Bluebonnet Bride by Colleen Coble

My Thoughts:

Colleen Coble is one of my favorite authors.  I set her creations to a higher standard as she just seems to get better and better.  Bluebonnet Bride is the story of a mail order bride, Elli Korpela,  venturing to the New World from Finland.  She's coming for a new life- as well as escaping a very real nightmare.  Her father has disappeared and the man responsible for this tragedy is also after her with deadly intentions.  She meets handsome Nathan White who originally wanted a bride only to look after his niece, Hannah, who he's raising as his own.  Sparks, the good kind, are immediate but secrets remain to be told and danger is lurking everywhere it seems...

Bluebonnet Bride is a good story, but nowhere near Collen Coble's past masterpieces.  I liked the characters but the story was told and the mystery revealed way too quickly.  I wish that the author had allowed the tale to "marinate" a bit.  A quick read with a delightful trip back in time- but I personally prefer a bit more build up and a lot more melancholy romance.

At the turn of the 20th century, Elli Korpela boards The Baltic with hundreds of eager women, all seeking new beginnings and brighter futures in America . . . as mail order brides.

Escaping a forced engagement, Elli seeks refuge in a faraway marriage, desperately needing her new life with a Texan named Nathan White to be safer than the one she left behind in Finland. And as she glimpses her future husband and his darling niece at the train station, she instantly knows her risk will prove the best decision she's ever made.

Until he became the guardian of four-year-old Hannah, Nathan White never took an interest in marriage, arranging a mail order wife to simply love and care for his orphaned niece. That is, he never took an interest until he laid eyes on the beautiful Elli Korpela.

After a fairytale ceremony in the gardens of the grandest estate Elli's ever seen, a place called Butterfly Palace, their peaceful beginning takes a disquieting turn as an intruder brutally attacks Elli in the middle of the night. Nathan intervenes, but the devil escapes unidentified, leaving Elli to face two chilling possibilities: either the attack was arranged by strike workers in Nathan's employ or her shadowy past followed her into the present – and across the sea.

As the danger mounts, Elli and Nathan must face their enemy together, fighting to stay alive – and fighting to stay man and wife.

*I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.  No other compensation was received.*