Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko
Book Description
At the turn of the 20th century, Elli Korpela boards The Baltic with hundreds of eager women, all seeking new beginnings and brighter futures in America . . . as mail order brides.
Escaping a forced engagement, Elli seeks refuge in a faraway marriage, desperately needing her new life with a Texan named Nathan White to be safer than the one she left behind in Finland. And as she glimpses her future husband and his darling niece at the train station, she instantly knows her risk will prove the best decision she’s ever made.
Until he became the guardian of four-year-old Hannah, Nathan White never took an interest in marriage, arranging a mail order wife to simply love and care for his orphaned niece. That is, he never took an interest until he laid eyes on the beautiful Elli Korpela.
After a fairytale ceremony in the gardens of the grandest estate Elli’s ever seen, a place called Butterfly Palace, their peaceful beginning takes a disquieting turn as an intruder brutally attacks Elli in the middle of the night. Nathan intervenes, but the devil escapes unidentified, leaving Elli to face two chilling possibilities: either the attack was arranged by strike workers in Nathan’s employ or her shadowy past followed her into the present – and across the sea.
As the danger mounts, Elli and Nathan must face their enemy together, fighting to stay alive – and fighting to stay man and wife.
My Review:
This short story that follows the Butterfly Palace mystery is determined to have a mystery of it’s own. A Mail order bride is not enough for this book, it needs to have attackers, torn apart houses and intrigue to draw these two strangers to one another. My own complaint was that I did not realize it was a short, so was confused at how fast the story developed, but quickly got past it and moved on! If you are looking for a quick, short mystery with a romantic mail order bride byline, this is the book for you!
This book was given to me for review by BookSneeze. The opinions contained therein are solely my own!