Historical
Salvation Bride
By Natasha Smith
Jan 16, 2009 - 11:04:14 AM

Sheriff David Slade needs a wife in the worst way.  Since the death of his first spouse, he has been striving to take care of his young daughter, run his ranch, and work as the sheriff of Salvation.  When his latest housekeeper gives him her notice, David writes a letter asking for a bride, never expecting anyone to take him up on it.  When he and Laura Ashton seem to click while communicating via letters, David is happy to learn that she will become his mail-order bride.  David is pleasantly surprised when she arrives.  The woman he is going to marry is beautiful as well as compliant.  It isn’t until they have been married that David finds out the true reason Laura accepted his proposal.  It seems that Laura left out one vital bit of information when she was writing her letters to David.

Laura Ashton is instantly aware of the handsome man that is now her husband.  She knows she should have told him that she was a practicing doctor before they got married but she was afraid – and rightly so if David’s reaction to her news is any indication of his feelings about her working.  Just when they seem to be coming to terms with each other and Laura’s desire to become the town doctor, her past catches up with her and it isn’t pretty.

SALVATION BRIDE is a novel after my own heart.  As a huge fan of mail-order bride stories, I hoped I was in for a good read.  The characterizations of Laura and David were such that I could have been sitting right there with them as they went about their days.  Their romantic life began after they were married and it was fun watching them fall in love.  Their desire for each other was stunning in its intensity.  I found David to be a typical male of the 19^th century with his ideas concerning female physicians.  Laura was no wilting violet and she wholeheartedly took to her new role as mother and wife.  The only black cloud on her horizon was David’s feelings.  His stubbornness endeared him to me because as the reader, I could see through his defenses to the man underneath.  By the book’s end, I loved him just as much as Laura did. 

SALVATION BRIDE carried me away for an afternoon and I loved every word.  From the beautifully written love scenes to the emotional turmoil each character experienced, I felt each and every sensation.  This truly is a wonderful book.