Secrets & Charades

By: Cindy Ervin Huff

Narrated by: Meghan Kelly

Jake Marcum’s busy ranch leaves him no time for courting, and his wounded heart has no place for love. When battlefield nightmares disturb his peace and his tomboy niece Juliet needs taming, somehow a mail-order bride seems like a logical solution.

Dr. Evangeline Olson has no idea her niece is writing to a rancher on her behalf, and she sure isn’t interested in abandoning her medical practice for a stranger. But when an inheritance threatens to reveal a long-buried secret, she travels west to become Jake’s wife.

Jake soon realizes Evangeline is more than he bargained for, especially when her arrival causes a stir in the community. As the two try to find their way in a marriage of convenience, their fragile relationship is further tested by cattle rustling and kidnapping. Can their hearts overcome past hurts to create a real marriage?

General Content (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations, violence, or strong language. May also contain some content of an inspirational/religious nature.

©2017 Smitten Historical Romance (P)2018 Smitten Historical Romance

One of the best!

Finished listening to this book in just 2 days! If you are interested in a VERY well written, Christian story this fits the need! This is a mystery, drama, non-violent, love , prayer-filled story. The author develops the characters and the storyline in a way that you can't help but enjoy. If you get the audiobook, you are getting one of the best narrators with Meghan Kelly! Get it!!

Emotion and Prayers

Cindy has written an adorable emotional story and Meghan is a talented narrator that did a fabulous job. Dr. Evangeline’s niece Maggie, secretly wrote Jake letters for a year using Evangeline’s name. Jake had a ranch in Texas and he wrote Evangeline asking her to be his bride. He was raising his niece Juliet and she encouraged him to ask Evangeline to come. When she got there twist and trials begin. A lovely clean story.

A marvelous mail order bride Western!

This was one of the most delightful mail order bride stories I've read in a time. Evangeline is a strong independent lead character, yet she works in perfect balance and respect with her husband Jake. I absolutely loved the faith in this story, how both Evangeline & Jake depended on the Lord for their strength and guidance. One of my favorite parts was when Evangeline helps the young lady sell her woven cloth and yarn to the Mercantile. There were so many great parts to this intricate book, and plenty of mystery and intrigue to keep ones attention. Meghan did a marvelous job with the narrative and all the character's voices. I'm always in awe she can do so many different ones, making the story come to life.

The Power of a Smart Woman

I received a code to give an honest review for this booking. This was a new to me author so I was unsure what to expect and I love a good western romance. I enjoyed getting to see all the surprises and secrets that came out from each character, I loved that Evangeline was a doctor and that she was calm and collected when everyone else was unable to handle such a stressful situation. Jake is exactly what Evangeline needed in a husband and I feel like he needed her just as much as she needed him. I loved how the sweet romance started to play out with them even if he married her to take care of his niece. There was suspense that I found very intriguing. If you like a good sweet western romance then I would highly recommend this book.

Good book.

I loved the accents provided by the narrator. The plot moved along without becoming boring. The language was clean and I would feel comfortable listening to this book in a family setting.

Fun.

Very enjoyable 😉 Clear, well eloquently done, and the performance was spot on! I wanted more at the end ☘️

Secrets&Charades

This was a very good book, finding each other after being afraid that no one would understand your past. Very heart warming. The naration was wonderful. I just thought the pause between chapter's was a little to long. If you haven't read or listed to it I highly recommend it.

What a great historical

Wow if you want to know how life was in the past after the Vivian war. This story is fantastic and tells you how it was. What women had to do to get married? What men had to do to find a mate.
This is about a doctor . She doesn’t know that someone signed her up for a mail order bride . She has no choice but to go ?
When she reaches Jakes ranch. Evie doesn’t know what to do. Jake has a ranch. He signed up for a mate because he has a niece that needs female help. How do they get on. Do they make a go of the marriage

Meghan again nailed the narrator part dead on. She was fantastic

Sweet, historical western

Mail Order brides to me always come with a strong woman and a wonderful man and the two always end up falling in love. Cindy Ervin Huff has taken this premise and given personalities to the characters with a fresh new perspective. Evangeline, a free thinking, progressive woman comes to marry Jake. With secrets in her past, she is hesitant to be completely open with him but does her best to help run his ranch. She is a doctor by trade, something unheard of for the time, is nice to the servants and especially falls in love with Jake's niece. There is trouble on the ranch, and as they work together to find the answers, life becomes more intimate. But will Jake accept her when he finds out what she is hiding? So much goes into this story, but the standout for me is Evie. Her character is wonderful. Even though she comes from a different class of people, she treats all as she would like to be treated. She doesn't feel the need to be like everyone else, and is here to help all. With a strong Christian basis, this story is a beautiful read showing the true merits of this new to me author.

Meghan Kelly is perfect for this book. Her ability to bring characters to life is incredible, giving them each distinctive voices and personalities.

A great mail order bride book!

I liked the way that our heroine is not your typical "mail-order-bride" she is a doctor and a very good one. Dr. Evangeline Olson must go west to hide secrets and gain her inheritance. I really liked her strong yet soft character and the way she grows in the story.

Jake is a very good rancher character. I liked the way that he was tough and yet had a heart and listened to other's solutions to the problems that he was facing.

Cindy's secondary characters were complete and I enjoyed them almost as much as Jake and Evangeline. The twists and turns of this story were intriguing and kept me interested in this action-packed, suspenseful western with a twist of romance.

Meghan Kelly was at her usual, a great story-teller! I really liked her narration in this story.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.