MAIL ORDER BRIDES--COULD YOU BE ONE? COULD YOU MARRY ONE? by CHERYL PIERSON

I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been enthralled by mail-order brides. No, I’ve not been “studying” them, or “researching” them—yet. I’ve just been wondering why this became such a practice—and a successful one—among women of all walks of life, or so it seems.

What would make a woman leave everything familiar to her and travel to “parts unknown” to marry a man she knew nothing about? What’s scarier than online dating? Being a mail-order bride! Once they’d made the commitment to leave their homes behind—much to the consternation of many family members and friends, in some cases, I would imagine—the die was cast.

Here's one of the first mail-order bride stories I wrote--FOUND HEARTS, penned for the PRAIRIE ROSE PUBLICATIONS 2014 Valentine's Day anthology, HEARTS AND SPURS, and later released as a single sell story.

BLURB:
Southern belle Evie Fremont has lost everything—except hope. When she answers an advertisement for marriage to Alex Cameron who lives in the wilds of Indian Territory, she has few illusions that he could be a man she might fall in love with—especially as his secrets begin to unfold.

Ex-Confederate soldier Alex Cameron needs a mother for his two young half-Cherokee sons more than he needs a wife—or so he tells himself. But when his past threatens his future on his wedding day, he and Evie are both forced to acknowledge their new love has come to stay—along with their FOUND HEARTS.

http://www.amazon.com/Found-Hearts-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00R3MWEUC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455685920&sr=1-1&keywords=Found+Hearts

A woman would have to be certain in her own mind that what she was going to was better than what she was leaving behind. She would have to be resourceful enough to plan some kind of “exit strategy” if things didn’t work out. And I suppose, many times, women resigned themselves to the fact that they would become a soiled dove—the lowest of the low—in order to survive.

Here's a wonderful collection of mail-order bride tales from Prairie Rose Publications, LASSOING A MAIL-ORDER BRIDE. Take a peek at what's inside:

BLURB:
A woman would have to be loco to become a mail-order bride...wouldn't she? Leaving everything behind and starting fresh in the untamed west is the answer to a prayer for these ladies! A beautiful socialite needs a husband fast —but her husband wants a bride for life. A pregnant young lady becomes desperate —almost as desperate as her soon-to-be husband, who just inherited his sister's kids. A man is in love with a woman he can’t have —or can he? A woman’s reputation is tarnished and professional career compromised —she runs, but she can't hide. Will they all find love with strangers they've never met who are set on LASSOING A MAIL-ORDER BRIDE?

THESE ROUGH DREAMS—Cheryl Pierson
A pregnant mail order bride. A groom with three orphaned children. Some dreams get a rough start

HER HURRY-UP HUSBAND—Tanya Hanson
A beautiful socialite needs a husband fast —for just one month —but the rancher wants a wife for life!

A PERMANENT WOMAN—Kaye Spencer
He needs a wife to get custody of his grandchildren. She needs a fresh start and a new reputation. Desperate men —and women —sometimes take desperate measures...but can she be A PERMANENT WOMAN?

THE BIG UNEASY—Kathleen Rice Adams
A man in love with a woman he can’t have. A woman engaged to a man she doesn’t love. A secret in common could destroy them all.



http://www.amazon.com/Lassoing-Mail-Order-Bride-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00KREGPI0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1455686282&sr=1-1&keywords=Lassoing+a+Mail+Order+Bride

In spite of all the scenarios we might come up with for a mail-order bride to leave the life she has known behind her for something completely foreign to her, there are, I’m sure, many that we never could have even contemplated. For each story is personal, intimate, and heart-rending in its own right.

One of the most unusual books about mail-order brides is Jim Fergus’s story, ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN—which is not about “mail-order brides” as we think of them, but in a totally different way—a trade by the U.S. Government of 1000 white women to the Indians in order to achieve assimilation into white culture. Interestingly enough, this premise WAS discussed in reality, but not carried through. In the book, however, Fergus shows how the government emptied insane asylums of women and sent them to the Indians…only most of the women were not insane, but had been “put away” by their families for one reason or another.


http://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-White-Women-Journals-ebook/dp/B0042XA3OE/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455685348&sr=1-1&keywords=One+Thousand+White+Women

Would you have what it took to be a mail-order bride in the old west? I’m not sure I would, but it’s fun to think about. And for you guys--would you consider "mail-ordering" a bride? What if either of you had habits the other couldn't abide? What if you just didn't "suit" in general?

