The Unlikely Wife by Debra Ullrick
The Unlikely Wife
by Debra Ullrick
Genre:Â Christian Historical Fiction, Idaho Territory, 1885
Overview of Plot:
Michael Bowen expected a refined lady when he agreed to marry Selina by proxy. Everything in her letters suggested she would be, but when Selina steps off the train, he realizes the woman he thought he loved was a fantasy. Dressed in trousers, poor grammar, and unable to read or write, Selina is far from the woman he pictured as his wife.
Michael is everything she dreamed of, but when she discovers her best friend Aimee lied in the letters she wrote for Selina, her hopes for a love-filled marriage dies. She isn’t willing to change who she is but neither is she willing to break her vows.
Together they must learn to accept one another for who they are and to find love runs deeper than fantasies.
Favorite Character and Why:
I loved Selina. She is a Kentucky girl (like me) and had some ways about her that just didn’t make sense to her new family out west. (I have family in Idaho, too, so I could relate.) The challenges she faces and the hopes she have resonate with every woman I know. Not to mention she was just plain funny.
What I liked:
I loved how this wasn’t your typical mail-order bride story, yet it was. Michael had to overcome prejudices and learn to love his wife instead of the fantasy woman he built up in his mind and Selina had to learn to be happy with who she was as a wife.
Who would like this:
Anyone who loves mail-order bride stories that are are fun, set in the West, or stories of husbands and wives learning to love each other.
Amazon blurb:
“The arrival of Michael Bowen’s bride, married sight unseen by proxy, sends the rancher reeling. With her trousers, cowboy hat and rifle, she looks like a female outlaw—not the genteel lady he corresponded with for months. He’s been hoodwinked into marriage with the wrong woman!
Selina Farleigh Bowen loved Michael’s letters, even if she couldn’t read them herself. A friend read them to her, and wrote her replies—but apparently that “friend” left things out, like Michael’s dream of a wife who was nothing like her. Selina won’t change who she is, not even for the man she loves. Yet time might show Michael the true value of his unlikely wife.”
Links for Purchase: