Widow 1881 by Sara Dahmen

She's a widow who never had a love match and she gets involved with the brother of her sister's husband.  It's not meant to be a long term relationship but when she finds out she's pregnant, she knows she has to leave town.  She can't live with all the gossip and shame.  So she goes to be a housekeeper in the Dakotas...

The author and Goddess Fish Blog gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  You can grab a copy now.

She's a neat trim lady wearing mourning clothes when she arrives at her new job.  He tells her she'll have to get sturdier clothing because the work she will be doing will ruin her clothes.  She also has to get sturdier shoes.  No fancy stuff in this town.

She makes a few female friends but some people are standoffish.  When he founds out how young she is, he has her go stay with a Indian lady he's friends with.  That causes talk in town, too.  As she continues to work for him, she finds she's attracted to him.  However, she believes in love so she backs off since he has another interest.  She has a cowboy walking her home at night, so he thinks she's sweet on him.  They're both wrong.

This is an authentic depiction of the old west days and how much work everyone had to do.  The romance is sweet and smolders a bit before it catches fire but when it does, it makes for a lovely ending.

I really enjoyed reading this story.  If you've read any mail order bride books in the past and liked them, you'll love this one.

Sara Dahmen will be awarding a set of American-made pure maple wooden spoons from the author's kitchenware line (www.housekeepercrockery), valued at $60 (international) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Enter HERE.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found HERE.

Happy reading and good luck!