Unexpectedly homeless, un-wed mother Sarah Johnson has few options. They could go live with her cousin William, but Sarah believes there’s something untoward about his offer and it leaves her feeling uncomfortable. She’s qualified to be a governess, but no one will have her because she wasn’t married when she had her precious MaryAnn. Matchmaker & Co could be her salvation as mail-order-bride to Mr. John Atwood.Single father, John Atwood, is raising his daughter the best he can in the wilds of the Colorado Territory but knows he needs help. No woman he knows wants to take on the raising of his daughter who hasn’t spoken since she saw her mother brutally murdered during a bank robbery. Can Sarah, John and their two daughters overcome their pasts and find happiness together?
As you can imagine, I do have a few minor critiques. I will not complain about the bedroom scenes. Though they are only for adults, I can easily say that I was not offended. I was quite pleased that they were married! After all, in so many romances, they don’t bother to take that step. The profanity in the book was so mild that it was almost nonexistent. I can safely say that the two major issues I often point out with books are truly no problem.
My only complaint has to do with the style of the writing. I discussed this very issue with my mom, and she helped me understand what I struggled to put my finger on. This novel is fast-paced, but it is not detailed. I realize that there is a fine line between too much and not enough detail, but I am one who truly desires to connect with the story and the characters in a book. To do this, I usually need a little more detail than this book provides. I often felt that I was reading a newspaper article or journal entry. And for that very reason, there may be readers who will be clamoring to read this. And all I can say is that you will not be sorry. The story is enchanting, and I am so glad that I was privileged to read it. Highly recommended for an easy evening romantic read!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountainside with her friends.
Their closest neighbor was one-quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.
She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write. Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates. She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories. In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.
In 2000, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she’d attend. One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker. Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter’s table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing. She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn’t looked back.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she’s made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
