This book interested me because the premise was about 7 women struggling to bloom where God has planted them and I was looking forward to the encouragement I would receive about that in my own life and those God has placed around me as I read about these American women. One of the stories brings out the reflection from one of the ladies as she looks out over a vast expanse and reflects on what in her life needs to change and what needs to stay. Another is breathing a silent prayer for favor. Another moment in the book is the truth of salvation. That Jesus keeps on saving over and over, every minute. This is just a few of the inspiring treats in this one. There were funny moments as well and of course, there was romance in the bringing together of lives before God.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wonderful read, I greatly enjoyed it. I love being able to try new authors and read from ones that I already have read books from before. All the different romances were wonderfully written, and it definitely was what I like in romance books

In this new novella collection, each of these women have a flower name and find love.



Holly and Ivy

Holly accompanies her sister Ivy to try and dissuade her sister from marrying a man that she hasn't met, on a train ride to meet Ivy's mail-order groom. Rancher Nick sees them being harassed on the train and sits beside them, and gives them a place to stay when Ivy's intended doesn't show up. Nick is kind and protective.

Will they find love on the range?



Periwinkle in the Park

Peri loves the beauty of God's creation and wants to share it with others, which is why she works as a trail guide at Estes Park and wants it to be protected as a National Park. While Clay is a rancher and hunter, and doesn't like the idea of a National Park, when he comes across Peri with a sprained ankle he helps her out, and challenges her to come hunting with him to see his side of the conflict. Clay is a good man, and he shares Peri's love of God's creation though expressed a little differently.



At Home with Daffodils

Dilly works with her mother in the general store, she is protective of her nephew who is often a target of town bullies. When a childhood friend from the past steps up to help her nephew, she is surprised as she has been awaiting his return for years. Will Dilly and Jace get a second chance at love?



A Song for Rose

This story was one of my favorites, with humor, great characters, and excellent dialog. Rose dreams of the opera and being a star, while Patrick wants to protect her from the dangers and disappointments of life on the stage. Patrick is the manager of the opera house, so he knows firsthand what it is like. Rose is determined and knows how to care for herself, she is resourceful and he likes the challenge of learning her ways. Rose comes from a big family that welcomes Patrick. Will they be able to find common ground for love to grow?



The Beauty of Tansy

When Tansy's uncle dies, her aunt sells the farm and buys a store in Pierre, SD. Much of the work falls to Tansy to make the disheveled store presentable. Art owns the store next door, he makes furniture and musical instruments. Art rushes to her rescue when he hears a crash, and helps her to the doctor. Art helps Tansy with the store, and helps her come out of her shell.



A Prickly Affair

Lily and Peter are an unlikely pair. Lily runs her own ranch in Arizona, and writes romance novels for a New York magazine under a pen name. Peter is a City Slicker sent by his uncle to convince Lily to come to New York. Peter doesn't understand right away the beauty that she finds in life on the range, but he determined to get to know the woman behind the stories.



In Sheeps Clothing

This story is probably the most different, set in 1702 during the Wool Act that restricted colonists from selling wool outside their own colony. Yarrow is a skilled spinner and weaver, and she must turn to secretly selling it through a peddler to her customers. Peter is training to be a master fuller, he admires Yarrow's skill, and he encourages her to teach other ladies her skills to help her earn a legal income and it give him better cloth to work with.



I loved the variety of this collection, full of strong women, and the good men who love them.







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 a sweet, clean collection of stories that are just right for when you need something shorter and lighter to read—perfect reading for a lazy summer afternoon. Written by good authors, and in a variety of settings , these stories have the happy endings that make for fun reading.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review. This is my honest opinion of the book.

I received a copy from NetGalley; this is my honest review. Total 4.3 stars.
1.Holly & Ivy (4.5*): Great story. Loved how things worked out. Two stories out of one. Not much on the romance, though. Out of nowhere, two full pages of sermons etc. with nothing before/after.
2.Periwinkle in the Park (4*): Great story, missing a bit of details. Loved the couple. Set in 1910 but has words that came out after, such as jalopy (1920's).
3.At Home with Daffodils (3.5*): Loved Jace a lot. He did everything for Dilly. Dilly's song "I'm not worthy" was really getting old at the end.
4.A Song for Rose (4.5*): Loved the dynamics between the couple and the friends.
5.The Beauty of Tansy (5*): Not much romance between the two but lots of funny events in a bit of mystery and a bit of suspense. Love it when the whole town gets together for the good of one.
6.A Prickly Affair (5*): Funny, sweet, enemies to lovers (without the sex) kind of story. Loved it.
7.In Sheep's Clothing (3.5*): I don't understand why this title doesn't follow the rest of the book. Why not use Yarrow's name? Absolutely did not like both sisters; not just the youngest, both. It did not add to the story and took away much more to what was important. Loved the gradual friendship between Yarrow and Peter.

