Customer Reviews

The Substitute Bride (Love Inspired Historical)

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

 

 

I really like this author, and was excited to read this book, which, is a very good read.However, my only "complaint" if you will, with all due respect, is repetition.All throughout the book, about every few lines,TEARS, or CRYING is mentioned.Tears are surely needed in many books, but I did find myself a bit mystified that every other scence, someone was "misting-up" somehow.It just makes it a bit "old" after a time. I will continue to read her books,for sure, as she does have impressive writing talent,but I so hope for a bit less "reps" in next tomes.

Honestly, can any historical romance reader resist the tried-and-true story of a mail-order bride? Well, hold on to your hats, because in The Substitute Bride, Janet Dean has come up with a love match that takes "marriage at first sight" to a whole new level of fun!

Enter Elizabeth Manning, a beautiful debutante down on her luck who trades places with a mail-order bride turned skittish at the prospect of marrying a widow with two children. Ill-prepared for the hardships of frontier life or any life other than that of a rich socialite, Elizabeth is not exactly what handsome Ted Logan had in mind as a mother and wife. But as their feelings for each other grow, it looks as if it may be a match made in heaven ... until their pasts collide.

I don't know if the third time is the charm, but charm is definitely a major part of Janet Dean's delightful third novel where she creates an old-fashioned love story full of engaging characters and a surprising plot, with plenty of gentle romance and spiritual truths to tug at the heart. Simply put, Janet Dean is one of the brightest stars on the Love Inspired horizon and a pure joy to read.

Janet Dean has crafted another compelling historical romance, complete with a spunky, determined heroine and a strong but gentle hero who will capture your heart from the start. To pay off his gambling debts, Elizabeth Manning's father has arranged her marriage to a decidedly unsavory character. She escapes by switching places with a reluctant mail-order bride pledged to an Iowa farmer and finds herself married to Ted Logan, a widower with two motherless children. With the perils of gambling underlying the plot, Dean leads her characters through a compelling maze of secrets and broken hearts, until the inevitable happy ending. The joy is in watching how both Elizabeth and Ted grow through their trials and learn to see God's hand in bringing them together.

Elizabeth Manning had a choice: Either marry someone her father "sold" her to to pay his debts or run. She chose to run.

Her so-called intended was old enough to be her father, had really bad breath, and sported the table manners of a pig. Yep, she had to run.

She dropped herself from her bedroom to the ground below without mishap, but her bag of clothes didn't fare so well. No time to pick it up--run to the train station!

There she finds a would-be mail order bride in tears part-way to her destination, too homesick to go on. Sally Rutgers, the potential bride is part way to her destination, crying because she wants to go home and she feels bad about not completing her contract to marry a farmer in New Harmony.

You guessed it--Elizabeth becomes Sally. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. But wait, what about that promise God made about bringing good out of everything that happens in our lives? Can He bring good out of even the deceptions we've fostered?

Elizabeth isn't the only one with secrets. Her new husband, Ted Logan, has a few things he hasn't shared with his mail-unordered bride, too. Is this one time God can't untangle the web?

I usually like mail order bride stories but this one made me mad more than it made me smile. Elizabeth travels to New Harmony a town in which she will meet Ted, a man who is expecting to meet Sally his mail order bride. Elizabeth arrives instead as she has to get away from her father and a would be groom. Sally has cold feet and Elizabeth needs a ticket to anywhere away from home.

Warning, the rest of my comments might possibly be considered SPOILER....

I really like Ted but Elizabeth really made me mad because she constantly snubbed the poor man. It would have been fine but throughout the entire book? Oh well, some people like that, I don't. I like it when the main characters in a story fall in love and show it by their actions.

The scene near the end with the guy that had Elizabeth at gunpoint was downright unbelievable, really? ...you can talk an evil man out of changing his ways with a few minutes of words. I don't buy it.

I have one other book from this author on my Kindle but if there are similaries to this one I will not finish it nor will I read another by this author.

Sorry to be so harsh but I was so sorry I wasted my time.

This is the first time I've read this author and the first inspirational romance I've read in a long time. I was impressed with Ms. Dean's writing talent. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a simple heartfelt historical western romance.

This is everything you would guess from the back and nothing more. It would have been nice for there to be something, anything, more.

One of the new friends I have made on Facebook is author Janet Dean ([...]). She is an author, as well as a blogger ([...]). I had the opportunity to read her latest book, `The Substitute Bride,' the third book in her publishing career. This book has an interesting premise. Set in 1899, the main character, Elizabeth Manning, is fleeing her family home after her father `sold' her to a smarmy (much older) man named Reginald Parks in payment for his gambling debt. Elizabeth decided she would be better off leaving town!

At the train depot in her hometown of Chicago, she ran across a young woman who was having second thought about her arranged, mail order bride marriage to a farmer in New Harmony, Iowa. Elizabeth decided her best chance at success was to take the place of Sally Rutgers, and to marry this stranger. She accepted Sally's gift of her train ticket, and was on her way to the farmlands of Iowa.

To Elizabeth's surprise, this farmer gentleman, Ted Logan took her substitution as a sign from God, and married her that afternoon. Thus began a period of extreme adjustments for all concerned - including Ted's young children, Anna and toddler son, Henry. Anna was having difficulty accepting Elizabeth as her mother, and Elizabeth was having difficulty accepting the loss of her single life and its independence.
Elizabeth had a brother back home, Robby, who always wanted to live on a farm. With the loss of her father's home (due to his gambling losses) looming, Elizabeth decided she needed to bring him along to be a part of this new family.

Ted is a godly man who was able to accept the Lord's forgiveness after he had many years of sinful living (prior to his move to New Harmony). His influence allowed Elizabeth to see Christ in action, and it drew her (and many other characters in the story) closer to the Lord.

I found Janet's ([...]) writing style to be very engaging (no pun intended!). I appreciated the detail that she included in this historical novel. I also was excited to see how she showed God's will prevailing at the end of the story. I am anxious to see how Elizabeth's and Ted's life mesh even closer together and move forward if she decides to reprise these characters in future books.

This book was generously provided to me by the author for review purposes.

THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE in the perfect mail order bride story. Elizabeth Manning never intended to be a mail order bride. Changing places with one cold feet bride, Elizabeth sets off to marry a man she has never even communicated with!
This was such a fun book to read. When Ted finds out this is not the bride he intended, there is bound to frustration, but I loved that he married her anyway. He needed a bride and she needed a home.
The love that grew between them was a joy to watch unfold. When Elizabeth struggled with cooking and managing Ted's wayward daughter, I wanted to laugh, but felt empathy for her struggles. And I just howled when Ted refused her biscuits and then turned around and later made them. You'll have to read the book to find out the rest.
There was drama between the married couple, a sweet romance, and enough conflict to keep the pace of the novel moving and intriguing. The historical detail was great and the characters real. I loved this novel and hope I can read more by this author soon! A unique take on the mail order bride scene, I would recommend this book to all lovers of this time period.

Janet Dean's third book is as refreshing and spiritually joyous as her first. I'm a fan of mail-order-bride stories anyway, and this one is no exception to that particular rule.

Ted and Elizabeth are loving, caring people who just need to stop spinning in life's circles long enough to settle on each other. This story shows their journey (and the spinning along the way!) and addresses the horrors of gambling and "visiting the sins of the father..." in a believable and uplifting way. Looking forward to Mrs. Dean's next one!