Brides of Beckham Series

Elaine had spent over half of her life walking with a cane and being treated as if she were made of glass. When she sees no other option, she sneaks out and goes to see the owner of the mail order bride agency in Beckham. She picks out a man who seems perfect for her, and travels to Kansas City to be his bride. Colin goes to lunch at the restaurant in town to consider sending off for a mail order bride when he notices a beautiful woman limp into the establishment. During his unashamed eavesdropping, he hears that she's a mail order bride who is being rejected by the man she's come to marry. He jumps up immediately and asks the beautiful girl to be his bride. Will they be able to make things work? Or will her insecurities keep them from ever being truly happy?

In Kirsten Osbourne's captivating novel, "Mail Order Mayhem," the life of a 1880s farmer comes alive with a fiery tale of love, resilience, and unexpected twists. When Maude, a determined young woman from Beckham, Massachusetts, finds herself at a crossroads, she embarks on a courageous journey to Iowa as a mail-order bride, hoping to find love and fulfillment in a rugged land brimming with opportunity.   Refusing to marry the man her father has chosen for her, Maude answers the letter of John Powers, a farmer in Iowa. She immediately agrees to marry him and sneaks away in the dead of night to catch a train and leave for her adventure.   John Powers is happy in life, but he's lonely. Sending for a mail-order bride seems to be the perfect solution. When Maude arrives, she's everything he hoped for.    Will the two of them find their happily ever after? Or will the man her parents wanted her to marry find her?

The happiest day of Esther's life quickly becomes a nightmare when she finds her husband dead in their fields. Now she is pregnant with no way to provide for her unborn child and her in-laws will soon evict her from her home. Becoming a mail-order bride will meet her needs, but will it allow her to find love and happiness? Thomas is surprised to read the letter he receives from a young widow who is pregnant. He agrees to marry her, but wonders immediately what he's gotten himself into. Was marrying a pregnant woman really the best idea?

When Ellen and her sister, Malinda, are forced out of the only home they've ever known by a local banker after the death of their father, they answer an advertisement placed by Harriett Long for mail order brides. Ellen chooses to marry the sheriff of a small town in Colorado while Malinda agrees to marry his brother, a banker. When they arrive, each sister is immediately drawn to one of the brothers….too bad it's the wrong one!   They each had specifications for what they wanted in a husband. How will it work when they marry their sisters' indended? Many challenges will affect them as they make their decisions.

When Clara's husband dies and leaves her with two children and a farm she can't run on her own, the bank evicts her small family, and she needs to find a new home fast. She answers an advertisement to be a mail order bride, hoping that the agency will find a place where she can not only be useful, but her children can be loved. Recently widowed Montana rancher, Albert, can't raise his children alone, but won't risk loving another woman. Albert is convinced that he'll never love another woman like his deceased wife. When Clara shows up with two children, he's certain he's made a mistake by taking another woman into his home. Can Clara convince him that together they can be a happy family?

Susan cannot stand living with her eleven younger siblings for another minute, so she answers an advertisement for a mail order bride, carefully choosing a man who has never married and has no children so she won't be plagued with other people's ill-behaved offspring. When she arrives in Fort Worth, she finds out her fiancé has been killed, and his older brother is offering to take his place. The only problem is his brother is a widower with four young boys. Dare she do it?

Meg O'Reilly wonders what ever made her want to be a teacher. The last four members of the demon horde are making her life miserable. When one of them slaps a copy of the Grooms' Gazette on her desk and tells her to go see their older sister so she can find her a groom, she reads through the paper and decides to do just that. Confident in her decision, she sends a letter to the man she chooses that very day. The one thing Lars Borgen is not looking for is love. He wants a wife to share his life, his work, and his bed, but he doesn't ever expect to feel any tender emotions for her. Expecting a plain bride, he is startled when beautiful Meg steps off the train looking for him. Will he be able to hold steadfast and keep from falling in love? Or will his sweet, pretty bride win him over, giving him a second chance at love?

At thirty-four, Julia had given up on love. She had spent sixteen years nursing her sick mother, and now that her mother had passed on, she had no idea what to do with herself. She answered an advertisement to be a mail order bride, knowing she needed a new beginning. Edward, a Kansas farmer, had been alone for six years since the death of his wife. He was sick of eating his own cooking, tired of living in filth, and more than anything, he was lonely. He sent off a letter to try to find a bride, hoping against hope someone would answer it. When Julia stepped off the train, she was nothing like he'd expected her to be. Could a marriage based on mutual loneliness work out?

