Sweet Romance

Mail Order Mix-Up
by Christine Johnson
(Boom Town Brides Series)
Kindle, paperback
288 pages
April 1, 2016

Pearl Lawson saw an ad for a mail-order bride in a newspaper. Oh, not for herself, but for her friend Amanda. They set out for Singapore, Michigan, where Pearl had already signed a contract to be Singapore’s school teacher, which stated she could not marry and remain the teacher in Singapore. But that was no problem because Pearl did not plan on marrying but was determined to dedicate herself to teaching and to helping children. Pearl and Amanda grew up together and this was there opportunity to stay close friends in the same town and both achieve their dream.

           But Amanda is not the only woman seeking Mr. Decker’s heart and position as his wife; there are two other women, Louise and Fiona, on the same steamship with that very same goal in mind. The women all think the Roland Decker on the steamship is the Mr. Decker that submitted the ad, but when they ask the handsome Roland, they found out it was his widowed brother Garrett. Four single women and two handsome men make for the start of a wonderful novel.  
          
          The story is a page-turner with twist after twist in the historical Michigan setting of sand dunes and the log milling town of Singapore. I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot because it is adorable. I loved the book and couldn’t put it down wondering who would marry and who would not.
     
          Christine Johnson, an accomplished author, has done a wonderful job of portraying a sweet romance in a nineteenth century Michigan setting.