Customer Reviews

Second Chance Brides (Texas Boardinghouse Brides, Book 2)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Second Chance Brides by Vicki McDonough is a lovely sweet romance that picks up where The Anonymous Bride left off. Shannon O'Neal and Leah Bennett are stranded in Lookout, Texas after they came as mail order brides for the same man...the Marshall. The Marshall has chosen and married Rachel, a woman from his past, leaving Shannon and Leah without a husband and no where to go.

Ordered by the Marshall to pay for the ladies room and board, the Corbett brothers organize Saturday socials to provide opportunity for the ladies to meet and marry nice gentlemen. Sometimes plans go according to plan, and then, sometimes they don't.

Vicki McDonough writes a delightful tale of love's journey and the importance of trusting God. She weaves in conflict and romantic tension beautifully, and takes you to a satisfying end.

Loved this book! It was full of excitement, adventure and fun! Found myself totally caught up in this books story line and not able to put it down. Even took the afternoon off from work just to finish it! I can't wait to read the next one to experience what happens to the other characters. Definitely recommend this read!

Everyone has already summarized the book, so I won't do that again. I just wanted to add that I also thoroughly enjoyed this book. Now that Lori Wick has retired, I am on the search for "new" authors. I have purchased both books from this series and not only read them, but also reread them. I know I like a book if I reread it! I am looking forward to the 3rd book in this series coming out in the spring.

This book starts up at Luke and Rachel's wedding. The book is told through the eyes of Leah and Shannon the left over mail order brides. Luke has told his cousin's that they have to pay room and board for the ladies until they either find a job or get married. In an attempt to speed the process up the brothers organize a Saturday night social so all the bachelors can meet the ladies and hopefully marry them.

The thing Mark did not expect was to start to fall for Shannon. Will he over come his past pain to find love? Leah finds herself drawn to the livery owner. But will her promise to never have kids keep her from finding true love?

I will be honest I tend to hold my breath a little when it comes to the middle book of a series. I have found from past experience that it tends to be the one I end up liking the least. I was hoping it would not be the case for this book but in the end it was. It was a good book and I enjoyed seeing Leah and Shannon find there match. But for me I was more interested in Jack, Rachel's daughter. She is still young but the author is laying the ground work for the 3rd book which will be her story and I found myself caring more about her then the two main characters in this book.

Since we are reading about both Leah and Shannon I felt the character of Leah was not developed as much as Shannon. We did get to hear from Mark but we did not get to hear from Leah's love interest Dan which for me made it harder to get into that part of the story. I honestly would rather have seen this series in 4 books with Leah and Shannon each having a more developed story.

Shannon was my favorite of the two ladies. She starts out so timid and by the end of the book she is starting to see her self worth and her character really starts to shine. Mark finally comes out of his brothers shadow and starts to live the life he wants. I enjoyed watching these two fall in love!

I was disappointed with Leah. I felt her character could have been expanded more but with two story's in this book hers got a little less attention. I also would have loved to gotten to know Dan better. I so wanted to know what he was thinking at times! Also the climax of this story held so much promise but again it was hurried a long and felt kind of flat. I really think it could have been its own book! I did enjoy these two just wished they would have been given a little more page time.

Over all it was a good book. I love series like this where the characters intertwine through out the series. I love stepping into a new book and already knowing some of the charters as well as the setting. I highly recommend reading the first book before this one so you know the back story.

This was another great book by Vickie McDonough. Second in the series of the Texas Boardinghouse Brides!! I loved how the story continued from the first book The Anonymous Bride. Vickie just dived right into to wear that story had left off. This was about the 2 mail-order brides Shannon and Leah that didn't get married in the first book. It's such a sweet story of how they come to find true love!

Second chance brides has all of the most memorable characters from Anonymous Bride that you fell in love with. There is of course the ongoing story of Luke and Rachel and their daughter Jack. Most of the story is revolved around Mark and Garrett Corbett, the two cousins of Luke that had ordered the mail-order-brides and was now paying for their room and board, and the two mail-order brides Shannon and Leah as they find true love. The Corbett brothers begin throwing Socials so that the singles can all get together in their hopes to marry off Shannon and Leah so they don't have to pay for their room and board anymore.

I really enjoyed this story! Vickie has created characters that you just fall in love with right from the start! My favorite character would have to be Mark. Mark struggled with a past that was hard for him to forget and forgive himself for. I loved the way Vickie had him working through the pain of his past to see that God had truly forgiven him and he needed to forgive himself! Very inspirational story filled with humor, love, and God's forgiveness and guidance in our lives! Loved it!

