Tour Review & Giveaway - - Marrying Off Morgan McBride

Marrying Off Morgan McBride

by Amy Barry

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: May 30, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

As the oldest of the McBride siblings, Morgan had to be protector and shepherd since Ma died and Pa ran off. It hasn't always been easy, especially when his heart longs to roam on the trail. But now that his brother Kit is married and settled, the time is right for Morgan to leave Buck's Creek. Little does he know that his hellcat of a little sister Junebug is dead set on keeping him at home and getting more help around the house – all with one honest advertisement in The Matrimonial News.
 
Epiphany Hopgood has always had a gift for doing the exact wrong thing. She’s too tall, too loud, too opinionated, and too contrary for her family and community. Staring down the barrel of spinsterhood, she and her grandmother answer a seemingly straightforward ad for a bride.
 
But when Pip shows up to Buck’s Creek, she finds that Morgan McBride is not the husband she expected. In fact, he doesn’t even want to be a husband. But maybe there’s a way to make everyone happy out on the Montana frontier…

PJ's Thoughts:

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of my favorite musicals. As I was reading Marrying Off Morgan McBride it was hard to miss those wonderful Seven Brothers vibes. Then, after writing this review, I went back to see what Hellie had to say about book one in the series, Kit McBride Gets a Wife (read Hellie's review). No surprise, those same vibes came through loud and clear for her too. 

First, I have to talk about Junebug McBride, Morgan's "hellcat of a little sister," as described in the book's blurb. She's a wily one, our Junebug. She may be the youngest of the family but as the only surviving sister she's been relegated to the duties she rightfully figures should belong to a wife. Plus, she knows Morgan is itching to hit the dusty trail again and the only way she knows to keep him home is to do the same thing she did with Kit: find him a wife. Things don't go quite according to Junebug's plan...

Man, did I ever feel for Pip, a woman nobody in Nebraska appreciated, including her family. Well, everyone except her spitfire of a grandmother. That woman knew Pip's worth...and her own worth as well. Pip's self-worth has been beaten into the ground so many times she has no idea she has so much to offer. I loved watching her take charge of her future, slowly begin to realize she has "the goods" to bring the boys to the yard, and finally stand up for herself, refusing to settle. 

Morgan may be stubborn, blunt, and prone to talking rather than listening but his prickly exterior hides a well of deep emotions. He's convinced himself he needs to leave Montana to break free of the grief that's dogged him since his mother died and left him to raise his younger siblings. But maybe what he really needs is a straight-talking woman with stubbornness to match his own, the ability to cook melt-in-your-mouth meals, and a body that brings him to his knees. But, once he realizes Pip is the whole package he didn't know he needed - or wanted - what does he do? He runs in the opposite direction! ::Sigh:: Nobody said this was going to be easy.

I loved this book! It's exactly the type of laugh-out-loud story that keeps me grinning from beginning to end. It's light and breezy, with snappy banter, well-developed main characters, richly entertaining secondary characters, and enough emotional depth to keep it from being all fluff. Not that there's anything wrong with fluff. I just like a nice balance of the two and Marrying Off Morgan McBride has it. 

I don't know if Barry has plans to write stories for all of the McBrides, but I'm hoping she will. The brothers all deserve happy endings, I have my fingers crossed that missing brother Charlie will return home, and I am beyond giddy to discover what will happen when Cupid's arrow finally finds Junebug. 

If you're looking for a humorous, feel-good, western historical romance that will have you laughing uproariously and possibly wiping away a heartfelt tear or two, pick up a copy of Marrying Off Morgan McBride. It's a fun ride.

Do you enjoy western historical romances?

Have you read Kit McBride Gets a Wife or Marrying Off Morgan McBride?

What recent books have had you laughing out loud?

Do you enjoy musicals? What's your favorite?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, June 1 will receive a print copy of Marrying Off Morgan McBride.

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Review - - Kit McBride Gets a Wife

Kit McBride Gets a  Wife

by Amy Barry

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: August 23, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

The four McBride brothers have their worlds turned upside down when their precocious younger sister secretly places an advertisement for a mail-order bride. 

Kit McBride knows that Buck's Creek, Montana, is no place to find a wife. Between him and his three brothers—plus little Junebug—they manage all right on their own, thank you very much. But unbeknownst to Kit, his sister is sick to death of cleaning, cooking, and mending for her big brothers, so she places an ad in The Matrimonial News to get them hitched. 

After Maddy Mooney emigrated from Ireland, she found employment with an eccentric but poor widow. When her mistress decides to answer an ad for a mail-order bride, Madd​y is dragged along for the ride to Montana. But en route to the West, Maddy is suddenly abandoned and left to assume the widow's name, position, and matrimonial prospects…. 

With no other recourse in the wilderness, Maddy must convince Kit she’s the wife he never knew he needed.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

Part Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, part Ransom of Little Red Chief and Tom Sawyer, this book brings the best of these comedies for this historical rom-com. I would like to clarify that Maddy doesn’t really set out to convince Kit she’s the wife he actually wants. When she arrives (unwillingly) at his trading post, a series of unfortunate (but hilarious) events have occurred, mostly at the behest of the book’s most memorable character: the kid sister, Junebug McBride. All she really wants to do is go back home to Ireland because America isn’t all it's cracked up to be. When Kit finds out his kid sister has placed an ad for a WIFE on his behalf, he doesn’t want one, not even one as pretty and lovely as Maddy. And his other three brothers certainly don’t want a wife. 

Who then wants a wife? Junebug. In what I would consider a more accurate response to having to take care of a bunch of dirty, ill-mannered backwoods-men, Junebug has had it with all the cooking, cleaning, laundering, housekeeping, and all manner of things womenfolk have been saddled with since time immemorial. (God bless Millie* who pushed up her sleeves and took it on, but I would not have.) So Junebug places an ad for a wife, but what she receives is not who represented herself in her letters (an irony that knows no bounds.) Maddy is actually the “maid” for the supposed wife in question, but when Junebug meets the marital prospect and realizes her mistake, her rectifying of the situation ends up leaving Maddy homeless and abroad.  

Maddy ends up spending some time in the company of these brothers, though she too is not the wife material that Junebug was hoping for. After all, what Junebug would have liked most was someone who could cook. (She despises cooking, something that many of the readers could probably sympathize with.) Maddy is a housemaid, so cleaning, sure; laundry, perhaps to some extent; but cooking? Nope. Meanwhile Kit is worried about Maddy, who when she arrives, is frightened by his brother and then horribly injured. Maddy is convalescing and isn’t able to help with the chores (yet again something Junebug was not wanting–another person to care for.) However, given some time, a new arrangement is made: the brothers will send Maddy back to Ireland (once she is healed) after she gives some “feminine” lessons to their sister, who they point out is as wild as a badger. No one has to marry anybody…except after some time in close proximity, now Kit and Maddy are reconsidering the idea. What if she stayed? That is, until the original “bride” returns to claim her man.  

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  

Both the main characters are lovely and worthy hero(ine)s and Kit McBride is a very deliciously built Hemsworth brother who is a blacksmith, strong but sensitive, while Maddy is a plucky heroine who is just trying to make the best of some unfortunate things that have happened to her. Morgan–the scary older brother–is definitely going to be an amusing hero of the next book (a very crusty old dragon on the outside, marshmallow middle); and Junebug, the character who steals every single scene she is in–and she’s in a lot of them–well, it will be interesting to see who manages to tame her. I can’t wait to read more. Well done. 

*main character from Seven Brides.