The Outlaw's Mail Order Bride

It’s no surprise (to me at least) that when a new Linda Broday book becomes available on the Lone Star Lit Tours, I jump at the chance to read it. This is the fifth book of Ms. Broday’s that I’m reviewing! Besides the obvious reasons to pick up The Outlaw’s Mail Order Bride (which had me at Western Romance), the two aspects of Ms. Broday’s books that I love the most is that secondary characters from one series find their own happy endings in the next series and that we get to catch up with characters that we already know and love. In this novel, we meet up with Clay from The Heart of a Texas Cowboy and Tally, the de facto leader of the women living in Deliverance Canyon after escaping from Creedmore Asulum. The two met through Luke and Josie’s mail order bride service. Clay is a good man with a rough past. (I always love a good guy hiding behind a bad boy.) He’s looking for someone to share his burdens of establishing his dream town and starting a family. He’s romantic as well: I’ll gladly work my fingers to the bone every second of every day if it means taking worry from you. I chose to care for you from the start and that hasn’t changed. This is what a true husband does for his wife. Never feel guilty for anything where I’m concerned. Clay sees what his wife needs and provides it for her and their new family before anyone asks. Great husband material! Tally is a strong woman. She had to be to survive the horrors at Creedmore and to care for the other women who escaped. She’s also always bringing home strays, children and adults alike. She puts her faith in herself, as she believes no one else is worth trusting. In spite of all she’s been through, I appreciate that she still finds it in herself to care for others. I admire her perseverance. But also, I admire her ability to still believe in love in spite of everything. Both main characters show a great deal of growth and development throughout the novel, learning to trust and love throughout the novel. I especially welcome how Clay is willing to give Tally time. Time to heal, time to learn, and time to trust. The fully developed secondary characters in Ms. Broday’s novels are just as crucial to the story-telling as our main characters. in The Outlaw’s Mail Order Bride, we get to catch up with Luke and Josie, and the other Legend brothers. We also have an appearance by Dr. Mary. I love Dr. Mary! A strong character on her own, our resident doctor has great medical knowledge. Dr. Mary even makes me wonder if tattoo removal was actually a thing in 1879. We also get to know the other outlaws in town, a former saloon gal, Bullet the dog, and the most unlikely surrogate grandfather\granddaughter pairing of a blind girl and a crotchety old outlaw. My one struggle with this novel is that the romance between Clay and Tally moves really fast. Yes, they did write letters back and forth before meeting in person, hence the Mail Order portion of the title. I did find the relationship and feelings between Clay and Tally to be real and believable. But still, the romance and feelings move fast. I would truly have liked to read those letters between Clay and Tally so I could see how their relationship builds. I can see the prospective future stories with the other inhabitants of Hope’s Crossing and I’m eagerly anticipating them! And in case you are wondering, no, you don’t need to have read Ms. Broday’s other books to enjoy this one. But you may very well want to read them after finishing it! Kudos to Ms. Broday for another great Western Romance.