The Bartered Bride Romance Collection is written by various authors and comes together in an engaging collection. Several of the stories are written by Cathy Marie Hake. There are four stories which follow sisters as they arrive in the west looking to be married but the man who placed the order was expecting bridles and not brides. A bit of confusion and concern over what to do with the women in a town full of men and no hotel or boarding house ensues. The farmer soon realizes that he has bought himself four brides, when he doesn’t even want one, and must see to their safety. There is one story focusing on each sister and builds on the previous one even though not by the same author. Each of the stories in the collection are unique and set in the 1800’s. The characters all focus on God’s plan for their lives though at times that plan is not clear.
I really enjoyed this collection due to very unique situations and characters that are realistic and easy to relate to. The stories are short and easy to read one at a time. I give this book 5 of 5 stars and recommend it to everyone who enjoys reading Christian romance stories.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

May I just say how much the names of these short stories annoyed me? I like one rhyming title but not that many! Thankfully, the stories were still wonderful - my favourite being The Wedding Wagon. I loved how the marriages slowly became romantic, I’ve always been a sucker for the mail order bride stories!

These collections are sometimes hit and miss for me. It is sometimes hard to make it through 9 different stories when they are all novellas and the characters aren't well developed due to time. I actually really enjoyed these stories. Perhaps the idea of romance flourishing after the arrange marriage is just interesting to me. I like to think all marriage is like that. We may marry for love but we have to work on our marriages once that twitter of first romance changes into the rhythm of everyday life and the foibles of our partner unfold. I loved the use of spirituality and the reliance on God played in part in most of these stories. I think that unifying aspect of marriage is what makes it work. Anyway, I enjoyed the stories and thought that they each had a different perspective yet at the same time the focus was on working it out. I liked that several of the stories were linked. The four Craig sisters each got their own story but the continuation of the story gave them a feel of unity. I am happy to have had the chance to read these and thank Netgalley and the publisher the chance to read and review this collection.