Mail-Order Matchmaking
Newly minted Cowboy Creek sheriff Noah Burgess doesn’t want a wife—despite his friends insisting that he needs one. So when they send for a big-city single mother to be his mail-order bride, he’s fit to be tied. Even if vivacious Grace Longstreet might just be the only person who can see past Noah’s scars...and help him heal.
Grace needs a husband to keep her and her twin daughters out of her brother-in-law’s grasp. And she’ll do anything—including taking on her cousin’s identity—to find one. But as the attraction between Grace and the lawman sparks higher, she begins hoping for a real marriage. So she needs to tell the truth...or a mail-order match that’s meant to be could crumble.
“I’m afraid you’ve come all the way out here from...”
“Chicago.”
“Chicago.” Of course. Lots of wealthy industrialists in that fine city. Was there a shortage of acceptable men her age? Both sides of the war had lost significant numbers.
With the rush of adrenaline fading, he began to notice details about her. Miss Longstreet wasn’t a classic beauty. Her features were too interesting. Slightly playful. It was the eyebrows, he decided. Sweeping over large, expressive eyes, the dark slashes formed a natural arch and were set in perpetual inquisitiveness.
No, it wasn’t the brows. It was her unusually shaped mouth. Soft and pink, the top lip curved in a smooth arc above the full lower one. A tiny freckle hovered above it on the right. Definitely intriguing.
He blinked those thoughts away. Intriguing or not, the city girl wasn’t staying.
Folding his arms across his chest, he delivered a glare that made most townsfolk quiver in their boots. “The trip was a waste, Miss Longstreet. I am not, nor will I ever be, in the market for a bride.”
* * *
Cowboy Creek: Bringing mail-order brides, and new beginnings, to a Kansas boomtown
Want Ad Wedding—Cheryl St.John, April 2016
Special Delivery Baby—Sherri Shackelford, May 2016
Bride by Arrangement—Karen Kirst, June 2016
KAREN KIRST was born and raised in East Tennessee near the Great Smoky Mountains. A lifelong lover of books, it wasn’t until after college that she had the grand idea to write one herself. Now she divides her time between being a wife, homeschooling mom and romance writer. Her favorite pastimes are reading, visiting tearooms and watching romantic comedies.
Bride by Arrangement
Karen Kirst
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
—Philippians 2:3
To Elen Matuszkova—even though thousands of miles separate us, you’re still close to my heart. We love and miss you.
Many thanks to editor Elizabeth Mazer for choosing to work with me again. It’s been a pleasure. And to my fellow authors in this continuity, Cheryl St.John and Sherri Shackelford. I’ve enjoyed working with you both.
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