Heirloom Brides

Four great authors teamed up to put together a great olio of stories with the theme of Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue. Tracey Bateman, Mona Hodgson, Joanne Bischoff, and Kim Vogel Sawyer are the A-team of writing historical romance with aplomb with a bit of humor injected to keep things moving along.

Something Old: Betsy's grandfather lost his watch in an auction of all his property because he couldn't pay the bank note on the farm. When Betsy finds out who has it, she demands its return because it is an Heirloom. Trouble is, the watch is an heirloom, just not one from her family. She has to get the truth out of her grandfather before she can accept that the new owner is the one who should have it anyway. She also has to realize that the one who has the watch also has her heart.

Something New: Tate comes back to see Wren after leaving for four years. When he left, he broke Wren's heart and now that he's back, his plan is to build a house for Wren and when it is finished, to ask her to marry him. Before that, though, he gives Wren a journal of her grandmother's along with some seeds that her grandmother sent her, then he asks her to wait before she plants the seeds.

Something Borrowed: Clara and her father have moved from Minneapolis to Wilhelmina, Minnesota, for her father to try farming after he retired from banking. She had broken up with two beaux and got quite a reputation that made her rather skittish around people. When her father got his leg broken from felling a tree, she had to borrow the labor of her neighbor, Titus, so that the field could be cleared for planting.

Something Blue: Darla has come back to Cripple Creek to begin a nursing job at the hospital. She is assigned as a home duty nurse to check on patients who have been released from the hospital but still need some care. She re-encounters Nicolas Zanzucchi after he'd been burned in a mine accident, and while she gets to know him and his daughters, Zach Pfeiffer wants to reignite what he thought was a strong romance between the two of them. Darla comes to realize that Zach is not the one to give her heart to, but now she has to plow through Nicolas' reservations.

Each of these stories has such an endearing quality to it and the writing is easy to read and follow. Something Old may be the least liked because Betsy is such a tartar, but concern for her grandfather is enough to excuse her poor behavior.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and an heirloom for your wedding.

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read and review this book.