The title intrigued me. What is a short straw bride? Does
she have short straw –colored hair? I was about half way into the book when
Karen revealed where the title came from. By then I was hooked.
Meredith Hayes had an encounter with one of the Archer boys
when she was ten years old. No one ventured onto the Archer land without taking
their life into their own hands. Or so the stories went. Yet Travis Archer had treated
her with kindness. Now it is twelve years later and she is living in town with
her aunt, uncle and cousin. On a walk with the man she is engaged to, she hears
him plot with another man to burn the Archer brothers off their land.
Remembering the kindness of Travis, she hurries to their property to warn them.
Now the second encounter occurs. Some sets fire to the barn while she is there
and in the process of getting a stubborn mule out, Meredith is kicked in the
head by the mule. When her uncle finds out that she has been with the four
Archer brothers for four days recovering he insists that one of them marry her.
Hence, the short straw bride.
Travis has arranged it so that he becomes the bridegroom,
feeling that as the oldest it is his responsibility to take care of his
brothers as well as Meredith. Unknown to everyone, he has fallen in love with
her and Meredith is now married to the man she has dreamed about for twelve
years. All goes fairly well until cousin Cassie shows up very upset because she
is being forced to marry the man Meredith was supposed to. Again the Archer
brothers find themselves shielding and protecting a woman. Their solitary life
is quickly coming to a close and they find that neighbors are not such a bad
thing.
A thoroughly enjoyable book with twists and turns that will
keep the reader engaged to the very end.
I received this book to review for free from Bethany House.
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