There are two aspects to a historical romance - the romance and the history. People who rank the romance higher will probably enjoy this one more than I did. There were a number of anachronisms (and mispellings) that took me out of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a sweet historical fiction set in the old West. It was a quick and easy read. Saloon girl Sorry my and small town law fall in love from a nail order bride scenario that got mixed up. I wish there was more about Logan and how the will ends up but there isn't. The story seemed to wrap up very quickly and wish that maybe the author has drawn that out a bit. Very clean and sweet!

Dorothy and Ronald are an interesting pair. I am not sure I've ever read a romance where the gentleman was described as boring, plain, and drab. But it was fun to see Ronald break out of his boring-ness and learn to let loose. Dorothy brought that out in him. He helped her find her backbone so she could eventually overcome her trials with her brother. Overall I enjoyed the story.

Dorothy wants a new life. A saloon girl helping her brother con poker players is not what she wants to do. With a little help from a stranger, she gets the chance of a new life. Will she be able to keep this life?

Very good reading! I enjoyed!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley, the review is my own opinion.

Dorothy Bednar has had enough of being an unwilling participant in her brother's cheating schemes. She flees and meets a woman on her way to be a mail-order bride. Dorothy agrees to carry a letter of the woman's change of hearty in exchange for passage away from her brother. A tangled web of lies builds up when Dorothy hesitates to hurt Ronald's feelings, and those lies soon threaten her chance at a happy ever after.

Where to start with this one? I wanted to like it. Mail-order bride stories can be entertaining. It was clean, but overall, the book was a mess, in my opinion. I've read books with awkward heroes, but there is usually some charm about them. Ronald had no charm. Whenever the story was with him, it was tedious. I have no idea how he managed to get far in a profession that involves working with people when he had no clue how to talk to people.

It was a little easier to like Dorothy, but I found myself unsympathetic to her. To avoid hurting someone's feelings does not seem like a good enough reason to lie. I might have accepted the lies if she had been trying to protect herself from her brother, but that wasn't the case.

There was a lot of telling going on in the narrative of the book. The author tells us what characters are feeling, telling us things that happened that affect the plot, instead of showing how it all ties together. It was especially disconcerting at the climax of the story where there is a sudden six month gap. A single paragraph explains what has happened, and it could have been the most interesting part of Dorothy's story: how she plots to escape her brother. As it was, the focus was on a romance that I didn't believe. I saw no reason for them to fall in love and stay together.

Though this is not marked as being part of a series, characters are introduced as though the reader should already know them and their backstories. A glance at the other books by the author show that she has written about this town before, so it should be connected as a series even if it is a stand alone tale.

This is a clean book but not one I would personally recommend to others. I received a free copy from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.

The premise for this book filled me with anxiety for a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the book, as there seemed to be unnecessary deceit. I said to myself, this is a love story. So I already know how it's going to end, in general. And this is obviously building to be a problem they have to overcome. So accompanying Dorothy in the downward spiral of lies was not fun. However, I was wrong. Things shifted sooner and differently than I had expected and that made the second half of the book all the better for me.

The characters in this story were great. Wilhelmina was goodness personified, rising to aid ("a person in need is family indeed!") - loved it. Ronald had some OCD tendencies, making his character refreshingly different from the typical hero mold, and I loved the way Dorothy grew to love, appreciate, and respect those qualities.

The ending was by far the best. I don't want to give anything anyway, but let's just say that it was exactly what I had been craving after a reading drought of intelligent, resourceful women.

#hisaccidentalbride #netgalley

This book had a cute storyline about a girl trying to redeem her like and I enjoyed reading it.

HIS ACCIDENTAL BRIDE is perfect for people who are looking for a clean historical romance. The characters learn important lessons and are all wonderful, inspiring people.

I was excited to read this book by Carolyn Twede Frank. The story-line sounded interesting and exciting and I loved the picture on the cover. My heart went out to Dorothy Bednar, the main female character. She's a twenty year old who is stuck in a situation she did not know how to get out of. Her parents have died and she has no other family but an older brother, who abuses her. He also uses her to help him cheat men in a saloon out of their money playing poker. She knows lying and cheating is wrong but if she doesn't do what he says, he beats and bruises her. Ronald Smith a young attorney has sent for a mail-order bride. After months of corresponding with Wilhemena Cooper he invites her to come out west. He believes they could have a compatible marriage. They are both very organized, planners with “A” personalities. Wilhelmina meets Dorothy on the train and helps her to escape her brother. During their conversation a plan is formed. Wilhelmina has gotten cold feet and can not go through with the wedding. Dorothy needs to get as far from her brother as possible. So when the stage coach rolls into Colorado it is Dorothy Bednar who gets out, not Wilhelmina Cooper.
I thank Covenant Communications for allowing me, through NetGalley, to read this book. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Ronald Smith , a young attorney decides he is sending for a mail-order bride. He has been corresponding with her and now she is coming to see him and they are going to get to know one another before the wedding.

Dorothy Bednar has been at the clutches of her evil brother and made to do things that were illegal such as fleecing honest men at card games. She finally made the decision to runaway and find some other type of living. As she boards a train she ends up in a traveling car with a nice lady headed to be a mail-order bride. However, she gets cold feet and asks Dorothy to deliver a letter to the gentleman which explains why she couldn’t go through with the agreement.

Dorothy misrepresents herself to one individual and that action snowballs into a situation that she can’t seem to undue. Actually, she chooses not to because she wants a better life and her life choices have never been hers to choose.

Dorothy and Ronald meet and no two people are more suited for one another! They truly are meant to be a couple, but things are about to erupt!

