Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)
    Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)
    Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)
    Ebook187 pages3 hours

    Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)

    By Beth Overton

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher - A widow with four children, whose husband was killed by the police because of shady dealings, decides to travel west and become the mail order bride of a divorced and well-off rancher. The children and the rancher get along very well and her children are happy, but she cannot warm up to the man until a crisis intervenes.

    Mail Order Bride: The Civil War Veteran Settles Down - man who fought in the civil war and knowing that his family died in a fire, returns to his ranch after a long period of wandering. It is almost gone to dust now and so he goes to nearby Tucson and checks in with the family lawyer and is surprised to learn that funds from the sale of cattle and other things have been put into a trust for him. He is a wealthy and now he realizes that all he lacks is a family. His closest neighbor has a cousin that needs a home, as she has been a nanny to three children, but they are growing fast and his neighbors feel like she’d be a good candidate for the lonely cowboy. When the woman arrives at the train station the only emotion that the cowboy feels is shock.

    Mail Order Bride: Accident Prone & Headed For Her Tall Cowboy - An overweight and accident-prone woman from Boston decides to make her way to Oklahoma, and to a tall cowboy with a checkered past. She doesn’t know that, and when she finds out, has almost decided to return to Boston when a few odd incidents drive any thought of returning home right out of her mind.

    Mail Order Bride: Jennifer Plain And Tall, And Her Widower - A plain and tall young woman with a gentle soul travels back to Texas where her family ranch is, to be with her fiancé who she has corresponded with. He’s a widower with four children and barely makes ends meet, and when his relative cuts off the water to his ranch he suffers along with his cattle. He finally asks the woman to be his wife and she then takes the entire family out to see her old home, which her fiancé believes she will leave him for.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBeth Overton
    Release dateFeb 28, 2016
    ISBN9781310412585
    Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)
    Author

    Beth Overton

    Beth Overton lives in Northern California with her husband and three cats. Besides writing romances, she loves to read everything she can get her hands on, as well as cooking up gourmet delights for her entire family.

    Read more from Beth Overton

    Related to Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)

    Related ebooks

    Sweet Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Lost Boy

      Oct 22, 2020

      The Lost Boy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 19, 2022

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: Forgiveness

      Oct 5, 2017

      Dirty John: Forgiveness
      8 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 20, 2021

      ‘Brood’ is such a multi-layered word: thinking deeply about something, a group of young animals, something to do with longed-for motherhood… and this beautiful, spare book is about all of those, and more. The protagonist (she’s never named) and her h

      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Feb 17, 2023

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: Escape

      Oct 8, 2017

      Dirty John: Escape
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Broken Heart

      Aug 10, 2022

      A Broken Heart
      10 min read

    • Article

      Love & miracles

      Aug 14, 2022

      Delia Ephron, the screen-writer, novelist and wit, was in her apartment in Greenwich Village in New York City when I phoned. She was disappointed we weren’t doing the interview via video. “That’s too bad. I look fabulous.” She is appearing, virtually

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Broken Heart

      Aug 10, 2022

      A Broken Heart
      10 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 21, 2021

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      “I Miss Dad Every Single Day”

      Jun 15, 2022

      “I Miss Dad Every Single Day”
      5 min read

    • Article

      Slanted & enchanted

      May 30, 2021

      MIRRORLAND, by Carole Johnstone (HarperCollins, $32.99), is the imaginary place identical twins Cat and El have created in the basement of the strange house near Edinburgh they share with their neurotic mother and frightening grandfather. They have m

      3 min read

    • Article

      Book CLUB

      Apr 26, 2022

      Book CLUB
      1 min read

    • Article

      STEPPING Out

      Feb 12, 2020

      STEPPING Out
      9 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      May 25, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Far From Perfect

      Sep 8, 2020

      Far From Perfect
      5 min read

    • Article

      ‘The Thing I Love’

