What a Bride Wants

The first book and ninth book of the “The Great Wedding Giveaway Series”, “What a Bride Wants” and “The Make Believe Wedding”, respectively, are romances with a capital R.

Set in the fictional town of Marietta, Montana, both books are about strong women and the alpha men they love.

Author Kelly Hunter had the honor to debut the series with her “What a Bride Wants” which follows Ella Grace Emerson and Cam Sawyer who comes from the opposite end of the financial spectrum in Marietta. Ella Grace is the crowned “princess” of Marietta being the working heiress of the vast Emerson ranch and her family’s other holdings. Cam Sawyer is a lowly bartender at the local watering hole. It’s a recipe for disaster but both of them were in for several big surprises before they can get their happily ever after.

If the first book is about Marietta’s royalty, the ninth book, Sarah Mayberry’s “The Make Believe Wedding” is about blue collar workers. Andie Bennet, currently a journeyman electrician has been in love with her brother’s best friend and currently her boss, Heath McGregor since she was 13. Andie was ready to give up on her unrequited love but the Marietta Great Wedding Giveaway happened and all of a sudden, Andie was in the running for Heath’s affections.

A series is usually done by one author. “The Great Wedding Giveaway Series” defies that norm. Someone at Tule Publishing had the great idea of pulling these stories under one “roof” - the “Montana Born Books”. With the fictional town of Marietta as the common ground that binds all the books, what we have a great collection of books authors.

One scene killed me and that was the park scene:
"Not here." His voice was gruff and halfway to pleading. "Ella, pull back. Public park. Children."
"What about them? Pregnancy is very unlikely; you're not even naked yet." Sawyer I loved his cockiness and attitude, "everything to do with the lust," he told her dryly. "You want to hope that the level of lust fades as you get to know me better, otherwise you're going to want to please me all the time." Ella that girl just doesn't care who sees her kiss her man and he is just happy to return those feelings, "she leaned forward, over the table, and kissed him square on the lips in front of half of Marietta, Montana, and Sawyer grinned and slid his hand in her hair and made it count." I loved this book so much I want my own Sawyer.

Books with brides on the cover always catch my eye and "What A Bride Wants" by Kelly Hunter was no exception. I was in the mood for a short romance and after reading the book blurb, I was hooked. Kelly Hunter is a new author to me and I liked her easy to read writing style immensely.

This book is about an ornery and sassy cowgirl, Ella Grace Emerson, and Cameron Sawyer, a successful businessman from Australia. Ella loves her life in Marietta, Montana and managing the ranch alongside her father is all she ever wanted to do. Her father wants her to get married and does everything in his power to drum up possible suitors, and that is where Cameron comes in. Cameron is a hunk of man and when he is not doing odd jobs, he is restructuring businesses. His work as a bartender in the local saloon provides the safety and cover he needs from his estranged family, especially his manic brother. Lust, attraction and a posting on the bar's bulletin board pull Ella and Cameron together, which very quickly evolves into love.
I really enjoyed this book and plan to read more from The Great Wedding Giveaway series. Ella and Cameron are extremely likeable, have great sexual chemistry and animate each other in the most unique ways. I immediately connected to them as individuals and as a couple. This is a great short story, complete with great characters, a little suspense and an endearing love story.

Complimentary copy provided by Netgalley.

Ella Emerson's father thinks she needs a little help to find a husband. He wants to see her settled down before he's gone, and since neither of them had succeeded in finding the right man for Ella, he had the brilliant idea to make a colored ad about his daughter wanting a "docile" husband. No need to say, many folks found it amusing! She wasn't aware until too late, and she decided to make her own ad about wanting the 'Perfect lover', with sparks and experience required.

Sawyer is made from pure male hotness with broad shoulders and has a bedroom voice. He just got into town a few weeks ago. He isn't really looking for marriage, but he liked Ella and her spunk so he volunteered for the 'Perfect lover' position. One thing led to another, we got a sweet and light romance. The sex wasn't the focus of this story so we didn't have a lot of it. Also, I liked to know more about Sawyer's past and his unease to become too close to someone again. Ella could be a little too bossy for my taste, but other than that she was a likeable character.

OK, so the part where she [ had her entire arm into the cow (hide spoiler)] was just disgusting. Eww, I can't imagine ever doing this. It wasn't sexy at all and if I were her, I would never have done this in front of Sawyer, the guy she's interested in. But well, maybe she wanted to see if he was squimish about her being a cowgirl and all that...

