Review of "Bluebonnet Bride" by Colleen Coble

Bluebonnet Bride – eBookBy Colleen Coble / Thomas Nelson

Today’s review is of Bluebonnet Bride, A Butterfly Palace Story by Colleen Coble, published by Thomas Nelson.

I recently finished reading Bluebonnet Bride and enjoyed it. The story is of a young lady from across the ocean that arrives in the U.S. at the beginning of the last century. Things have taken a turn for the worse so Elli has decided to become a mail-order bride and take her chances on a new life.

She travels by boat to New York and then train to Texas. As soon as she arrives in Texas she meets her fiance Nathan and his little niece whom has been raising. He had sent away for a permanent “mother” for his niece and not necessarily a wife for himself. They immediately get married and move to their new home. Elli loves the little girl Hannah and wishes she could have a husband-wife relationship as well, but Nathan just wants it to be platonic. They all three have separate bedrooms.

The first night, she is attacked in her room. Nathan saves her and it’s the beginning of him realizing that there is a connection between the two of them. An investigation ensues and the rest of the book is trying to discover the truth of why they keep getting attacked. By the end of the story the two have fallen in love with each other and their true marriage begins.

At first I was happy that this was a novella, only 58 pages, because it’s quicker and easier to read! However, I felt that it was too short to really get the characterization and story tension going. I didn’t feel too connected to the characters and didn’t care as much what happened to them–not as much as I would have liked to. I have read a couple of other Colleen Coble books (from the Rock Harbor series) that I have enjoyed more, so I’ll try her books again. This one just wasn’t the best.