Customer Reviews

Convenient Wife (Montana Mavericks) (Harlequin Historical)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1897, Whitehorn, Montana

Almost nineteen-year-old Ellie Mitchum has a terrifying fear and a shocking secret.

Ellie is the only daughter of crotchety, unloving but successful widower rancher, George Mitchm. George feels every woman's place is in the home and their sole purpose is to cater to the men in their life, whether that's a husband or a father. Attractive, good-natured, hard-working and extremely naive Ellie dreams of a future with a lovingly devoted husband with a home of their own. When smooth-talking Tommy Jamison started courting Ellie, she was quickly filled with his golden promise of her lifelong dream. Tommy's controlling and domineering parents hastily moved him back East to attend college and away from a possible problem their son may have caused with the unrefined and common Miss Mitchum.

Remembering that her mother died some years before due to a growth in her belly, Ellie was frantic with fear when her belly mysteriously started getting big, so she made an appointment with Whitehorn's only doctor, the handsome bachelor, Winton Gray. He assured Ellie she was not dying from a growth, but only having a baby-a perfectly natural occurrence. Understanding Ellie's predicament as a girl of "a certain reputation," Doc decided Ellie was the answer to his prayers as his life unquestionably needed the special touch of an organized down-to-earth woman and Ellie definitely needed a father for her baby. The perfect all around solution is a marriage of convenience. They surprisingly discovered many blessings, but when Tommy returned to Whitehorn, Doc and Ellie would learn that marriage, no matter how convenient, was never simple and is sometimes filled with heartache.

A very easy read and a bonus to the wonderful Montana Mavericks Series.

Carolyn Davidson is the master of tender romances that make me fall in love with the hero. This book is no exception to this. The doctor is a good guy who sees a young pregnant woman who's been thrown out of her father's house. He offers her a place to work and stay and keeps his distance. The father of the baby returns and to protect her, the doctor marries her. What is great is that the hero was a virgin. They aren't that easy to find. What's even better is that the message of forgiveness and grace shone throughout this book. It was a touching romance, showing that love can overcome a nasty father who actually abducts her for his own gain and other obstacles this couple finds in the first year of their marriage.

This is a very sweet small town Montana love story. The story is fairly black & white with the main characters having no flaws - people you would love to have as neighbours.

Ellie is naïve and does not even realise that she is pregnant when she visits the doctor, believing that she must be dying of some awful illness. The doctor, Win, is a dedicated young man who has left his high society background in St Louis to pursue his desire to help people as a doctor. He is drawn to Ellie and has no hesitation in offering her his help when her father throws her out.

Ellie is initially overwhelmed by kindness and generosity, so foreign to her after her hard life with her father. Win is enthralled by the beautiful person she is on the inside - as well as her physical beauty. What starts as a marriage of convenience quickly develops into a relationship based on mutual love.

That would not be enough to sustain any drama, of course, so there are plenty of hurdles to overcome - from Ellie's abusive father, to the young man who ran away when she became pregnant and even Win's arrogant mother. There are also any number of wonderful characters in the town who contribute the story as it unfolds.

There is suspense and drama, but overall this is not an edgy story with any tortured souls.
If you are looking for a sweet, heart-warming romance then this is your book.

All she wanted was a kitchen to run and a garden to tend. But when Doe Gray offered his name to her and the baby she carried. Ellie Mitchum was overwhelmed. How could she a girl of a certain reputation ever be the kind of wife he needed and deserved. Winston Gray knew that Ellie was the answer to his prayers. His life required a woman's touch. She needed a mans protection. It was simple. But when her baby's real father returned, Winston would learn that marriage , no matter how convenient, was never simple.

I'm falling in love with Western stories and A Convenient Wife is a pretty good one. I'm VERY picky when it comes to my books and I know a good story when I read one and despite minor eye roll problems this book is great if you want a good read and a real, developing love story.

Ellie is the naive 18 year old daughter of widower George Mitchum. It's only been her and her father since he mother's death so women's issues are something she knows very little about. She goes into see town doctor Winston "Win" Gray to tell him that she's dying because of a tumor growth in her stomach. Not having a mother or any woman around makes her so oblivious to her growth being a pregnancy and her not knowing that you CAN get in the "family way" without being married. The baby's father and his father hightailed it back to the East when his mother realized that Ellie looked pregnant so to save their son from marrying the farmer's daughter they ran.

Ellie's father beats her when she tells him about her pregnancy. He already hates her because his wife died and left him with one child, and a daughter no less. Ellie's saviors come in the form of the wife of the general store owner Tess Dillard and Win. Win needs someone to clean and cook for him and maintain his office when patients come so he hires Ellie to be his housekeeper. The single Doctor however soon notices how nice it is to have a woman around and looks at Ellie and notices that she's quite pretty to look at and pleasant to be around. Tess Dillard being a friend to the doctor and new found friend to Ellie tells Win that it's time he got a wife and Ellie is a great choice. He's not sure but time is running out because George Mitchum is already going around town sullying his daughter as a fallen women and a slut so everyone assumes thanks to George's ranting that the Doctor is taking advantage of Ellie and their shacking up together. Win proposes to Ellie because she's pretty, kind and generally likes her and knows she's too good of a person to have people believe lies about her and he tells her that he'll claim her child as his own because he cares for her.

Win is one of the BEST kind of heroes. He likes Ellie not just for her aesthetically pleasing looks but because she's a gentle soul and a caring young woman. He wants a family of his own (since his family turned their backs on him when he chose medicine over law) and isn't appalled that she's carrying another man's child because he sees the baby as Ellie's child and he's falling in love with her and thus her child...his soon to be child.

As Ellie and Win's love grows, the baby's father comes back to town set on marrying Ellie and taking her back to the East with him. But WHAT could be the reason? It's clear his mother is holding his puppet strings but they are adamant on taking her with them. Ellie's in love with Win and not budging but of course with a father who hates her and a young man and his domineering mother whispering in his ears it's and uphill fight to remain with Win with those 3 conspirators trying to take her with them.

Overall, this is a GREAT book with a hero AND heroine you'll love. You find yourself rooting for them as everyone around them is trying their best to break them apart.

4 stars. Almost 5 but the villains are just so annoying sometimes and the tossing in of Win's mother at the last minute seemed unnecessary.

I enjoyed this book very much. I've read several books by this author and have liked every one of them. Her characters are believable, her love scenes true to life (not physically impossible or unlikely like many romance novels) and her prose is easy to follow. I rarely have to re-read anything. Her descriptions of life and setting make you feel like you were there, and, in the case of those who feel we were born a century too late, make us wish we were.

IT was a very good book. It was not surprizing because Carolyn Davidson is a very good writer. I try to read all of her books.