"I know you said you wanted to get down and dirty with me, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind." Me neither!

Overall, What a Bride Wants was a nice read I enjoyed, even if I didn't really love the ending with the 'giveaway', it was a little rushed.

***I received e-copy has been given to me through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review***

Fast read, love the chemistry between Sawyer and Ella..
Look forward to more bride stories and more books from Kelly :)

I have read most of the Marietta Brides books, and enjoyed every one.

A quick and enjoyable read with great characters and lines, the book was very descriptive of Montana. I have a friend who lives there and its described to perfection especially in the snow.

Liked the book very much and would recommend it.

In most romance novels that I have read, the female protagonist usually has issues with her father that make it difficult to love. What I enjoyed about this book is that the love shared between father and daughter leads her to finding her happiness in the most unexpected place. As a shorter book, the storyline moved smoothly and was so well written, I became interested in learning about other books in the series.

A free copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What a Bride Wants is the story of Ella, an heiress to a ranch, who becomes tired of her father constantly trying to marry her off to eligible men. After he places an advert in the local newspaper looking for a docile house-husband for her, she retaliates by placing an advert of her own in the local bar for a perfect lover. This is a position that the new bartender in town, Sawyer, is all too happy to apply for. I really enjoyed reading this story, although I think that it could quite easily have been extended so that it was longer than it was. In some ways, its shortness meant that issues surrounding Sawyer and Ella's courtship and Sawyer's family in particular were resolved a little too quickly and conveniently. I did really like both main characters though and even thought that Ella's father was quite endearing despite his actions. Ella and Sawyer both had great chemistry too. I think the big advantage with stories like this as well, is that fictional towns like this have a wide variety of characters in, so even if a supporting character's role is not expanded in this story, I can always hope that the next book I read by Hunter will return to them and let me piece together more of their story - and there's a variety of these intriguing characters in this story to look forward to getting to know better.
A really nice story and setting and an enjoyable short story. 4 stars.

Short, funny and sweet. Ella is a great character. Sawyer and his evil brother not so much. Still a very enjoyable read.

What A Bride Wants is a stunning hot romance like no other! Once you pick up this novel, you won’t want to put it down! I enjoyed reading this novel by Kelly Hunter. The female character was strong, straight forward, and sassy. Especially when Ella’s love interest Cameron walked into her life. For him it was just one look into her eyes and her bright personality that melted his heart. All it took was on look at Cameron and his broad shoulders and his cute dimples to melt her insides away. Cameron is wealthy like Ella and her father but his life comes with baggage. His older brother Richard is a rapist, a stalker, and a thief. Richard has ruined Cameron’s parents family brewery and is now a wanted man. Richard went after one woman that Cameron fell in love with. Will he go after Ella too? Will Cameron be able to save Ella and stop his brother? And what happens with his parents’ business? I highly recommend all readers to read on and find out what happens! I rate this novel a 5 out of 5 stars!

Ranch princess seeks...love. Though her father is specific in wanting husband, Ella is more interested in the lover aspect of being with a man. Enter drifter Sawyer who is more interested in title of lover...and boy, do they have sparks...enough to maybe transition to permanency...there's quite a bit of drama associated with Sawyer but is kind of dealt with in the background. The bar ads were hilarious...makes the HEA all the more sweeter.

This story starts out with so much fun. The ads in the bar are a great intro to both Ella and Sawyer – she’s all bossy and independent, he’s charming and intrigued – but this story soon develops into something more. Yes, Ella is bossy and she remains so throughout. I really liked that about her.

I’ll admit that Sawyer surprised me. At first it seems like he’s being set up as a friendly player who can have any woman he wants, but it’s quickly clear that he isn’t anything like that. He’s got a Past and some Horrible Secrets behind him. I liked him, though.

This is a short and mostly sweet read, though a little more serious than I expected given the fun start. Not such a bad thing, but it was a shame the short length made a few things feel a bit rushed. I wish Ella and Sawyer had been given a few more chapters to tell the story two such good characters deserved.