      Nov 7, 2021

      ‘I’m one of the lucky ones, I think,” says Miriam Margolyes. Luck has, in fact, played an unexpectedly oversized role in the English actress’ life. If a recruiting officer had not taken a bribe to stop her father being draft ed in World War I – the l

      8 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Sep 16, 2019

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 20, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Love After loss

      Jul 15, 2020

      Love After loss
      5 min read

    • Article

      Conversations with My Nanny

      Jan 10, 2019

      Conversations with My Nanny
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: Newlyweds

      Oct 3, 2017

      Dirty John: Newlyweds
      10 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      May 18, 2022

      Great Read
      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Oct 21, 2022

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Chicken Line

      Mar 4, 2024

      The Chicken Line
      14 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Falling In Love With The Wounded Men (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances) - Beth Overton

      Falling In Love With The Wounded Men

      (A Boxed Set of Four Mail Order Bride Romances)

      By

      Beth Overton

      Copyright 2016 Quietly Blessed & Loved Press

      Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher

      Mail Order Bride: The Civil War Veteran Settles Down

      Mail Order Bride: Accident Prone & Headed For Her Tall Cowboy

      Mail Order Bride: Jennifer Plain And Tall, And Her Widower

      Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher

      Synopsis: Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher - A widow with four children, whose husband was killed by the police because of shady dealings, decides to travel west and become the mail order bride of a divorced and well-off rancher. The children and the rancher get along very well and her children are happy, but she cannot warm up to the man until a crisis intervenes.

      Of course it would rain. It always rained on the worst possible occasions. As she looked across the cemetery at all the friends and family that had gathered to join them on this darkest of days, she couldn’t help but let the tears roll down her cheeks. It was the kind of autumn day where it reminded her that the entire world was dying with her hopes and dreams. The trees were almost empty, the sky was gray and the rain was coming down on their umbrellas with a ferocity that refused to relent, even in the wake of their sadness.

      Mary was too young to be a widow. She told herself that over and over again. They had told her that Wallace had been mixed up in some mysterious dealings. The police had raided the restaurant where he worked, and he had put up a fight. They told her he had shot at them and that they had no other option but to shoot back at him. The reality that her husband was dead shattered her world as much as the realization that everything they owned was a lie added to the fact that he was a criminal and that the state was now seizing everything they owned.

      Within the course of twenty-four hours, she and her four children were widowed and fatherless and facing the prospects of a world without money or financial hope. Essentially, they were destitute. She was going to have to think of something quickly, or she was going to lose the children.

      New York City was not a place where she could raise four children without their father. For ten years, she had raised Charles, Edwin, Lucy, and Betty while her husband went to work, bringing home enormous amounts of money that she never questioned. Why had she ever needed to question him?

      The police were as suspicious of her as they had been of him. The thought of them taking it all made her cry as much as her backstabbing, treacherous husband.

      This was all his fault.

      At age fifteen, Mary had been a young, foolish girl who had taken the wrong steps in life by falling for a charming young man named Wallace who convinced her that she was something more to him than a skirt. When she found out she was pregnant, her parents forced her out of the house and told her that she better get married and that she was on her own.

      Since that day, Mary had been the best parent that she could be to Charles and Wallace had gladly married her, offering her a life that she could only dream of. It was the life that she hadn’t expected, but she did the best with what she had. Sure, she had made her mistakes but they had recovered.

      Charles was thirteen years old, a handsome young man who was a little brooding and silent, understanding all too well that the world was a cruel and unreasonable place. His dark hair was combed back and he wore his suit well, but he also understood that there was a storm on the horizon and that big changes were coming their way. He was her rock and he was much older than his age would suggest. He was a boy beyond his years and she knew that he deserved better. If he could just smile again, she would be happy.

      Edwin, her second, was always happy, grinning and laughing no matter the circumstances. He was the kind of young spirit that she had been when she was a child, looking for adventure under every rock and around every corner. But now, in the shadow of his father’s grave, Edwin was silent as the stone that would mark his father’s passing.