Any type of deceitfulness comes to light and can change the dynamics of a relationship!

The author could have tightened up a few chapters because it was choppy and sort of lagged. The ending is really not flowing.

His Accidental Bride was a fun, clean, mail-order bride story. I enjoyed the quirkiness of the characters. Especially Ronald. I just wanted to give him a big hug. Dorothy was a good balance to his perfectly organized life. My favorite part about this book was that Dorothy figures out how to get out of her own terrible predicaments by herself. She didn't need Ronald to "save her." I've read too many books where the female suffers until a strong male character comes into her life and solves everything. This book wasn't like that. If anything Dorothy saves Ronald from his boring self, helps him try new things. Some parts of this book were slow and drawn out unnecessarily. Other than that I did really enjoy this book. I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute romance set in the old west. It's clean. I love the way the author twists awkward and outgoing until they mesh.

A very clean, easy read but almost too precious. The writing was decent and the characters had well-constructed back stories, but it lacked a spark - it was too bland. 2.5 stars.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is a well written book that holds your attention. It's a clean mail order bride story with a twist. Dorothy and Ronald's story was a joy to read. Thank you Covenant Communications via NetGalley for The ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Dorothy is a heroine that despite all that is stacked against her always looks for the positive. Orphaned at a young age and forced to live with an abusive brother for a guardian, she finds a way to get a fresh start. It is fun watching her learn and become a confident woman that learns how to save herself. Good read and definitely didn't have the normal happy ending which I thought was a fun change of pace

I think my favorite thing about this book was that Ronald wasn't a dashing hero; he was steady and pragmatic, and his attempts to research how to court a woman and make plans accordingly were totally endearing. And I loved how Dorothy, after the mistreatment of her brother and a more "exciting" life could appreciate Ronald for who he was. Some parts of the books were predictable and sometimes the writing felt stilted sometimes, but all in all, this was a pleasant story.
3.5 stars.
I read an ARC provided by the publisher via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

It’s a decent read, although it dragged in places. Dorothy escapes her wretched life of scams, only to take on another woman’s Identity as a mail order bride. She wants to come clean but events prevent her from confessing. I found Ronald to be likable, but a little wooden. My favorite characters were Sunny and Logan. I thought the escapades went on a little too long.

"His Accidental Bride" by Carolyn Twede Frank is a clean mail-order bride romance set in the old west. It takes place in a small town in Colorado which is the same setting as many of Frank's other books, so it was fun to revisit some familiar favorite characters.

The main characters in this book are Dorthy, a women trying to escape from an abusive brother, and Ronald, a lonely socially awkward lawyer. This is definitely a case of opposites attract, because the characters could not be more different from each other. I enjoyed both of these characters but wished for a little more backstory for Ronald. I was left wondering why he was the way he was.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a little slow in parts but it was a fun story with good characters.

This novel was good in the sense of the growth of the main character, she really finds her way in life and despite the conditions and circumstances of her life, she makes great decisions and eventually climbs out of the whole that life buried her in.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

HIS ACCIDENTAL BRIDE
BY CAROLYN TWEDE FRANK

Dorothy worked in a saloon helping albeit as an unwilling participant to aid her older brother Vincent cheat while she delivers drinks to the tables she aids Vincent by helping him win card games. Her mother died giving birth and so she is stuck with living with her older brother. During one of these card games as Dorothy is delivering drinks she goes up to the man tending bar named Walter and asks to use the privy. She headed for the back door, grabbing her coat and handbag from the hooks in the storeroom. She runs to the train station and has very little money, less than a dollar. Dorothy bolted into the train not bothering to buy a ticket among the crowd boarding it. While riding on a train from Missouri she meets a kind woman named Wilhelmina Cooper who tells the conductor that Dorothy is sharing her sleeping compartment with her sister to fool the sheriff who just gave Dorothy's description. Wilhelmina can see that Dorothy is bruised below her eye and on her arm and asks Dorothy to describe what happened to her. She offers her one of the bunks to sleep on and gives her a pink nightgown to sleep in. The next morning Wilhelmina has ordered breakfast and tea for the two of them and says she has a business proposition for her.

Wilhelmina tells Dorothy that she had placed an advertisement in a magazine to be a mail order bride and that she had been corresponding with a lawyer in Colorado with a man named Ronald who she was travelling from Chicago to meet. She said on the way she got cold feet and thinks delivering the news by telegraph is too impersonal and if Dorothy delivers the news to him in person she can keep three fine outfits. Dorothy arrives as the mail order bride and the two of them are happy with each other. Dorothy is not yet 21 years old and she is striking in appearance and Ronald Smith is a gentleman that Dorothy is quite happy with because she is not used to being treated so much like a fine lady. They court and she has mixed feelings about all of the deception but has little money so she approaches the woman who owns the saloon in Craig, Colorado and asks if she needs help in the restaurant and Dorothy becomes a waitress while she already feels bad that Ronald Smith is paying all of her expenses in the room she is staying which is rather nice.

To say anymore would spoil the story which gets bogged down with all of the details during their two month courtship. I thought that this was a lovely story and there are still quite a few surprises left. I just feel like this moved along at a slow pace and would have been better if there was not so long a novel to get to the climax of this narrative. I did find it entertaining and enjoyed this novel very much. A lot more happens but you will have to read it to find out. I do recommend this wholesome story that is pleasant reading. This was a pleasure to read and the genre is suitable for fans of historical fiction with romance.

Publication Date: January 4, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Carolyn Twede Frank and Covenant Communications for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#HisAccidentalBride #CarolynTwedeFrank #CovenantCommunications #NetGalley