I've been reading books set in Marietta, Montana a lot lately, and besides the town, they have one more thing in common. I am absolutely loving them. Like the rest of the books in the Great Wedding Giveaway series, this book was funny and a quick read. Ella was a strong character who would have run off the wrong man with her strong personality. Cameron Sawyer (Sawyer to most of Marietta), is strong enough to handle her. Ella and Sawyer meet because Ella's dad pissed her off and caused her to do something rash. Neither one was really looking for anything serious, but Sawyer was the one who had strong reasons not to fall for anyone. Eventually his reasons are revealed and Ella proves that she is strong enough to stand by him. The writing was strong and once I started reading, I didn't want to put this book down. One of these days maybe I'll read the books in order instead of jumping all over the place, but going out of order doesn't take away from any of the stories. It gets a strong 4 1/2 star rating from me and goes into the read again pile.

I got this book for my wife to review and she loved it. She is now wanting to read more of this series.

What a Bride Wants only had one problem - it was over too quickly. I enjoyed the chemistry between Ella and Sawyer and I liked them both. Nicely written, Ms. Hunter!

****A gifted copy was provided by the publisher for an honest review****

This is a sweet historical romance that is about Ella and Cam. Ella’s father keeps trying to marry her off. He puts an ad in the paper for a husband for her –saying that the husband needs to be pretty much tame and broken in. Ella decides to one up her father and puts an ad in the local bar saying no husband required, and they do not need to be broken in or anything because all she is wanting is a lover.

In comes Cam Sawyer. He is so very willing to be the bad boy and teach Ella everything and then some when it comes to be being bad. He is so willing to getting “down and dirty”. Cam has a mysterious past and the book really doesn’t get into it much but the chemistry between Ella and Cam is thru the roof.

This is book 1 in the author’s new series . I found this to be a quick, fun, seriously hot read. I would recommend this as a read because you can get into the story and even though some loose ends do not get tied up, the story moves along at a fast past and Ella and Cam make this story worthwhile.

My rating: 4.0 stars ****

amazon.com review http://www.amazon.com/review/R34HFYY5ZLQ74E/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

This book was so much fun to read, I didn't want to end! Cameron Sawyer,originally from Australia, just got hired as a bartender at Grey's Saloon in a small town in Montana. He knows it's temporary, but that's fine with him, since he doesn't like to stay in one place too long. Ella lost her Mom at a very young age and has been raised by her father, and together they have run one of the most profitable cattle ranches in Montana. As wonderful as her father is, he is forever trying to find her a husband. When he puts an ad in the local paper on her behalf, she decides to put up her own notice at the saloon bulletin board, letting everyone know she is looking for someone to keep her warm at night. Cameron thinks he's the right man for the job. As they get to know each other and secrets are revealed, their bond is strengthened. This was such a great book to read that I can't wait for the others.

This is a funny, lightweight read; the story is only 84 pages of a love at first meddling father.

It's bad when parents decide to play matchmakers, it's bad when they try to point out potential "candidates", but it is horrifying, beyond traumatizing when your father goes out and puts a full color personal ad in the paper trying to find you a domesticated husband.

When, Ella Grace Emerson's father does just that, after contemplating patricide she decides to put up her own ad at the saloon. Her ad, seeks a lover not a husband and preferably one that can annoy her father. Which can you blame her? If I were her, patricide would be very appealing, that is of course if I didn't drop of mortification the moment I learned of the ad.

Enter Cam Sawyer, good looking new bartender in town who decides to answer Ella's second ad. Cam doesn't want any forever, he is constantly on the run from his crazy brother; but for Ella he is willing to reconsider his way of life and make Marietta home.

The story is sweet, I love that for Ella there has to be a spark, she doesn't want rich, she doesn't want luxury, all she wants is SPARK! Cam is a good and funny character and Ella's father is also very endearing, as long as he is not putting any ad's out.

Rating 4 out of 5 Read@Book

What is it that they say... be careful what you wish for because you might get it... well our gal got it in her fight for her man in this story... it was a really good short snappy read and I am going to look for more.

Cute start of a fun & sweet series.

Overall enjoyable read.

What a Bride Wants is a very sweet, quick read. I loved the characters, they were well written and fleshed out. Would recommend!

This was a really good romance between characters Ella Grace Emerson and Cam Sawyer. Ella is tired of her father trying to marry her off, so she searches for the perfect lover instead and comes up with Cam. What develops is a touching romance. I loved this one and look forward to more by the author. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.