I love that Barbour collections include some of my favorite authors and introduce “new to me” authors. 
The “bouquet” in this book is a wonderful collection of brides named after flowers. I liked that unique link. 
As a whole, I enjoyed the book. There were a couple novellas that seemed a bit rushed with abrupt beginnings or endings. I think a few more paragraphs on either side would have given them more depth. I still enjoyed the stories though. I learned a few things too, especially reading Pegg Thomas' In Sheep's Clothing. Caring for sheep, shearing them, carding the wool, spinning, weaving and making your own cloth, then having to make your own clothes with that cloth. Wow, I'm so very glad to live in modern times. 

*I received a digital copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley. No review was required. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Eight men find their rare flowers in these 7 historical Christian Romances. These story take the reader from 1702 Connecticut to 1890 Washington to 1885 Arizona Territory and 1910 Colorado and even to small town Oklahoma. The stories take you along on the discovery of what God has in store for these couples and the adversities they have to overcome to become a bride.

Holly & Ivy by Mary Davis 1890 Washington Holly & Ivy Harrison are sisters working in a society house in Maryland when Ivy announces that she's going to a mail-order bride. Holly wants to talk her out of it so ends up on the train with her. They are saved from unscrupulous men by a cowboy who Holly wants nothing to do with. Nick Andrews. Nick is doing the gentlemanly thing by protecting 2 women travelling alone. Thinking they got off the train in Chicago Nick's surprised to see them on the train he's taking home and even more surprised to find out they are going all the way to his stop. Holly and try to talk Ivy out of being a mail order bride. When they explain what happens when she arrives Ivy gets cold feet and wants to wait awhile but her bride groom to be has other plans so Nick steps in and helps them by taking them back to his ranch not telling them the truth. They are about to go back east when a storm hits delaying them. Holly & Ivy are taken to the train station to find out that they've been fired and Holly's personal items have been sent to her. The decision is made that they'll come work permanently at the ranch cooking like the were previous doing. All the while Holly and Nick are falling in love and Ivy is falling in love with Gil, Nick's former partner. When Christmas comes and everyone on the ranch goes to town for the festivities Gil asks Holly to marry Ivy. Nick joins in and asks Holly to marry him and since the whole town is there and Holly & Ivy have no one to attend they marry right away.

Periwinkle in the Park by Kathleen Kovach 1910 Estes Park Colorado Peri as everyone calls her is a naturalist who gives tours of the park to tourists. Clayton is a rancher who runs a hunting business. The town is divided because people want to make Estes Park a national park. Clayton and Peri are on opposing sides. When Peri is suffers an injury that Clayton causes he stays near by to protect her. As they get to know each other and become friends they begin to have feelings for each other. They wonder how they can resolve their differences. A friend of Peri's invites them for dinner after church bringing in a man from Clayton's past and causing him to leave the dinner. As Peri & Clayt0n become closer Peri decides to go on a hunting trip with Clayton to see how he hunts. Peri also goes to make her case with the help of Clayton's enemy. When Clayton goes to give support but sees Peri with the man he hates he goes home. Peri had invited the man & his people on a tour of the mountain. She takes them to the waterfall that Clayton showed her and clearing where they met. Clayton sees where they're going and decides to confront his enemy but realizes that a mountain lion is about to attack and shoots, but another hunter also takes a shot and hits Peri wounding her. Clayton and his enemy have to work together to save Peri's life. After Clayton gets Peri home the Senator shows up and Clayton and the Senator forgive each other.

At Home With Daffodil by Paula Moldenhauer Oklahoma Dilly is running to protect her nephews from bullies. Praying to get there in time or that he'll get some type of help. Jace steps in to save the boy. Thinking he is her son and she's married Jace doesn't contact Dilly making her think he doesn't want anything to do with her. Her spirits go lower. Once the boy calls her aunt then Jace goes to see her explaining what happened which leaves the store unattended and someone steals some clothes. That situation makes Dilly think that the citizens won't respect her or trust her anymore. As they get to know each other again and start courting bringing back all their feelings. Jace goes and buys Dilly's dream house from its owner planning on proposing. As Dilly and Jace are walking a special spot near town, his father shows up & trying to get him sober one more time, Jace comes home to find his savings gone. Ashamed and thinking he needs to leave town because of what just happened he's packing when Dilly's nephew shows up and talks to him about what happened and they go to church where he's welcomed with open arms. Jace takes Dilly to a special spot to show her the place he bought and proposes.