Shannon O'Neil and Leah Bennet came to Texas looking for husbands only to find out they've been tricked. Their matrimonial prospect up and married someone else. Now they're down and out, stranded and loveless, and everyone in town knows about it. Can the troublemakers who started it all redeem themselves and maybe lose their hearts in the process? McDonough writes yet another warm tale of romance and hijinks, which is why she'll always be one of my favorite authors.

Fans of Vickie McDonough's Anonymous Bride will adore this second installment of the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series. Shannon and Leah, two of the mail-order brides from book one, were left in Lookout, Texas with no prospects and no means of providing for themselves. However, in the opening of Second Chance Brides, a tornado whips through the small town and stirs up more than just dust as these two women come to see how God's provision can lead them to something even better than what they first imagined.

Spunky Leah has definite ideas about what her future should look like and has to make a tough choice about whether to hold on to her old dreams or let God grant her some new ones. Shy Shannon develops feelings for the last man in town she should consider, but will his past keep them apart?

Vickie McDonough crafts a fun read with characters I enjoyed getting to know more intimately after reading book one. Lighthearted and fun, with spiritual themes that resonnate, this is a book her fans will love!

After enjoying the first book in Vickie McDonough's Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, I was excited to read book two. SECOND CHANCE BRIDES is another delightful story, this time focusing on the unchosen mail-order brides from the first book. Stranded in Lookout, Texas, without husbands (the man they were "ordered" for ended up marrying his childhood sweetheart), Shannon and Leah are basically living on the charity of the conniving (but big-hearted) brothers who brought them to town in the first place. McDonough does a masterful job of relating each young woman's problem-fraught love story, making readers wait and wonder until the very end before revealing their happy-ever-after endings. A special treat is the character of "Jack," actually the young daughter of the couple who own the boardinghouse. She has her own problems to deal with as she tries to figure out how to deal with the town bully--but is he as bad as he seems? Now I'm anxious for the release of book three, which I understand will feature Jack all grown up. Can't help but wonder if she'll forsake her tomboy ways or use them to torment the hero!

All in all, a charming and delightful read. McDonough's way with words, realistic characterizations, and intriguing plot twists will keep you turning pages to the very end.

Second Chance Brides is the second in the series of Boardinghouse Brides by Vickie McDonough. In book one, widow Rachel must compete with three mail-order brides for the heart of her former heartthrob, Luke Davis. At the end of book one, two women are left displaced from their home and still single, must make a life for themselves in a strange land. Book two is how these two boardinghosue brides find true love.

Shannon O'Neil is injured when a twister sweeps through town during Rachel a ...more Second Chance Brides is the second in the series of Boardinghouse Brides by Vickie McDonough. In book one, widow Rachel must compete with three mail-order brides for the heart of her former heartthrob, Luke Davis. At the end of book one, two women are left displaced from their home and still single, must make a life for themselves in a strange land. Book two is how these two boardinghosue brides find true love.

Shannon O'Neil is injured when a twister sweeps through town during Rachel and Luke's wedding. She is saved by one of the rowdy brothers who brought her to Lookout, Texas to begin with--Mark Corbett. Mark sustains injuries, himself, which impair his ability to keep books for his business. Will time with the Irish lass breed contempt in his conflicted heart, or will Mark find himself falling for her shy, unassuming ways?

Leah Bennett catches the eye of tall, strong and handsome liveryman Dan Howard. She can't deny the atttraction is mutual, but should she hold out for a man with more to offer than a livery owner? And as the oldest sister of eleven children, she longs to find a man who would allow her a childless marriage. Is Dan that understanding?

As these two romance plots keep the pages turning, a tertiary plot with Rachel's daughter Jack and her dilemma with Butch Laird add a subterfuge. Butch is the town bully, or so most believe him to be, but is there more beneath the surface? Jack must do some soul searching to uncover the guilt in her own heart.

Despite the many threads weaving at once, the overall pace brought me on a leisurely read until the final third of the book, where all of the stories harmonized and came to a compelling crescendo. McDonough keeps the reader guessing who will get which girl right to the end, and did a great job making me fall in love with all of the characters, both major and minor. This double romance had many charming and poignant moments, and is sure to put lookout Texas on the map as one of the most love-struck towns in historical fiction.

This is the second novel in a three novel series named Texas Boardinghouse Brides. Vickie has a way of creating characters with flaws that the reader truly cares about. This novel followed two women as they attempted to navigate through a very difficult time : deciding what to do after the man they came to marry weds another woman. Should they stay? Should they leave? Do they have money to start a life elsewhere? The novel began with conflict and continued throughout, making it a page turner!