Allegra's Mail Order Husband

Texas Brides, Book 3

By: Kate Whitsby

Narrated by: John E. Rose

The third book of The Texas Brides series takes place nine months after Amelia Goodkind marries Bruce Manfield.

Eldest sister Alma McCann now has a beautiful baby daughter Flora, the newest member of the family. Amelia is pregnant and unable to leave her bed for more than a few minutes without feeling sick. Jude McCann and Bruce Manfield, their husbands, work to build their houses down by the river in between tending their duties on the ranch.

Of the three range-riding, cattle-busting sisters, only Allegra remains in the saddle, herding the stock to water at the river and protecting them from marauding predators. Now, the moment of Allegra’s destiny is at hand. The decision she made nine months ago, when Bruce Manfield defeated Jude McCann to seal the sisters’ right to run their own ranch, is coming to fruition.

The day of her mail-order wedding draws near. But Allegra has different plans for her wedding than her sisters did. She doesn’t plan to wear her mother’s wedding dress or go to the altar with her family in attendance. She plans to run off, meet her groom alone, and get married on her own terms before bringing him home.

But Allegra still harbors the secret that kept her alone for so long. What will her husband do when he finds out the truth about her? And no one realizes that he, too, hides an explosive secret that could derail all their plans and dreams.

©2014 Kate Whitsby (P)2020 Kate Whitsby

Mex-Tex Border Rancher Cowboy Bride Orders Husband

Mex-Tex Border Rancher Cowboy Bride Orders Husband. Allegra, a manish Tex-Mex mixed race rancher, havibg watched her two sisters marry mail order husbands tired of running a ranching, contracts for her own cowboy mail order husband, but she has BIG secret and must learns to adjust to a spouse. Read series in order. (Critique: these three sisters are some of Whitsby's least loveable or believable and the narrator could do female voices and characterizations better, buy 3 hour book is still very enjoyable.)

Love the western mail order husbands

Allegra is the only sister that is not married yet, so she has written for a husband. Karl comes to town and the two are immediately married without any of Allegra’s family around. They work well together and get along beautifully. But Allegra harbors a secret that is sure to destroy their marriage. What will happen when Karl finds out? Will he leave her? Wil there be an annulment? And what will her sisters think? This is a fun, family filled story. I love being in the house with the sisters, husbands and babies, but I really enjoyed Allegra. She is a spitfire. Determined and loving, she knows what needs to be done. This is my first book of the series and can definitely be listened to as a standalone.

John E Rose narrates with his deep baritone voice. He is perfect for historical western, giving warmth to the story just with his storytelling. I enjoy his voices and pacing, giving us a wonderful performance.

Average

If you can get past the constant, short changes between he said, she said and they said which make things choppy, it's not a horrible story. You do have to overlook some historical inconsistencies too. Once you get past that the story itself is nice. I'd consider this more like a first draft.

Interesting Concluding Story

This is the conclusion of the Texas Brides Series. We finally are privy to Allegra’s “secret” at the end of the story—while one can guess what it might have been (there being two different things in my mind…)—I was a bit perturbed with the harping this secret entailed throughout the story in each of the three books. The revelation of the “secret” was a little lame and much too ambiguous. In retrospect, I’m surprised that both Karl and Allegra had kept important things about themselves hidden. The narration was good and was well done. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.