A Song for Rose by Susan Norquist Colorado Rose Miller wants to audition for the opera company passing through town. Patrick O'Donnell is the town's Opera House Manager who knows what life is like in an opera company. Patrick tries to get Rose to leave but she finds ways to get back into the opera houses looking for a chance to audition. Rose feels the only way to stand out in her large family is her singing. Patrick is harboring huge doubts about his singing career because of all the negative things his father has said about him. When Rose and 3 chorus girls go on a picnic and get caught in a storm Patrick talks her brothers into going to rescue them. Patrick explains about his ex-fiancé and asks Rose if he can court her. After thinking about it Rose says no because she's still planning on going on the road with an opera company. Rose think she has her chance when the leader male talks her into leaving with the group and not telling anyone she's going. When she arrive and they've already left she's devastated, thinking that Patrick has left also. Patrick sees Rose at the boarding house and she tells him what has happened and he explains about the plans for the opera house.

The Beauty of Tansy by Donita K Paul 1910 South Dakota Tansy is living on the farm with her recently widowed aunt, when she sells the farm and moves to town to open a store, After arriving in town and starting on cleaning up the store Tansy is hurt. Hearing the accident Arthur arrives to see what happened. He takes her to the doctor where they stitch up her arm. Tansy's aunt isn't acting like she had when they lived on the farm and Tansy doesn't know what to do. Arthur doesn't like old people because of the way he's raised and believes that Tansy's aunt is taking advantage of her. he starts helping her with the store and giving her advice. This brings them closer together. They're about to share their first kiss when her aunt interrupts them. The second time his uncle shows up and interrupts them. Wanting help with her aunt's behavior Tansy goes to her pastor. Tansy her aunt and Art are asked to come for supper. The pastor goes to get Art. His uncles are wanting him to return to Nashville with them to help in the family business. With the help of the pastor and his wife Tansy's aunt returns to her former self. She goes and investigates Art's uncles and finds out that their plans. She and Tansy go to give Arthur support. Art is in the process of making a delivery when he's called back to town by a judge to see if a trail is needed. After his uncles are taken care of and Tansy and Art are headed back to their stores they finally get their first kiss.

A Prickly Affair by Donna Schlachter 1885 Arizona Territory Lily is taking care of her family ranch and writes steamy romances under an alias Daisy Douglas. Peter Golding is an aspiring editor at his uncle's publishing company. He's sent to bring Daisy back to New York City, which he wants to do as quickly as possible. As he tries to convince Lily to leave the home she loves they end up falling in love with each other. After they have a disagreement, Peter gets lost and is thrown from his rented horse and Lily and the livery owner go looking for him. Finding him Lily realizes that God does answer prayer and Peter comes to the same conclusion for the same reason. He invites Lily into town to have breakfast with him and when he's called away for a telegram Lily finds an old one and reads it. thinking that his feelings are just to get her to New York City Lily get mad and leaves. Peter follows her out to her ranch and they try to figure out how to solve their differences.

In Sheep's Clothing by Pegg Thomas 1702 Connecticut Yarrow is taking her cloth for fulling to the new full house. As she's waiting in line she hears about the new journeyman working there and how handsome he is. She only wants her cloth worked on. Peter is impressed with her cloth and Yarrow herself. Yarrow has a secret and Peter is trying to forget his past and wanting to become a Master Fuller as quickly as possible. Peter has the idea that Yarrow should teach the other women in the community to weave. Yarrow wants to earn money so that she can set up her independence. When Peter sends some women her way Yarrow starts teaching them. Yarrow adopts a lamb and wants to save, on the way she runs into Peter who shows her how to take care of the lamb. Realizing he wants Yarrow in his life he asks if he can court her but on the Sunday he's to ask her brother-in-law her ex fiancé shows up and wants to start their relationship again. He is also the same man who ruined Peter in Boston. After church the two men go off together and talk about what they know about each other where Yarrow comes across them. Yarrow is confused and doesn't know what to do. Peter decides to tell her about his past. While Yarrow is trying to make an decision a bear scares the village sheep scattering them, including her adopted one. Yarrow Peter and the ex go looking. When Peter and Yarrow come across an injured sheep and Yarrow's lamb they take them both and head back to the flock running into the bears. Peter puts Yarrow behind him to protect her but the ex shoots the bear. Thinking that the ex is the hero Peter thinks he's lost Yarrow until she comes back to where the flock is and finds Peter where they tell each other they love the other.
These seven books show the reader how God helps to heal and show the couples the way to what is supposed to be if they just give themselves over to him instead of trying to make themselves into something they're not and in finding God their problems can be solved with prayer and hard work.

