to read to enjoy this one.

Katherine Fleming is a loving, caring woman who just happens to be in the right spot at the right time to help a dear mother in need. When she makes promises to the dying woman she never dreams where her life will take her.

Trace Warren is a little harder to read, while just trying to keep his business and home he agrees to a in-name only marriage to a woman he has never met. When things go topsy turvy he does the only thing he feels he can to save what he has built. But will this turn of events be to his best interest?

I loved the sparks, communication and sometimes lack thereof between Trace and Katherine. Both have past that they need to overcome to finally find the peace God has in store for them.

Not my type of book, I tried to start it but just couldn't get into anything about this book!

"Wedded for the Baby" is a Christian romance set in 1868 in the Wyoming Territory. This is the second book in the series. You don't need to read the first book to understand this one. However, the couple in the first book were also major characters in this one, so you may wish to read the books in order.

Katherine helps a fatality ill woman while on a train trip to visit her sister and ends up responsible for an orphaned, unwanted baby. Trace is named the guardian of the child, but he needs to marry or he'll lose his livelihood--the only way to support the child. Katherine agrees to an "in name only" marriage and to care for the child until Trace can find an alternative. Trace treats her with kindness but tries to minimize his time with her as he still mourns his dead wife and child.

Katherine has no idea how to care for a baby, though, so Trace has to show her. They keep getting thrown together and discover they share interests and admire each other. The main characters were nice people, and I understood the reasons behind their actions. They both heal from past hurts. The historical details about everyday things, what was happening in the territory, and even some of the medical debates of the time were woven into the story. I suspect the author got her hands on a catalog of baby furniture from that time, as Trace ordered a lot for his house.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this sweet romance.

I nearly skipped this one because the blurb piled up all the tropes I hate. However, I wanted to read a Western historical book in particular, and this was available for review, so I gave it a chance. Also, with Harlequin cancelling this book line, I plan to read as many of them as I can before they’re gone forever.

While this one falls closer to the obviously religious end of the Christian fiction spectrum than many books in the line, I was happy from the outset to see all the tropes I was dreading were turned around.

I’m not a big fan of the VERY popular Western romance setup of the wrong woman posing as the hero’s mail order bride, nor do I enjoy books where the hero signs some bizarre contract saying he must be married or lose everything.

However…

It isn’t the heroine’s baby – I didn’t feel like reading about yet another widowed mother.

The heroine *doesn’t* pretend to be a different woman.

The weird contract the hero has saying he has to marry isn’t as annoying as these things usually are.

And the marriage of convenience would just about make sense in real life.

So, with all of my most hated things thwarted, I settled in to enjoy Wedded for the Baby.

I will say that the widowed hero is hard to like for much of the book. It’s all about his Pain, and how much worse things are for him, and poor him, and he can’t look at a pregnant woman – or a baby.

This is the nineteenth century; almost all married couples lost a number of children, either before birth or soon afterwards. Women had a HUGE chance of dying in childbirth (e.g. Jane Austen lost multiple relatives that way – clever of her to never marry!). The hero was a doctor; he would have known all of this, and yet he acted like this was something so unusual he had to be antisocial and rude to everyone forever more.

The heroine lost her love, too, but she isn’t allowed her pain.

It was, honestly, selfish of him.

I much preferred the (too-often-teary-over-the-orphaned-child) heroine, and I did like the writing of the baby – he felt realistic. Too often babies appear in books like this just to be cute accessories rather than characters.

I also liked the little attention to historical detail, just as I did in the author’s previous book.

One problematic thing: this is not the first book, nor the first author, in the Love Inspired Historical (Christian) series I’ve read that has had troubling stereotyping of minority characters (Chinese in the last two books I’ve read). There’s writing someone whose first language isn’t English, and then there’s making characters come across as idiots. They’re not the same thing.

These books target a very particular demographic, and it’s – ahem – more Trump than tolerance. I’d like to see LIH fix this issue, but as the line is now defunct it’s too late.

Good and bad in this one. As with the previous book in the series, I appreciate the author’s attention to detail and historical feel. However, I wish this grumpy hero had woken up to himself a little earlier on.

Wedded for the Baby (Stand-In Brides #2)
by Dorothy Clark

I should probably give five stars for this , but found a few things that made it a four instead to me!
What that said, It is truly a very enjoyable read. One that was a little more unique in the plot itself. I enjoyed the family setting as well as the elements in the book that made you think and feel. I would of wanted more background and more action to make this a superb read! Even with that , I found it enjoyable to sit and lose myself in the story. I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna Swedenmom