      There was no more laughter coming from him, but whatever was sitting on the horizon, she knew that it would be met with an equally adventurous, enduring spirit as it would demand from Edwin. At eight years old, he understood that being adaptable was vital to his survival.

      Lucy was the sweetheart that Mary had thought her father was, which made her all the more sad to realize that it was a lie. At least Lucy was genuine and her compassionate soul would take her to places where she would be happy and she would find hope. Six years old and still fascinated by things like butterflies and flowers, Lucy was devastated by the passing of her father.

      She had been a daddy’s girl her entire life and it broke Mary’s heart to see that she was so saddened by her cruel and deceptive father’s passing. She wouldn’t stop crying, not that she could even.

      Lastly, there was small little Betty that just stared at the large coffin in front of her, completely confused by the whole situation. Mary held her youngest’s hand and watched as she stared at the coffin, wondering where her father had run off to. It was a nightly ritual now that her daughter would ask her where daddy was and when he would be coming home.

      No matter how hard Mary tried to tell her, through the tears in her eyes, it wasn’t getting through to Betty. She was afraid that Betty was always going to wonder where her father had run off to and when he was going to be coming back.

      As they lowered him into the earth, Mary couldn’t help but feel bitter and satisfied by her husband’s death. What had he been thinking? All those years together and he had never told her what he had done so that they could survive. She understood that times were tough and the world was a harsh place, but why hadn’t he been smarter?

      Why hadn’t he found something legitimate to take care of his family with? He could have become a butcher or gotten a job at a factory. Had he been too proud or too desperate to do the right thing? Was that his excuse? Whatever it was, he wasn’t speaking now, not that she would believe a word he had said. After all, he was the moron who had been shot by the police after he was shooting back at them.

      What kind of an idiot did that? Her husband that was who.

      If it hadn’t been for the support of her neighbors and the men who were responsible for her husband getting mixed up in the criminal business, the wake and the funeral wouldn’t have been possible.

      As they all headed back to her home to offer their condolences, Mary felt her tears running down her cheeks again. It was uncontrollable, or else she would never shed another tear for him again, but he was her husband and she had loved him dearly.

      At the wake, she watched all the dark suits and the dark dresses filing in through the doorway, bringing with them dishes of food that she had no appetite or stomach to eat. Each one of them looked nauseating as she told them where they could set it.

      She graciously accepted their condolences and their tidings, watching them spread out through the house that she was no longer going to be able to afford. The bank was going to take it back and she was going to be out on the street soon. It terrified her to think of what was going to happen to her and her children.

      Mary, my poor sweet girl, Maude said with a grand, enormous gesture as she wrapped Mary in her arms and pressed her to her bosom like a mother cuddling a child.

      You poor, sweet thing, she said again. This is horrible, just horrible. This city, it turns decent folk into rats, vermin. And, what do the police do? They execute them like animals.

      Thank you, Maude, Mary said, stepping back and smiling pitifully at her.

      What’s happening with you, my dear?

      Maude stepped closer, not letting Mary get an inch away from her.

      What’s going to happen after all of this? I heard that the state is coming down hard on you and that they’re talking about taking your home from you?

      Seizing anything purchased with illegal or illicit funds, Mary said, shaking her head and fighting back the tears.

      What that translated to was that her family was going to be out on the street and alone. She was going to lose any chance of taking care of her beloved children, her entire world. What did that say for her as a mother that she couldn’t even take care of her children?

      My word, Maude said, shaking her head. They’re the criminals. Well, I heard George saying that he was interested in setting you up real nice after all of this. He says that he’s looking for a place to get you away from all of this unsightly mess and somewhere you’ll be taken care of.

      I don’t want his money, Mary growled bitterly.

      It was George who had seduced Wallace into all of this foolishness that ended up getting him killed. If there was one person she never wanted to see again, then it was George.

      You best rethink that mindset, dear, Maude said very sternly. Right now, the state is coming down on you for every last penny and that’ll leave you out on the street and alone, without any hope or prospects. If George is looking to take care of you, then I would suggest you take what he’s offering.

