A Cowboy for Keeps

 

Jody Hedlund is such a good writer, and most of her books have a great spiritual depth, but her newest offering is a bit lighter in plot and character and it is a welcome change.  A common trope in historical romances is the mail order bride, and Jody has used this trope quite successfully in A Cowboy for Keeps. 

Greta Nilsson and her sister Astrid are moving to Colorado for Greta to be a mail order bride.  She wants to move to the high elevations of Colorado because of Astrid's consumption. 

Wyatt McQuaid is trying to make a go of his struggling ranch while meeting obstacles at every turn.  He is in town when Greta and Astrid arrive on the stagecoach and when Greta finds out that her mail order fiancé is dead.  Mr. Steele was also a  passenger on the stage coach and had come to know and like Greta.  He comes up with a plan to solve Wyatt's and Greta's individual problems that requires Wyatt and Greta to marry. 

Wyatt and Greta run into all kinds of set backs and challenges with the ranch and with Astrid.  Jody's ability in pulling them out of these challenges is quite sharp.  Greta enters into the marriage with partnership foremost in her mind.  She is a lovable character with all the caring that an older sister should have, especially for a sickly younger sister.  Astrid is a handful in the best of times, her personality is quite precocious.  Wyatt is a completely relatable cowboy and his ranch is the perfect setting for the bulk of the plot in this book.  

One thing that Jody did with the ending of this book is to give a glimpse into the next book in the series, which promises to be just as good. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a huckleberry hand pie (and my tastebuds are watering at the thought). 

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.