Malinda thinks her life is over after the death of her father and her subsequent eviction from the only home she's ever known. She, along with her sister, answers an advertisement for mail order brides and their lives change. She agrees to marry a banker in a small town in Colorado, because she refuses to be afraid of where her next meal will come from ever again. When she arrives in Colorado, she immediately falls for the handsome gentleman who picks her up at the train station, but he's her sister's fiancé, not hers!

Francis knew something needed to change immediately. He was only sixteen, but he understood that his family couldn't keep living on bread and beef jerky. In town one day, he noticed an advertisement for a mail order bride, and sent off a letter…after signing his older brother's name. He'd just make sure to tell Andrew that his fiance was coming before she arrived. What could go wrong? Tracy had lived in an orphanage since she was just a few months old. She only had a month before she turned eighteen and had to find a new place to live, complete with employment or a wedding ring. There were no jobs worth taking for a young woman, so she answered a letter requesting a mail order bride. Andrew sounded perfect. She'd meet him, and he'd be thrilled to see her, and they'd live happily ever after. Right?

After helping countless women find suitable husbands, Harriett is embarking on her own mail-order bride journey, to marry a man whose sister has eight lovely daughters of her own. Her new husband seems to care for her, but doesn't understand Harriett's attachment to her faithful butler Higgins. Will she find herself in another bad marriage, or is this, at long last, her own happily ever after?

Needing to escape her mother's world of constant dances to find her a husband, Ada Applebottom reaches out to a friend who helps people travel west as mail-order brides. All Ada wants from life is to be a farmer or rancher's wife. She knows that's the exact opposite of what her mother wants for her, and she can't let her mother force her into a life that she has no desire to live. With Elizabeth Tandy's help, she heads west to marry a rancher. Wade Kelso loves ranching, but he knows something is missing from his life. He writes a letter to a matchmaker, hoping to find just the right woman to spend her life working at his side. When Ada arrives, she's nothing like he imagined a mail-order bride to be, but she's so beautiful and has such a happy spirit, he marries her without second thought. Can these two mismatched people find love together? Or will they both spend their lives wishing they'd done things differently?

When Millie's friend, Berta, elopes instead of fulfilling her obligations to be a mail order bride, she decides to take her friend's place and be the best mail order bride a man has ever seen. Of course, she can't exactly cook, and she enjoys meddling in other people's lives under the guise of "helping them," but surely, her future husband won't mind that. Connor waits excitedly for his Berta to get off the train in Idaho, knowing that she is the answer to his prayers. She's an excellent cook and a hard worker, just what he needs for his restaurant. He's confused when Millie gets off the train in her place, but he accepts the switch good-naturedly. His bride has married someone else, after all. What could possibly go wrong?

When Emily's mother decides to marry, her fiancé says that twenty year old Emily needs to find a new place to live before the wedding. Emily has always been exceedingly shy and has no idea what to do. She runs across an advertisement for mail order brides and responds, hoping to find a good situation. Benjamin lost the love of his life just months before. He and his girls need a new mama in their house. Will Emily be the mama they need?

Caroline Casey is a romantic in a world of realists. When she decides to leave her privileged upbringing to become a mail-order bride, everyone she knows is surprised, but she is convinced she can make a difference and find true love out west. There are two motherless girls who need her and her special brand of loving everyone around her to make their lives complete. Andrew Dawson is mortified when yet another housekeeper leaves thanks to his daughters' abhorrent behavior. When the domestic agency he uses refuses to send another housekeeper, he sends for a mail-order bride, expecting her to simply be a housekeeper. He is not counting on Caroline Casey. Will she be able to win him over and convince him that she's the wife he needs? Or will her dreams be completely ruined?

Famous opera singer, L'Angelina seems to have it all. She travels from place to place with her manager making a living with her voice. So why is she so unsettled? When she receives a note threatening her family, she jumps at the first opportunity available to her. She becomes a substitute mail order bride using the name she was born with, Eliza Woods. Calvin Simpson has finally reached the point where he feels he can financially support a family, so he sends off for a mail order bride. He's not thrilled that the bride chosen for him is nineteen, but he doesn't feel he can be too choosy. When a mature, full-figured woman gets off the train and announces she's there to be his wife, he's thrilled. Eliza is the woman of his dreams. Can they be happy or will the constant threat destroy their marriage?

When Anna arrives to meet her groom two weeks later than expected, she is more than a little surprised to find him already married. It's just her luck that she finds his new wife to be one of the sweetest women she's ever met. She reluctantly takes on the role of teacher for her new community, hoping that she will be able to make a place for herself there. Jesse moves to Wiggieville, Texas, with his young son, hoping the two of them can leave his son's mischievous reputation behind. When he's called in for a meeting with the schoolteacher, he's shocked when she berates him for the way he's raising his son. After getting her fired, he does the only thing he knows to do, but will he ever find a peaceful life with the little spitfire?

