Bid for a Bride, by Ruth Ann Nordin

Title: Bid for a Bride

Author: by Ruth Ann Nordin

Sub-Genre(s): Cowboy/Western, Historical, Suspense

Publisher: Smashwords

Publication Date: February 15, 2011

Format: eBook from Author

Reviewer: Liz

Rating: 5 Cups

Blurb:*

A western historical romance where a blind man agrees to marry a woman whose marriage is annulled after her bigamist husband auctions her off to the highest bidder.

Review:
I'm a sucker for a hero who is not your typical "perfect" romance hero specimen. There's something sexy about them and Brian Evans is one such man. Twenty-year old Brian was born blind. His adoptive parents, Eliza and John Evans, found him when he was just a small boy of eight wandering the borders of their land, his alcoholic father having abandoned him to the elements shortly after his mother's death. Heartsick and scared out of his wits at first, Brian soon flourishes under the love and guidance of his new mother and father to grow into a fine, handsome, hardworking young man.

Young Lucy finds herself abandoned in Brian's sleepy little South Dakota town after her bigamist husband of one week tries to auction her off to the highest bidder. After he's chased off by the town's preacher, Lucy is temporarily taken in by Addy and Frank until the marshal and preacher have determined her fate.

Brian happens to be in town that day with his mother and hears of Lucy's predicament. The gentle young man instantly feels compassion for Lucy, having known first hand the fear and pain of abandonment.

The long and short of it is that Lucy gets an annulment and no jail time since she obviously had no clue that her ex was already married. Brian has an immediate soft spot for Lucy and decides to offer her a marriage of convenience. Fearful that she may be carrying the unwanted child of her bigamist ex, she readily accepts knowing that she needs a husband and no other such offer may be forthcoming.

They’re married in small ceremony right away and begin their new life together in Brian’s home surrounded by the love of his parents and the tender love that begins to steadily grow between the young couple.

I downloaded the free sample of this book from Smashwords on Thursday and started reading it Friday night. I reached the end of it (or middle rather) at 11:30 that night and ran downstairs in my underwear to buy it so I could finish the rest of it. LOL That is how much I loved this book! It was excellent, my favorite of all of Nordins books that I’ve read so far. In fact, I even went back and read certain favorite parts over again after finishing it Saturday morning; something that I haven’t done in ages.

I fell in love with Brian. Head over heels, just like Lucy. Even though there are times when he fleetingly wishes he did have his sight (like the times when he wishes he could see his wife’s beautiful face), he doesn’t let it get the best of him. After all, he’s been blind from birth so he can’t really miss what he never had in the first place, right? His other senses are so attuned that he “sees” much more than the average sighted person ever could, both on the surface and underneath. He’s handsome and sweet, with a quiet strength. He never lets his lack of sight get him down.

I also liked Lucy very much. A strong woman in her own right, she knows what she must do to survive. Desperate to leave her home (*bit of a spoiler alert here* - there’s an “evil twin” situation going on, too), she marries this idiot who’s already married with children and finds herself dumped in some strange place. Obviously, she’s scared and distraught at first. Who wouldn’t be? So, she really has no choice but to suck it up and make the best out of her situation. Bottom line, I didn’t want to reach through my Kindle screen and choke her to death, which is saying something. She knows and appreciates that while the way she ended up where she was not exactly ideal, she wouldn’t have met the love of her life if it hadn’t happened the way it did. It goes back to everything happens for a reason.

While I’m a sucker for a good romance, what also kept me turning the pages was the suspense that Nordin sprinkled through the pages. As I mentioned before, Lucy has an evil twin and I was more than happen to see her get what was coming to her. Bitch. As for the love scenes, while tamer than what I usually indulge in, they were still very touching and, if possible, made me fall even deeper in love with Brian. What he lacked at first in experience, he more than made up for in enthusiasm once he got he swing of things.

In closing, Ruth Ann Nordin spins a heartwarming tale of two young people brought together out of necessity, but soon find that the love that grows between them helps them dispel the lingering shadows and secrets of their past.

Available at:
Amazon (Kindle Edition)
Barnes & Noble (Nook Book)

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*Blurb Courtesy of Goodreads.

**Disclaimer: This book has been provided to CBLS Reviews free of charge by the author. No money has been exchanged for the review of this eBook. This review reflects the opinion of the individual reviewer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the other CBLS reviewers or this blog’s administrator/editor.