The Vigilante's Bride

Emily McCarty has found herself in quite a predicament. Aldersgate Home For Girls in Chicago where she grew up has decided they needed her room to house 6 new girls. Miss Beecham, the director, made the decision that she would be transported out west in reply to a Chicago Daily Tribune ad for a bride. Much to her discontentment the arrangements were already made, the school already received the money; everything was taken care of. Unfortunately, the only thing Emily knew was his name and that he lived in Montana.

Bart Axel is a very wealthy rancher, but not an honest one. He's made most of his money swindling honest people out of their land, cattle and anything else in order to make a buck and gain the potential for making even more money if the railroad decides to buy the rights to the land. He's even been accused of killing his last wife, but no one has been able to prove that except to say the "accident" seems suspicious. However when he learns he is about to gain an 18 year old wife, he is more than content with his latest conquest.

Luke Sullivan has spent most of his life as an orphan being raised by Miss Molly. Now for the past few years he has joined Grant Stuart’s vigilance committee in order to keep law and order on the open ranges. Whenever cattle are stolen or breaking the law occurs, the committee is the one to deal the swift hand of justice. When Luke Sullivan learns that his family had been swindled out of the land in a bad game of cards, courtesy of Bart Axel, Luke is going to settle the score once and for all.

Upon seeing Axle's banker in Montana taking his latest "treasure" back to the ranch, Luke finds that this is the time to settle the score. However when he learns that the "treasure" is the mail order bride for Bart Axel on the stage, he isn't about to let this one go.

I really enjoyed Yvonne Harris's first historical romance. The Vigilante's Bride is fast-paced and kept me flipping the pages as fast as I could. The author provides a great balance of romance and adventure. While the book is set in the Montana Territory in 1884, the author does a great job of helping you relate to the characters as though they were in the room with you.

I received the book, The Vigilante's Bride by Yvonne Harris, compliments of Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.