A disgraced actress on the run.
A guarded rancher with everything to lose.
And a mail-order bride who never meant to fall in love.
Desperate to escape the scandal that destroyed her career, former New York actress Goldie Fontaine heads west for a marriage of convenience and one last chance at respectability. But becoming Theo Mercer’s bride means more than changing her name—it means convincing her new husband, his watchful young niece, and an entire frontier town that she belongs.
Theo left New York to protect his niece and build her a secure future far from the family that failed her mother. To finalize Angela’s adoption, he needs a respectable wife, a stable home, and one successful cattle deal. What he doesn’t need is a glamorous bride who can’t cook, knows nothing about ranch life, and arrives just as the town matrons enlist him to turn Wild Rose Ridge’s awkward undertaker into a proper gentleman.
But as Independence Day festivities and misguided lessons draw Goldie and Theo into an uneasy partnership, sparks begin to fly—until a threat from Theo’s past changes everything.
Now they must decide if their marriage is only a bargain for survival—or the family they’re willing to fight for.
Perfect for readers who love:
*Mail-order-brides
*Marriage of convenience
*Found family
*Fish-out-of-water heroine
*Protective hero
*Gentleman lessons / makeover vibes
*High-stakes danger
*Frontier time period
*Washington Territory
Genre: Historical Romance
A guarded rancher with everything to lose.
And a mail-order bride who never meant to fall in love.
Desperate to escape the scandal that destroyed her career, former New York actress Goldie Fontaine heads west for a marriage of convenience and one last chance at respectability. But becoming Theo Mercer’s bride means more than changing her name—it means convincing her new husband, his watchful young niece, and an entire frontier town that she belongs.
Theo left New York to protect his niece and build her a secure future far from the family that failed her mother. To finalize Angela’s adoption, he needs a respectable wife, a stable home, and one successful cattle deal. What he doesn’t need is a glamorous bride who can’t cook, knows nothing about ranch life, and arrives just as the town matrons enlist him to turn Wild Rose Ridge’s awkward undertaker into a proper gentleman.
But as Independence Day festivities and misguided lessons draw Goldie and Theo into an uneasy partnership, sparks begin to fly—until a threat from Theo’s past changes everything.
Now they must decide if their marriage is only a bargain for survival—or the family they’re willing to fight for.
Perfect for readers who love:
*Mail-order-brides
*Marriage of convenience
*Found family
*Fish-out-of-water heroine
*Protective hero
*Gentleman lessons / makeover vibes
*High-stakes danger
*Frontier time period
*Washington Territory
Genre: Historical Romance
Used availability for Alyssa Schwarz's Goldie