Total Book Geek: Cora Seton

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Review: The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (The Heroes of Chance Creek #3) by Cora Seton

If Gunnery Sergeant Zane Hall wants to save his family’s ranch, he’ll need to fix up the buildings, stock the spread with cattle—and find a wife. The first two are easy with the help of his brothers, but getting hitched is proving more difficult. When he meets mountaineer Kenna North through an online ad, she seems like the perfect fit—at least in her e-mails. She wants the same thing he does: a temporary marriage to secure an inheritance. But when Zane meets Kenna, she’s nothing like he expects, and Zane finds himself changing his priorities, fast.

If Storm Willow wants to save her family’s seaside cottage, she’ll have to keep her boss happy—which means taking Kenna’s place and marrying Zane when Kenna is detained out of the country. As long as Storm acts her part, no one will know that she’s an imposter. But when she falls for the handsome Marine, Storm begins to wonder if holding onto the cottage is worth giving up on love.

Can a fake marriage lead to real happiness? Or is disaster just a heartbeat away?

By now you kind of now how the story goes. Man seeks woman to marry, though not really, but in the end they fall in love and live happily ever after. To me this is not a spoiler, as the plot has been told over and over again in this series. Still I very much enjoyed reading this book.

Zane takes things a bit further than his brothers though. He actually has a contract with a woman who's in the same predicament as him. Kenna needs a husband for a year and he needs a wife for a year. Things turn out quite different when Kenna is stuck abroad, and she requests her assistant Storm to take her place. Now usually this is way above her pay grade, but when Kenna offers a big bonus Storm accepts the role of bride.

What she didn't expect was her attraction towards Zane, and neither did he expect to feel so intense about her. They hit it off really well, and things develop between them at super speed. No hesitation, just full on ahead. This makes Zane wonder if he won't be able to change her mind to stay longer, maybe even permanent. What he doesn't know of course is that Storm is not Kenna, and Storm doesn't know how to tell him.

So certainly plenty of drama, sexy scenes and some humor. The plot line isn't original, but still an entertaining read. I really liked the chemistry between Zane and Storm. She's actually such a sweet girl, with not a bad bone in her body. To do this, is quite out of character for her, though her intentions were never bad. She did this, because the money would help her family. When things exploded, she stood her ground, no matter how difficult. Zane, like his brothers, is used to getting his way. He doesn't deal well with the lie, but he can not deny his feelings for Storm.

The Heroes of Chance Creek - Reading order and purchase links

*All books can be read as a standalone*

The Navy SEAL's E-mail Order Bride: My review - Amazon

The Soldier's E-mail Order Bride: My review - Amazon

The Marine's E-mail Order Bride: Amazon

The Airman's E-mail Order Bride

The Author

Cora Seton loves cowboys, country life, gardening, bike-riding, and lazing around with a good book. Mother of four, wife to a computer programmer/eco-farmer, she ditched her California lifestyle eight years ago and moved to a remote logging town in northwestern British Columbia.

Like the characters in her novels, Cora enjoys old-fashioned pursuits and modern technology, spending mornings transforming a neglected one-acre lot into a paradise of orchards, berry bushes and market gardens, and afternoons writing the latest Chance Creek romance novel on her iPad mini.

Connect with Cora Seton:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads

Review: The Soldier's E-Mail Order Bride (The Heroes of Chance Creek #2) by Cora Seton

Staff Sergeant Austin Hall has a brilliant record in the Special Forces—except for one disastrous decision that cost his best friend’s life. Now he’s heading home to Chance Creek, Montana, where he’d like to spend the rest of his days in the obscurity of his family’s ranch. Too bad Great Aunt Heloise won’t hand the ranch over unless all four of the Hall brothers marry and one of them produces an heir within the year. Austin is too broken to marry for love, so he places an online ad for a fake wife. What could possibly go wrong?

Ella needs to leave Hollywood—fast. It’s bad enough another actress stole her fiancé—on national television. Now she’s ruined her comeback by decking her ex on a morning talk show. Pursued by paparazzi, Ella needs a new life, a new name and someplace to hide. When she reads Austin’s ad for a stand-in wife, she knows she can act this part perfectly. To the rest of the residents of Chance Creek, they'll be a happily married couple. In private, they’ll just be roommates. In a year when she'd old news and the Hall brothers secure the ranch, she and Austin will quietly divorce and she’ll go on her way.

Or will she?

Austin’s already finding it hard to remember his promise never to love again. Ella’s finding it hard to keep her hands to herself. But when they're asked make a back-up baby, Ella realizes she may have stepped into a lifetime role.