A MAIL-ORDER CHRISTMAS BRIDE is a collection of Christmas mail-order bride stories that Prairie Rose Publications just released with some wonderful tales of how some women with pasts they needed to leave behind find new beginnings at the most joyous time of the year. These eight stories by Livia J. Washburn, Kathleen Rice Adams, Cheryl Pierson, Patti Sherry-Crews, Jesse J Elliot, Meg Mims, Tanya Hanson, and Jacquie Rogers will provide you many hours of reading pleasure all year 'round.



http://www.amazon.com/Mail-Order-Christmas-Bride-Livia-Washburn-ebook/dp/B0182FEYU6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455685767&sr=1-1&keywords=A+mail+order+Christmas+Bride


So what about it, y'all? Ladies, could you BE a mail-order bride? Gents, would you consider advertising for a bride? What would be your qualifications?

I’m giving away a digital copy of A MAIL-ORDER CHRISTMAS BRIDE to one commenter! The question is, would you leave your familiar surroundings and go west to be a mail-order bride? Be sure to leave your contact information in your comment!

Thanks for stopping by today!

http://www.prairierosepublications.com/

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED -- Meg Mims

LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WEST

June is coming upon us in a few months, along with the season for weddings -- which got me to thinking. Just how common were mail order brides in the Old West?

Think about the issue this way. After the Civil War, widows and young women outnumbered eligible men in the East. And out west, eligible men vastly outnumbered the few women who'd already followed the call of the gold fields.

So yes. The newspapers had a field day with advertisements for brides willing to travel west, the mail thrummed back and forth between eager bachelors and respectable (or not so respectable, depending on the situation) ladies in small towns out east. Like the internet today, both sides often "doctored" descriptions and/or photographs in hopes of snagging a partner. Disappointment often reigned, of course, and at times men waited in vain for a promised bride - who turned in the ticket for money instead of undertaking a journey. Some newspapers printed notices such as these.

And who doesn't love the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? Adam seeks a bride one day in town, snags Millie by pure luck - who envisions a wonderful life with the handsome, sweet talking backwoodsman, but ends up being cook, maid and teacher-of-manners to his six brothers. They soon want their own brides, of course. It's pure fun, and the barn dance is the best part.

In the 1860s, Asa Mercer promised to import women of marriageable age to Seattle - and that history inspired the popular television show, Here Come the Brides (along with the film Seven Brides/Seven Brothers). A set of three brothers bet their tract of timber against the sawmill owner's offer to fund the expenses; the businessman has eyes on that land and timber, of course, while the Bolt brothers have a difficult time convincing the women of Massachusetts to leave home. It's more pure fun, and inspired lots of young girls in their teens to worship at the feet of Bobby Sherman and David Soul. Oh yeah.

Okay, back to the mail order brides issue. Fred Harvey himself played matchmaker, hiring single women "of good character" who could work  in his cafes along the railroad. The businessman kept strict standards, however, that the women must work as waitresses for a year; they were chaperoned while men visited in special "courting" parlors, and had to live in special dormitories. Between 4,000 and 5,000 women ended up marrying by first working as Harvey Girls. This also spawned the Judy Garland hit, The Harvey Girls. While the plot seems silly, they did get the uniform right.

Some immigrants also utilized ways of procuring brides, either through letters or matchmakers. Russian men paid fees to obtain potential wives, steeped in tradition from their old homes; Chinese and Japanese did the same, asking their parents to act as brokers to get a bride, sight unseen or via a blurry photograph. Such pressure from parents sent Asian women across the ocean, or else chose to escape starving to death. The recent TV mini-series, Broken Trail, starred Robert Duvall and Thomas Hayden Church and wove a group of Chinese women brought over as brides - or so they believed.

The theme of mail order brides remains popular in novels. Do a search on Amazon or B&N using that keyword, and you can scroll through 100 pages of offerings. One anthology includes our own Western Fictioneers member Cheryl Pierson in Lassoing a Mail Order Bride - published by Prairie Rose Publications - which sounds really interesting. "A woman would have to be loco to become a mail-order bride... wouldn't she? Leaving everything behind and starting fresh in the untamed west is the answer to a prayer for these ladies!" Check it out.