Tired of being remembered only for her misdeeds as part of the demon horde, Ernestine Miller agrees to go out West to marry a banker in need of a wife. When she arrives in Montana, she discovers her groom has met with a fatal accident, and she has two choices. She can either find a way to support herself or go back home in shame. So she uses her former fiancé's home to start a boarding house, happy to have a use for her superior cooking skills. When Clifford Solomon moves to Prairie Dog, Montana, he's thrilled to find a boarding house where he and his business partner can stay. It doesn't take him long to fall for the beautiful woman running the home. Finding himself married in the blink of an eye, he does everything he can to get Ernie to fall for him. Will the town gossips be able to keep them apart with their lies? Or will Cliff and Ernie be able to face them down to find love with each other?

Francine "Frankie" Weston is an independent woman. She moved to Idaho to homestead with her older brother at the tender age of seventeen, pretending to be a man. Now, at twenty, she's ready to marry, but she doesn't want to admit she's deceived everyone, so she sends for a mail order groom—one who's willing to take her last name. She doesn't think it's possible, but she's willing to wait for just the right man to make her happy. Wallace Miller, a former member of the demon horde, feels like his life is going nowhere. His reputation as a troublemaker has followed him into adulthood, and he can't seem to catch a break. When his older sister, Elizabeth, shows him a letter from a woman wanting a man to marry, he's shocked before he sees the potential of the situation. Meeting his pants-wearing independent bride comes as a bit of a shock. Will the two of them be able to come to a compromise about how a lady should act? Or will they be destined to be partners in life, but never partners in love?

When Elizabeth Miller agreed to manage a mail order bride agency years before, she had no idea that it would leave her lonely and isolated. She's loved one man for years and is about to give up on marrying for love entirely. When she receives a letter from a man in Texas looking for a bride, she considers marrying him to be close to her sister. She doesn't want to be alone for the rest of her life.  Bernard agrees to work for Elizabeth after his life is shattered. As he slowly heals and picks up the pieces and gets to know his beautiful employer, he realizes he is falling for her more and more, but he knows his place in life. When she insists on taking a trip to Fort Worth to check out a potential groom, he knows he can't send her alone. Will he be able to survive the long train ride to Fort Worth without letting his feelings show? Or will Elizabeth somehow convince him that they are meant to be?

Gretchen Jensen has been in love with the same person for years. There are only two problems standing in the way of her marriage to him. She's pregnant, and he's dead. Most of the people in her town won't even talk to her, because the woman who was to be her mother-in-law has shunned her. Unable to see beyond her love for him, she refuses to marry the mail order groom who has traveled across the country to be her husband. Reginald Lindon left town at a moment's notice, but he took time to leave his fiancée a letter to let her know that he would return in six months. He entrusted his mother to give the note to Gretchen so she wouldn't worry about him. When he returns to town, he realizes everyone thinks he's dead. Gretchen claims his mother never gave her the letter, but his mother claimed she got it and said he was dead to her. How can he know who is telling the truth? And will they be able to get past this rocky time and trust one another again?

Coral has always been different than other young ladies and not just because of the circumstances of her birth. When her sister, Esther, moves west to Montana to be a mail order bride, she goes with her, hoping that she will quickly find a husband herself and not long be a burden on her sister and her new husband. She agrees to meet any of the men her brother-in-law finds suitable for her, hoping she will find a match and leave the newlyweds' home. Jackson is new to the rural area of Montana where he is now teaching. When he's approached by one of the local ranchers to meet his younger sister-in-law, he goes along with it, because he realizes having a wife would make his life a great deal easier. Upon meeting Coral, he is initially put off by her bold manner, but he agrees to the match, and soon the couple is off to Lost Legacy to marry. Will he be able to get past Coral's boldness to see the woman within? Or will they spend the rest of their lives in a loveless marriage?

Charlie Miller moved to Montana to help her friend Merry, and she did so happily, knowing there were more men than women in the west. She expected to meet someone and live happily ever after. When she's still alone three years later, she seriously contemplates writing to her sister Elizabeth, hoping she'll find a husband for her. A chance meeting with a stranger in a snowstorm changes all her plans. Abel Burton takes a chance and heads to Mistletoe, Montana, to meet a local artist. Meeting Charlie is just a side benefit—one that will change him forever. When he returns home, he takes his new bride with him. He worries that his sister-in-law will get in the way of his happiness when she immediately treats Charlie as her servant. Will the two of them get past the interference caused by the other woman's presence? Or will they lose their chance for true love?