A Bouquet of Brides Romance Collection what an adventurous (Holly and Ivy on their way to Frontier Country to marry a toad of a man. When they are, let's say a wonderful surprise.) Knowledgeable (Periwinkle is the national parks tour guide-she is knowledgeable about that but not so on men. Then she meets....) Relational (it starts off with the couple's being already together. Then what happens is fantastic.) Partnership.(you have a couple with a surprising ending. You will be amazed. They are partnered up and it is fascinating.) Convenience (you have a couple who have found each other. When they did was it a marriage of convenience or will two become one in Spirit?) Trade (a romantic story of two very interesting stories.) Stories. They are all great historical pieces. Most of all they have Faith in GOD and relies on HIM.

Beautiful stories. I love the Barbour novella collections. It gives us a chance to read known to us authors and try new to us authors all in one book. All the main character females in this collection have flower names and some beautiful and unusual ones too like Yarrow and Pennyroyal. I have read many Barbour books over the years and I can always count on clean,fun and entertaining reads that I can have confidence sharing with my teen daughter.
Pub Date 01 Jan 2018
Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing, Inc. for a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

A perfect anthology that inspires warm feelings of happy endings and beautiful weddings... these are a perfect way to read new authors so I always recommend them.

A Bouquet of Brides Romance Collection includes bridal stories by Mary Davis, Kathleen E. Kovach, Paula Moldenhauer, Suzanne Norquist, Donita Kathleen Paul, Donna Schlachter, and Pegg Thomas. Some of these authors were new to me so I always find an anthology a great way to sample their work. These stories all carry a common theme besides being American brides, one that I found delightful. Each of the female lead character has a flower name. How fun is that.
The stories range in time from the 1700’s to the earlier 1900’s. Almost all of them also take place in the western states with one in Connecticut. Each book has the author unique style of storytelling along with varied social situations that the characters live.
I especially like Periwinkle in the Park by Kathleen Kovach that takes place in a national park. This is different from the normal Brides stories. Another one I thought was as interesting as enjoyable is In Sheep’s Clothing by Pegg Thomas which has a setting I was unfamiliar with, that of an early 1700 Connecticut woolen mill.
I can recommend to fans of sweet, romantic stories are with strong females and honorable males. That makes for a wonderful read if the stories are well told, which these are. It is a perfect way to find new authors through these novellas.
The publisher through Net Galley provided a copy.

A Bouquet of Brides Romance Collection is a collection of short stories by various authors set in the 1700 and 1800’s in various parts of the country.
Holly and Ivy is written by Mary Davis, Periwinkle in the Park by Kathleen Kovach, At Home with Daffodils by Paula Moldenhauer, A Song for Rose by Suzanne Norquist, The Beauty of Tansy by Donita K. Paul, A Prickly Affair by Donna Schlater and In Sheep’s Clothing by Peg Thomas.
As you can see by the titles there is a theme of flowers throughout each story. I enjoyed each one; some of the authors I was familiar with but some are new to me. Each story had a unique setting and of course the road to love does not run smoothly so each couple has some type of conflict to overcome. In some cases, it is a past one is trying to run from. All of the characters are realistic and their struggles with trusting in God and things many struggles with today. Each story drew me in and made me want more. I rate this book 5 of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

An enjoyable collection of all new historical novellas!
Set all across America, mainly in the late 1800's to early 1900's, and ending with one in Colonial times.
The variety of women featured in the stories all share names from flora-- Holly, Ivy, Periwinkle, Tansy, Rose, Daffodil, Lily (or 'Cactus Lil'), and Yarrow; each one as different and colorful as their names. The gentlemen they meet are an interesting mix too, from rough ranchers and a quarryman, to a fine woodworker, an opera singer, and a soft, smitten New York City book editor.
There were many instances that illustrated God's love for us and the need for forgiveness. This statement from Periwinkle's story especially stuck with me: "Forgive the unlovable; love the unforgivable."

The history and background to the stories added a lot, with the beginnings of a national park, life on a remote cattle ranch in the Arizona desert, a Colonial woolen fulling mill and the laws limiting trade. I learned a lot along the way, and fell a little bit in love with some of the hardworking, kind men, especially the rancher Nick Andrews in the first story (pictured him as a Sam Elliott look alike), and Arthur Blake, the humble woodworker.
"Afraid of a little blood?" (The doctor's wife asked Arthur as he backs out of the room.)
"No ma'am. Afraid of a little bit of a gal with honey hair who fits in my arms like a well-made guitar." *sigh*

I look forward to reading more from these authors who were mostly new to me. Recommend this book to readers who enjoy tender historical Christian romances. 4.5 stars

I like the olios of romantic stories to just while away an hour or two between jobs I need to do and this one is a complete bouquet of flowers. Each heroine's name is also a flower name but sometimes the girl in question doesn't like her name or its implications. The hero of the story has to convince the posey that she is not only likable, but her flower name has a broader, more impressive meaning than she believes.

