The Courageous Brides Collection is collection of nine stories. These stories include:
The Healing Promise by Johnnie Alexander The Doctor’s Woman by Michelle Griep An Everlasting Promise by Eileen Key Love on the Run by Debby Lee Hidden Courage by Rose Allen McCauley The Encumbered Bride by Donita Kathleen Paul Mountain Echoes by Jennifer Uhlarik Letters from Lucy by Jenness Walker The Battlefield Bride by Renee Yancy Almost every one of these authors I hae never read before or even heard of and I am definitely not disappointed. These little stories are great. My favorite is Jennifer Uhlarik's Mountain Echoes. What a fabulous collection!
5 stars.

These nine stories are wonderful and I love these authors. I enjoy this type of compilation very much and would love to read more from these writers.

Nine women step out in faith and courage despite their circumstances.

Marcy Whitt in The Healing Promise cares about the native Indians, and is willing to help a sick girl in the doctor's absence.
Joel Ellison accompanies her and encourages her along the way, even though she is promised to another.

In The Doctor's Woman Emmy Nelson rushes to the fort to help the new doctor, but Dr. James Clark isn't planning on staying for long. Dr. Clark is only there for a short time before returning home to report his findings and a prestigious position at Harvard. Will Emmy change his mind?

In An Everlasting Promise, Veronica Fergus stows away on Seth McKenzie's cattle drive. Seth isn't happy when he discovers her, but Veronica quickly proves that she is worth her salt, and wins all the cowhands over with her good cooking. And she proves to be a good hand when they run into many adventures along the way.

Daisy Hollister in Love on the Run wants to ride for the Pony Exress, and make money to help her deceased friend's family. Not only that but also to get away from the man who killed her parents. So she convinces the stationmaster, Billy Cook to let her ride. But that's just the beginning...

In Hidden Courage, Ellinor Peck discovers other young women who want to fight against slavery, and she bravely stands up for her convictions despite her family being slave holders. William Chandler admires her spirit. He is in town to take up an apprenticeship under her uncle, who is doctor. He refuses to make promises he can't keep, and I admired how he prays and waits.

The Encumbered Bride is a favorite of mine because of the humor. Grant wakes up to giggles with no idea where he is, and he can't ask because he is too wounded to speak. He learns about the family by listening to them interact with each other, but he soon discovers that he never hears an adult. The eldest of the ten, Mae, is in charge and she's doing her best to keep everything running smoothly without letting others know that their parents are dead, so that they can all stay together.

In Mountain Echoes, Hannah Rose rises to the occasion and saves everyone on the stagecoach with her strength and tenacity, taking care of her young charge, and the injured stagecoach driver.

Letters From Lucy is like one of the dime novels that Lucy refers to derisively in the beginning of the story. Lucy writes imagined news stories to her friend Amelia in Boston. Sam has a secret and doesn't know if he can trust her, miscommunication and conclusions are jumped to, in this adventure.

In Battlefield Bride, Katherine Wilkes begins helping at the makeshift church-turned-hospital, she manages to feed and clean the wounded before the doctor, Major James Logan, even know they are there. James goes from insisting she leave, to finding her services indispensable. James teaches her about Christ, and helps to understand His sacrifice.

A wonderful collection, with fantastic characters--I loved these stories about Courageous Brides, and how they stood up for their beliefs and rose to the occasion to help others.

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 collection of novellas show skill and immense creativity throughout. Each novella gives you instant satisfaction before moving onto the next story line which is as good as the last one or even better. The stories are well crafted and they each stand alone and pull you in instantly, which is a delightful surprise, that it would happen not once, not twice, but nine times. As Oliver Twist would say, "Please sir, may I have another?"

Really enjoyed this collection, the first few were the best, and the last were great, so don't stop somewhere in the middle! Interesting settings and mostly well developed romances. Could hardly put this collection down! Felt like this collection had some of the best female leads, just admirable characters. Very happy and well worth the price! Some of my favorite characters and interactions of all the collections so far!

This was a great book to read this summer. Had lots of guests and lots of travel, so this was a great book to read when I had a few minutes. I loved how each of the authors put their own spin on the courageous women. Really did a great job of creating stories that I did't want to put down. Highly recommend.

This book is yet another wonderful collection of inspiring romances that are enriched with both faith and romance. Any reader would be happy with this amazing collection!

This collection of nine novellas takes readers on an entertaining adventure from Civil War battlefields, to the Wild West... and everywhere in between! These stories from some of the biggest names in Christian Fiction tell of brave, compassionate women who each learn how to trust God in the midst of trouble.

Each novella is a decent length, and perfect for a lazy weekend afternoon. As is a common flaw in short stories, some of the character development is either sloppy, or lacking entirely. The series is arranged well, and is reminiscent of a relay race: the first few start out strong, followed by the weakest components, then gradually regains the speed necessary to win readers in the end.

Healing Promise by Johnie Alexander and An Everlasting Promise by Michelle Griep (one of my new favorite authors), don't disappoint with two lovely tales of strong women who learn to look past outward appearances to find true love.

Love on the Run, by Debby Lee, though, is a bit too predictable-- even for romantic fiction-- and had far too many characters that I just couldn't seem to care much about. Similarly, Rose Allen McCauley's Hidden Courage starts out well, but ends abruptly, and just a little too perfectly to be believed.

Donita Kathleen Paul's Encumbered Bride, however, renewed my faith in the genre with a story that perfectly blends history, adventure, and romance. Almost as wonderful was Mountain Echoes, by Jennifer Uhlarik, which tells a beautiful story of overcoming fear and past disappointments to take a chance on true love.

While just a bit silly for my taste, Jennifer Walker's Letters from Lucy is a fun little tale of a sassy would-be journalist on a Wild West adventure. Finally, Battlefield Bride by Renee Yancey shows readers the importance of learning to forgive oneself, and accept God's gifts when they come.

Despite a few flops, this collection is well worth the time, and quite enjoyable. I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is yet another great themed collection of novellas from Barbour Books. That said, I was a bit leery about this particular collection for no identifiable reason. It included an author I've greatly enjoyed (Johnnie Alexander, though only a contemporary novel before this), an author I've been wanting to try (Michelle Griep - especially her novel The Captive Heart), authors I've read in other collections (Renee Yancy and Jennifer Uhlarik from The Convenient Bride Collection and Debby Lee from Mountain Christmas Brides), and four new-to-me authors that just might be surprise favorites (this is always part of my hope for these collections). Once I dove into this collection, however, it was hard to limit myself to one story a night.

How could I resist stories of grief, courage, and (gasp) riding astride? Stories of farmers, Indians, cattle drives, rustlers, frontier doctors, Pony Express riders, Pinkerton agents, criminals, and greedy land-grabbers. Add to that a romance between former slaves, a cute kid here and there, and some dime store novels to boot.
If you enjoy historical fiction set in the American West, this is a great collection. If you enjoy stories that include characters' spiritual journeys, you will enjoy this even more. Highly recommended. And those new-to-me authors? I'll be looking forward to more from Jenness Walker and Donita Kathleen Paul in particular.

This review refers to a review e-book copy read, courtesy of the publisher, through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.