Julia Simmons had spent her entire life studying hard to become a teacher. Finally, she had her first assignment, in a small Texas town, and she was on her way. When the stagecoach dropped her off, the only man nearby kissed her, acting as if he'd been waiting for her. She couldn't seem to make him understand she wasn't his mail order bride. When she found herself married an hour later, she was clueless as to how to handle it. How would the school board react to having a married teacher? And more importantly, how would her new husband, Tom, react when his real mail order bride arrived in town?

Widowed midwife Patsy Lawrence spent too much time working and not enough with her young daughter. She felt like life was passing her by, and she knew Emily's childhood would be over before she realized it. So she took matters into her own hands and responded to a letter for a mail order bride, hoping for a better future for herself and her daughter. Dr. Wesley Hardy was happy with his frontier existence, but he needed a wife to complete him, so he sent a letter to a mail bride agency back East, hoping to find someone compatible. The idea of having a wife who would cook all his meals and keep his home and clothes in order made him happy. When he received a letter from a widow with a young daughter, he was thrilled with everything but her profession. Could he live with the fact that his new bride was a midwife? Or would they be destined to live without love for the rest of their days?

Mary Brown is forced to start over in Beckham, Massachusetts, when the love of her life is killed out West. She has no desire to be in the town where they grew up together and memories of him will flood through her at every turn. After five years as a cook, her employer suggests she become a mail order bride to a man who has no desire to find love…only a life partner. Unsure if she's making a mistake, she sends a letter in reply to the ad, unsure if she'll be able to handle marriage to a stranger after expecting a life of love. William Jones has always known he'd marry his love, but when her father insists he goes West to make his fortune before they can marry, he reluctantly agrees. After all, he wants his love to get everything she ever wants in life. When he finds out Mary has died after a tragic illness, he gets his farm ready, but he can't go through his entire life without love. He sends for a mail order bride, getting the biggest shock of his life. Will he ever be able to trust his bride? Or will he spend the rest of his life regretting his decision to marry?  

Frederica Hughes felt as if life were passing her by. She had a good job teaching school in the small town of Salmon, Oregon, and she finally had good friends she felt she could bare her soul to, but there was still something missing. When her friend Doris proposed sending for a mail order husband for Gretchen, who was seven months pregnant and unwed, she hoped for the best for her friend, but still felt badly for herself. Darryl Miller has always been known as one of the demon horde. He knows that if he stays in Beckham, Massachusetts, he will never rise above the reputation, but he has nowhere to go! When he receives a letter from his twin sister asking him to marry her pregnant friend, he only hesitates for a moment. Two weeks later, he arrived in Salmon to marry a stranger. The only trouble is the stranger refuses to marry him. Within an hour, he finds himself married to another friend of his sister's. Will he be able to make a go of life with the beautiful straight-laced schoolteacher? Or has he made a huge mistake leaving everything to travel across country?

Josephine Gray leaves the only life she's ever known to escape her lecherous employer, going west to marry a stranger. She knows next to nothing about the man she will meet other than his name when she arrives in Montana. A former maid, she worries that she won't be the kind of wife the handsome stranger needs. Gustav Schmidt sends for a mail-order bride as soon as his ranch is capable of supporting a wife. He's not terribly worried about much about the woman, other than the fact she can cook. When he finally meets pretty Josie, he is surprised that he is so attracted to her. He doesn't plan to change his life much, still having every intention to attend the German-speaking church he and his brother helped establish. Can Josie learn the language of her husband to fit in with her new community? Or will she fail at the most important job of her life…being a wife?

When Doris Miller gets completely fed up with her younger siblings and knows she needs a break, she does the only thing she knows to do. She goes to her sister Elizabeth to ask to be matched as a mail order bride. Doris needs to forget all about her past as a member of the demon horde and go where no one else remembers it either. This book was previously published in the anthology "Pistols and Poplin." Harvey Butler knows that his children are terrors. He knows he's not doing the right thing by them since their mother died, but he has no idea what to do with them. Instead, he spends all his time working. When the local busybody writes a letter on his behalf looking for a mail order bride, he isn't certain his troubles will be solved, but he's willing to give it a go. Will Doris Miller be the person to tame the Butler brats? Or will her past make her incapable of becoming a good wife and mother?

Merry Winters wants something more out of life, but she feels beholden to her sister and brother-in-law, who have given her a home for the past four years. When a fire takes their lives, and leads her with their two young children to raise, she agrees to move to Montana to be a mail order bride as long as she can keep running her business. Clyde Bellman has a plan for his life, and he's at the point where that plan calls for a wife. He sends a letter to a matchmaker in Massachusetts hoping for a strong, independent bride. When Merry arrives with two young children in tow, he knows he needs to be the best uncle the two children have ever seen. Can he help his new bride to overcome her sadness and become a good wife? Or will he spend the rest of his life hoping for love that will never come?