Barbour Books searches out the authors who do creditable jobs in putting together these short novels (which to my mind is a bit harder to do than writing a full-length novel. I mean, you have to get the character development, setting, plot, plot twists, and denouement in fewer words and fewer pages than a full length novel.) and Barbour finds these incredible writers and draws the best out of them.

This is a five-star collection, two thumbs up, and a bouquet for your wedding.

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

A Bouquet of Brides Romance Collection is a collection of seven stories about seven bachelors. These stories include:
Holly and Ivy by Mary Davis
Periwinkle in the Park by Kathleen Kovach
At Home with Daffodils by Paula Moldenhauer
A Song for Rose by Suzanne Norquist
The Beauty of Tansy by Donita K. Paul
A Prickly Affair by Donna Schlachter
In Sheep’s Clothing by Pegg Thomas
I enjoyed these stories. All of these authors are new to me and hope to see more by them in the future.
4 stars.

I must not have read the description very carefully as I didn't know what kind of bouquet these brides had in common, it wasn't till the third story I noticed all the bride's names were flowers! What an intresting idea and it made for a great collection. I like best these collections, that while they share a common thread showing creative takes on the same idea the stories each have a great variety of settings and storylines!

Holly and Ivy by Mary Davis (1890, Washington State) - I did like this one and while the story line is similar to others I have read about mail order brides, I could relate quite a bit to Holly and really did like the characters. Nice read!

Periwinkle in the Park by Kathleen Kovach (1910, Colorado)- I loved the history of this one and the unusual characters... not your typical heroine! I liked her also, as though she was independant she was not overly feministic in that she still valued men, only stood to show what women are capable of too. What a unique story! I appreciated the history of the National parks and an area of the country I am unfamiliar with.

At Home with Daffodils by Paula Moldenhauer (1909, Oklahoma)- I think this one was my favorite! I loved that because their relationship was already established we readers get to see a more mature side of a relationship of growing and becoming a better support and enduring with one another, a part of the relationship that is very real, important and necessary to not give up on or we will miss the most dear depths of love, when you stand by the one you love through thick and thin. Lovely characters.

A Song for Rose by Suzanne Norquist (1882, Rockledge, Colorado)- I liked that this was with performers, an angle that I had not yet seen a story, and that the ending was not predictable. I figured she would get hurt and disallusioned, but the ending and the couples solution better than I hoped. Nice to see a redheaded hero!

Beauty in a Tansy? by Donita K. Paul (1918, South Dakota)- I had never heard of a flower named Tansy. I liked how selfless these two main character were and how caring they were of each other and others. Role models of upstanding character, that were a pleasure to read about and an encouragement of an example to follow.

A Prickly Affair by Donna Schlachter (1885, Arizona)- I must admit this one fell short of my expectations and was my least favorite of the collection as it almost can't be considered a romance as there was hardly any romance and I didn't understand why the couple actually loved one another. Seemed they were both just flattered by the idea of the other or marriage and it became a marriage of convenience? Maybe just not my style, hope others like it though!

In Sheep’s Clothing by Pegg Thomas (1702, Connecticut)- how intresting that this one takes place in Colonial America during the early 1700's! That alone made it an intresting read, along with the corresponding historical events, intresting facts of a trade I knew nothing about and likeable characters, it was the perfect end to the collection! I really enjoyed this story! I hope the author does more during this time period!

I would give it a 4.5 as it could be a little better, but since I can't, it seemed worthy of more than a 4, so it gets a 5! All in all a very worthwhile collection! Enjoy!

This is a fantastic collection of romantic novellas. I found each selection to be well written with a good storyline. All of the authors were new to me and I anticipate reading more of their work. I highly recommend to readers of historical romance.

Yet another sweet collection of brides all named in some way related to flowers, I enjoyed this theme tying them altogether and the stories were also as lovely as the chosen flowers.

I enjoy these novella collections, and this one has been great. It appears that the leading females will share names with flowers, which is a cute thing to tie all the stories together.

Holly & Ivy
I really enjoyed this story. It was a very sweet little romance, and even included a bit of 2-in-1. The main hero, Nick showed himself to be very honorable throughout the story. I loved how he subtly followed the girls and made it a point to sit near them for protection on the train. This was a sweet story that I really enjoyed, and from a new-to-me author.