When Maude is told she must marry a repulsive man, she instead responds to an Iowa farmer who is looking for a mail order bride. After sneaking out of town on a train, she goes to Iowa and marries. She quickly falls for the wonderful man she marries, but does he feel the same? And will she be able to escape her past?

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?

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?

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!

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!

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?

After helping countless women find suitable husbands, Harriet 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 Harriet'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?

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?

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?

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 fiancé 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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

\\\ This book was previously published in an anthology. Please make sure you don’t already have it before purchasing again. \\\ 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?

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 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?

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?

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? This book has previously been published in the anthology Gunsmoke and Gingham.

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? This book was previously published in an anthology!

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?

When Esther Carruthers realizes her father had been embezzling from her fiancé’s father’s bank, she doesn’t expect her life to change. After her fiancé immediately ends the engagement, she is shocked and dismayed. Her younger sister—the thinker in the family—convinces her to talk to a matchmaker, and she immediately agrees to marry a rancher in Montana, somewhere she’s never been, and no one knows her. Brody Finnegan has worked hard for the past few years to build up his ranch in Montana. Everything is falling into place for him, and now it’s time for him to send for a bride. When Esther steps off the train, he is mesmerized by her, and she’s everything he dreamed she would be. The shock comes when he finds out she brought her younger sister along. Will the two of them be able to get past her deception? Or will their marriage be over before it has a chance to start? This book was previously published in a Kindle World.

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?

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?

Berniece Johnson wants more from life than marriage to an old man who wants to beat her, but her parents believe he’s exactly what she needs. In a desperate attempt to take control of her life again, she goes to see Elizabeth Miller, the town matchmaker. Elizabeth has her on a train a short while later to meet up with Elizabeth’s sister Charlie and to marry a man in Missoula, Montana. Kane Burton has no desire for another wife. He buried his wife just months before, but his infant daughter needs a new mother. When he sends off for a mail-order bride, he promises himself to think of her as a servant—someone who will make meals, clean his house, and take care of his daughter. Berniece is not at all what he’s expecting, and he finds himself constantly comparing her to his late wife. Will Berniece be able to convince Kane that she is a strong woman and nothing like his first wife? Or will she live forever in a dead woman’s shadow?

Gertrude Miller is well-known for her cooking, working for the diner there in Beckham, Massachusetts. When she spots an old crush eating with his new wife, she realizes that there is no chance she will ever be able to find love there in Beckham, where everyone remembers her as a member of the demon horde. After some serious thought, she goes to her sister Elizabeth and asks to be sent west as a mail order bride. Douglas Charleston wants nothing more from life than regular meals. When he writes a letter to a matchmaker in the east, he makes it clear that he’s not worried about looks or age when he gets a wife. He is only concerned about her cooking ability. When he meets his potential bride, he’s startled when she’s young and pretty. Will the meals he so desperately wants bring this unlikely couple together? Or will they live together a life with no love?

Mabel Brida loves her job working as a cook for a family of means in Beckham, Massachusetts. What she doesn’t love is her employer chasing her around town, trying to catch her alone so he can make improper advances. When Bernard Tandy spots her being backed into a corner by her employer, he takes her home to his wife, hoping Elizabeth can find her a better life out west as a mail-order bride. Walter Caldwell lost his wife just days after his third daughter was born, and though he loved her dearly, he knows he needs to remarry, if only so his children can once again eat decent meals and wear clothing that fits. When he sends off for a mail-order bride, he’s not expecting much. How could a woman who was pretty and capable be available to be a mail-order bride? When Mabel and Walter marry, neither has any real expectations of the other, but they find that both of them are willing to work hard for their family. But will a mutual love of the children be enough? Or will they spend their lives in a loveless marriage?

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?

Since Bridget Mitchell was two, it was just her and her father. As her father nears the end of his life, she has no idea what she will do after his death. All that she knows for certain is that she cannot live in the house she’s always been in. When Elizabeth Tandy comes into the post office where Bridget works, she tells her to come see her because she has a letter she believes was written just for Bridget—a letter to become a mail-order bride. Felix Potter is obsessed with getting married. He sends off for a mail-order bride, fully expecting the woman to be ugly as a toad when she arrives. Instead, the woman who comes all the way across the country to marry him is quite beautiful. Both of them are full of worries that the other person won’t find them worthy of staying beside. When tragedy strikes, they have to decide whether they care for one another enough to keep going, or if they should just give up and go their separate ways.

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?

Charlotte Watkins has always been considered the odd one. Now that her husband has passed, and she’s been trying to run a ranch as well as care for her young son and her home, life is becoming overwhelming. Highly aware that none of the men in town will even consider marrying her, Charlotte decides to send off for a mail-order husband. She doesn’t care what the townspeople thought of her. She has no use for them other than church anyway. Earl Miller loves farming more than anything else in the world, but all the good farmland around Beckham has been purchased by others. The fourth son of a farmer, he knows he won’t be inheriting his father’s farm, so he needs to find a way to make all his dreams come true. When Earl’s sister sends for him, and tells him she’s found him the perfect wife, and all he has to do is move to Montana, he decides it’s the only thing he can do. Will Earl be able to look past Charlotte’s strange past and her reputation in town? How will he take to being a father?

This box set includes the first four books in the bestselling Brides of Beckham Series by Kirsten Osbourne. Included are: Mail Order Mayhem, Mail Order Mama, Mail Order Madness and Mail Order Mix-up. Harriett Long, a widow in Beckham, Massachusetts, begins her journey as a matchmaker by matching up four brides with grooms in the West. Follow her and her butler, Higgins, as they give desperate women their happily ever afters. Mail Order Mayhem When Maude is told she must marry a repulsive man, she instead responds to an Iowa farmer who is looking for a mail order bride. After sneaking out of town on a train, she goes to Iowa and marries. She quickly falls for the wonderful man she marries, but does he feel the same? And will she be able to escape her past? Mail Order Mama 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. 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? Mail Order Madness Susan cannot stand living with her eleven younger siblings, so she answers an advertisement for a mail order bride, choosing a man who 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. Mail Order Mix Up When Ellen and her sister 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 town in Colorado while Malinda agrees to marry his brother, a banker. Each sister is immediately drawn to one of the brothers….too bad it’s the wrong one!