Mail-Order Mama Series by Linda Carroll-Bradd, V. McKevitt

Daydreamer Melisande Avenelle wishes all the social engagements her mother insists on would just disappear so she can focus on her quilt making. Where some artists see images in dabs of paints, Melisande imagines landscapes made from the fabric of the dresses worn at a tea party. After her refusal of the third man put forth by famed matchmaker Madame Treszka, she’s informed she must choose from three groom candidates arranged by her mother... moreDaydreamer Melisande Avenelle wishes all the social engagements her mother insists on would just disappear so she can focus on her quilt making. Where some artists see images in dabs of paints, Melisande imagines landscapes made from the fabric of the dresses worn at a tea party. After her refusal of the third man put forth by famed matchmaker Madame Treszka, she’s informed she must choose from three groom candidates arranged by her mother. Thinking Texas can’t be as bad as Newport, Rhode Island, for social engagements, Melisande pens her response and boards a westbound train. Widower Quinton Aznar has a six-year-old son who wants a mama. Since his late wife’s passing four years ago, Quint divides his days between breaking horses for the Army and parenting his son with no time for courting. His mother manages the household and tends to her youngest grandchild, although she would love to move to Galveston to live with her sister. The telegram announcing the arrival of his mail-order bride—a woman his mother corresponded with—on the next stagecoach is a shock. Quint drives the wagon into town, intending to pay for her return ticket. The beautiful, but disheveled, woman who disembarks the stage is too dazed to trust traveling on her own. What has his mother arranged for his life? less

Melody Franklin’s future appears bleak after her father dies in the Civil War. He leaves no inheritance or home for his unmarried daughter, so when Melody sees an advertisement for a mail-order bride who can play the piano for church services, she believes it is a sign from God. She takes the stagecoach from Missouri to the Colorado silver mining area where she expects to marry the minister and serve the local congregation with him... moreMelody Franklin’s future appears bleak after her father dies in the Civil War. He leaves no inheritance or home for his unmarried daughter, so when Melody sees an advertisement for a mail-order bride who can play the piano for church services, she believes it is a sign from God. She takes the stagecoach from Missouri to the Colorado silver mining area where she expects to marry the minister and serve the local congregation with him.But when Preacher Todd answers her knock on the door, he proclaims his innocence in placing an ad for a bride, sending letters of encouragement, paying for her fare west, and asking her to marry him.Melody must rethink her future. Now, she’s stranded in Colorado with the same problems she had in Missouri, no home, no husband, no vocation, and no money. Should she stay in this western state or devise a plan to return to familiar surroundings? less

A debutante baker with a stammer. A compulsive widowed blacksmith with two young daughters. Will they find a way to coexist or even better, forge a romantic relationship? Ada Pike longs to leave the life of a socialite and use her skills as a baker to love and nurture a family. A move to the country will perfectly suit her first steps into life on her own. Barrett Montgomery rejects the idea of a mail-order bride... moreA debutante baker with a stammer. A compulsive widowed blacksmith with two young daughters. Will they find a way to coexist or even better, forge a romantic relationship? Ada Pike longs to leave the life of a socialite and use her skills as a baker to love and nurture a family. A move to the country will perfectly suit her first steps into life on her own. Barrett Montgomery rejects the idea of a mail-order bride. What he needs is a housekeeper—someone he can fire if things don’t work out the way he likes. Can a matchmaking agency work miracles to bring two people with opposing goals together? less