      Mary wasn’t sure what Maude was saying to her right now. Was Maude’s husband mixed up in all of this? Had she known all along that Wallace was mixed up in criminal activity? There was a cold and terrifying clarity to all of this, that everyone she knew was a criminal and that she was alone in this world, ignorant and the fool.

      She stared at Maude and felt like it was probably the right thing to do, take George’s money and just disappear. It would be best for the kids, to get them away from all of the vile people that were going to ruin their lives. She wanted to get them far away from her state and home as possible.

      What you need is a new man, Mary, Maude said to her, taking a sherry from husband Randall who nodded in agreement but couldn’t possibly know what they were talking about. George will set you up with a real man, one that is far away from all this nonsense and will keep you safe and cared for.

      That sounds lovely, Mary nodded, taking a sherry for herself and downing it in one gulp.

      This is highly irregular, Judge Watkins said, shaking his head over the shouting that was going on in his courtroom right now, but the plaintiff and defendant didn’t hear a single word that he was saying.

      In fact, they were too busy trying to strangle each other while their attorneys kept them at bay while asking them to be civil. The marshal sat in the corner, his feet kicked up, and his hat tipped down while trying to sleep over the ruckus that was taking over the courtroom, despite the exacerbated judge’s gavel coming down over and over again.

      I demand order, Judge Watkins shouted. Order, I say! Order, or I shall have you arrested for contempt of court, you backwater animals! Never in all my life have I seen such bizarre and rude behavior from adults.

      James stepped away from Paul and stared at Elizabeth, shaking his head and more than willing to strange his soon to be ex-wife. Divorce was the only way that they were ever going to stay out of a jailhouse for murder. In the end, it was going to boil down to him pitching her in the river or her stabbing him in his sleep, but it was going to end in blood. Their relationship had been described as toxic at best but that was what he got, marrying her while he was on a winning streak and gambling.

      She’d wanted the money, big cities and bright lights. He wanted a ranch, peace and quiet, and the middle of nowhere. In the end, it was his money so he spent it the way he wanted and the last piece in his life that was missing were children and since Elizabeth made it very clear that she was never having children, then it was time for the toxic wench to leave.

      Sorry, your honor, James said, sitting down next to Paul.

      It was the Wyoming heat that was getting to him. Well, that was what he would say if someone was going to demand an accounting of his actions.

      Now, Judge Watkins looked at him sternly, like he was the child who started all of this foolishness in his mind, "I don’t condone divorce. I feel as though marriage is a sacred contract that is instituted by God the most holy and that people without respect for God Almighty or the law have no business dabbling in such affairs. If I had my way, you’d all be sterilized and let run amok. You have insulted the faith of our Founding Fathers and the Constitution that they gave their lives to.

      But, I understand now, more than ever, that some people should not be allowed to spend one second more in the company of the other. So, I will be granting you your divorce but on the condition that the two of you maintain whatever affairs you have in the future with a civil and respectful tone so that you do not go around disturbing the peace or the good people of this town. Do I make myself clear?

      James looked at the judged and wondered if that man wasn’t wearing a black dress, would he feel that high and mighty? James would probably take that gavel and give the man a good thumping with it, to teach him some manners and respect for folks. You can’t just talk to people that way and expect them not to break out a few of your teeth, but because this man wears a dress for a living, he was bound by the law of the land not to readjust his face.

      Sounds good to me, Elizabeth said with a grunt.

      He looked over at her and tried to fathom how someone so beautiful could be so rotten inside. He remembered the day where he first saw her standing in the saloon as pretty as a summer peach and with skin that was creamy and smelled of roses. Her golden hair had reminded him of pure sunshine and she had the smile that could ensnare a man from a thousand miles away.

      She had been one wild ride, but it was time to stop wasting his energy and patience with her. He wanted a real life. He’d spent enough of his life playing cards, roaming around

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1