I used the offer of a train ticket, the promise of a wedding, a nice house with husband and family, as a subplot for a minor female character in  Double Crossing. Check out my novel if you haven't read my western historical mystery with the "True Grit on a train" major theme.

Mail order brides are not a thing of the past. And the tradition continues, not surprisingly. Where there's a need, there's a way to fill it...

Sources: Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, Guidelines, and Pinterest.

Mystery author Meg Mims earned a Spur Award from WWA and also a Laramie award for her western historical mystery series, Double Crossing and Double or Nothing. Meg is also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland for St. Martin's Minotaur mystery series featuring Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins -- lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband and a sweet Malti-poo. She loves writing novels, novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. 
Follow her on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest!

LASSOING A BRIDE? or LASSOING A GROOM? GET BOTH! by Cheryl Pierson

Prairie Rose Publications is going strong with several new anthologies for the summer! Cowboy Cravings and Lassoing a Mail-Order Bride will be released early in June, but read on, cause we've just released LASSOING A BRIDE and LASSOING A GROOM yesterday, and what a great group of stories these are! Take a look!



LASSOING A GROOM

How is a woman supposed to catch a husband? In the wild, wild west, she’s got to find a way to Lasso a Groom! Some of them are lawmen…some are outlaws. Ranchers and homesteaders are fair game, as well—none of ’em safe from love’s lariat, or the women who finally manage to rope ’em in!

DON’T GO SNARING MY HEART by Jacquie Rogers
Can rancher Dex Madsen get past loner Betsy Lynch's goats and killer chicken to help save her mining claim and win her heart?

RACE TO MARRY by Kirsten Lynn
He’s in town to tame a man-killer. She’s accused of being one. When she proposes marriage the race is on.

WANTED: THE SHERIFF by Tracy Garrett
He’s a confirmed bachelor…but she’ll capture his heart.

CANYON CROSSING by Kristy McCaffrey
In search of her brother, Annabel Cross enters Grand Canyon. When U.S. Deputy Marshal Angus Docherty rescues her from a cliff side, her most guarded secret might save them.

THE PERFECT HOMESTEAD BRIDE by Linda Hubalek
Will a dangerous man from Gussie Hamner’s past sabotage the future she’s building with Noah Wilerson?

THE WORST OUTLAW IN THE WEST by Kathleen Rice Adams
An inept bank robber and a bossy spinster team up to rob an empty vault. What could go wrong?



LASSOING A BRIDE

Some brides are hard to get a rope on, for sure! But in these wild west romance tales, being married is like sugar and lots of spice—with a dash of pepper in the mix! Ain’t nothin’ tame about these brides, who have a delicious story of their own—each falling under the spell of a handsome devil she thought was out of her reach. Unanswered prayers, broken dreams and unexpected circumstances are sometimes the best way for a groom to get the gal he loves when he’s looking at Lassoing a Bride!

PRETTIEST LITTLE HORSE THIEF by Gail L. Jenner
Sometimes it’s the stolen and unexpected love that has the power to heal a broken heart

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS by Sarah J. McNeal
A broken dream…a cancelled wedding…and an unexpected blessing.

NO LESS THAN FOREVER by Tracy Garrett
Love always finds a way…

THE BANK ROBBER'S LAMENT by Sara Barnard
Smith found equal amounts of both anonymity and trouble in Gabriel's Settlement. But when he sets eyes on a beautiful woman and her young daughter who are being abused, might some other emotion be fated to bloom in that desert town of far west Texas?

THE BRIDE AND THE BADGE by Livia J. Washburn
Was Emily just bait for an outlaw trap—or did she mean more than that to the handsome Texas Ranger?

Covers were ALL designed by our very own Livia Reasoner! Aren't they gorgeous?

Available at B&N, Amazon and other fine booksellers in digital and print!

Amazon link for Lassoing a Bride:
http://www.amazon.com/Lassoing-Bride-Gail-L-Jenner-ebook/dp/B00KFFFJ6K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400645844&sr=8-1&keywords=Lassoing+a+Bride

Amazon link for Lassoing a Groom:
http://www.amazon.com/Lassoing-Groom-Jacquie-Rogers-ebook/dp/B00KFFS2O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400645166&sr=8-1&keywords=Lassoing+a+Groom