A Sensible Arrangement by Tracie Peterson

I have to say that I love a good "Mail Order Bride" story and A Sensible Arrangement, the first book in Tracie Peterson's "Lone Star Brides" series,  was absolutely wonderful!

Martha Dandridge Olson's mother died when she was born and her father died when she was only five years old. She and her brother Andy, were raised by their older sister Hannah.  Andy now lives with his family in Wyoming. Martha, or Marty, as she is called, was given part of the family ranch in Texas. She married and unfortunately never had children due to several miscarriages with her husband Thomas.

As the story begins, Marty is a widow, having lost Thomas to the goring of a Longhorn Steer. She has come to hate her ranch and her native Texas and can only think to escape by moving away. She answers an advertisement for a Mail Order Bride in which one Jacob Wythe, a widower from Colorago was looking for a girl from Texas to marry him in a marriage of convenience. Without letting her family know she lies and tells them she is going to Colorado to visit some old friends.

Jacob Wythe, who goes by Jake, is a Banker but his heart lies in his native Texas. He hopes to one day save up enough money to buy a ranch in Texas but for the time being he has to continue working for Mr. Morgan and his bank.

Marty take the stagecoach to Denver and just before arriving a couple of robbers try to commandeer the stage, shooting both the driver and the shotgun rider.  Marty pulls a revolver out of her carpetbag and begins to shoot at the would-be robbers. Once the robbers flee, Marty climbs up on top and drives the stagecoach the rest of the way into Denver. This makes for a grand entrance on her part.

Being a bank manager put Jake and Marty in a higher class of society and it seems Jake's boss, Mr. Morgan, while he is good to Jake financially, he demands a lot from him and Marty. I personally did not like Mr. Morgan.

Marty has a bad habit of telling lies or not divulging information that should be told. Such as the fact that Marty owns a ranch and Jake yearns for the day to have enough money to buy a ranch back in Texas. Marty finally asks her sister if her husband would buy Marty's ranch. The guilt begins to eat her up inside and she battles with herself on whether she should let Jake know about the ranch. Once she realizes that she loves Jake and he loves her she tells Jake about the ranch and well, lets just say she broke his heart.  

There is a small suspenseful thread that ran through the book and unfortunately it wasn't totally tied up by the end of the book. Which of course means I can't wait to read book two in the series, Moment in Time, which is scheduled to release June 3, 2014.

Ms. Peterson has created extremely believable characters who both had their demons to battle.
I would highly recommend A Sensible Arrangement  to anyone who loves good clean fiction and especially Mail Order Bride stories.

On a 5-Star Scale = 5 HUGE Stars!!!!!  I loved this book!

I would like to thank Litfuse Publishing and Bethany House for my review copy. I received my copy for free, in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,