Can this pretend marriage go the distance?

*I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

One brother down, three more to go. Austin is returning home, but he's definitely not the same boy who left. A classic case of survivor's guilt, Austin believes he's made a mistake and therefore he does not deserve any happiness. So finding a woman to love and marry is not going to work for him. He sends out his own wanted ad, stating clearly that he needs someone to play his wife. It would be strictly business and after a year they would get a divorce.

Now Ella is one of America's favourite actresses, but she recently got dumped on live television a week before she was to get married. She feels totally humiliated and needs to escape from the paparazzi until this whole thing blows over. Thanks to a message by her agent she stumbles upon Austin's message. Playing someone's wife for a year somewhere on a farm in Montana, seems like the perfect place to hide out. I didn't say it was the smartest.

Austin might not recognize her at first, but it's not long before it seems that the whole town knows about Ella's whereabouts. Things get more complicated when Austin and Ella are supposed to get a back up baby, bringing their no sex rule very much in danger. Honestly things between them are very hot and heavy. Ella is adapting to her role way better than expected and could see her fitting in permanently, though convincing Austin of that won't be so easy.

While these are fun and easy reads, there definitely is more to the story. Ella and Austin's personal problems add some depth which I appreciate very much. You still know how it is going to end, but there were some interesting surprises on their road to happiness.

The Heroes of Chance Creek - Reading order and purchase links

*All books can be read as a standalone*

The Author

Connect with Cora Seton:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads

Review: The Navy SEAL's E-Mail Order Bride (The Heroes of Chance Creek #1) by Cora Seton

Mason Hall, Navy SEAL, knows all about difficult assignments, but his current mission is one for the record books. Not only must he find a wife—and get her pregnant—or forfeit the ranch his family has prized for generations, he must also convince his three brothers to marry, too—before the year is up. Who knew one city girl and three wayward brothers could put up such a fight?

*I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is one of those books where you don't need to think too hard about what is going on and how this would never work in real life. Mason and his brothers all need to be married within the year and there has to be at least one baby, if they want to inherit their ancestral home. Which of course is a ridiculous demand, but still they need to comply. Since they have so little time and their profession doesn't make it any easier on finding possible candidates, Mason sets up an online profile for each of them. Now they only need to choose which woman they want to marry.

Easier said than done. Present the internet with four incredible hot military men and women go kind of gaga over that. One of those woman is Regan, though in her defense she was way beyond drunk when she sent that email. When she and Mason start chatting and skyping, she has this moments of insanity where marrying him might not seem like such a crazy idea. Of course she can not really say yes to his proposal, she namely has a plan, which don't involve men and certainly nowhere Montana.

Slowly Mason might still win her over. The chemistry between them online is already obvious, when these two should meet it would become combustive. It will take all of Mason convincing and a little help to get Regan on his side and give them a chance.

Just like with the Cowboys of Chance Creek, the Heroes of Chance Creek will be another blast to read. It is simply fun, sexy, sweet and enjoyable. I could have easily read all four books after one another, they just need to be published first.

The Heroes Of Chance Creek - Reading order and purchase links

$0.99

The Author

Connect with Cora Seton:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads

Giveaway + Excerpt + Review: The Cowboy's E-Mail Order Bride (The Cowboys of Chance Creek) by Cora Seton

*I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Ethan Cruz should be mending fences on his Montana ranch, but instead he’s driving to the Chance Creek, Montana, airport – to pick up the bride he didn’t know he had. This latest salvo in his ongoing practical joke battle with his best friend, Rob Matheson, has gone too far, and Ethan plans to send his “bride” right back home, then get busy plotting his revenge. One look at Autumn Leeds changes his mind, however. Perhaps he needs a bride, after all. A breathtakingly beautiful city bride.

Autumn Leeds needs a story – fast – or she’s going to lose her lucrative contract with CityPretty Magazine, so when she sees the crazy video plea for a modern mail-order bride for a cowboy, it sounds like the story of the century. Making a video of her own, she casts herself as the perfect mail-order bride for a rancher, but when she finally reaches Montana, she’s surprised to find Ethan’s the perfect cowboy husband-to-be. Against her better judgment, her plan to keep her handsome groom at arm’s length disintegrates into a night of passion spent in his arms.

Ethan knows he can’t keep playing this game – he has to come clean with Autumn and tell her the truth; about the practical joke and about the state of his ranch. He’s about to lose it all because of the debts his mother racked up before his parents’ deaths. Now his sister, Claire, wants to sell the ranch and collect what little money they can. He’ll be out of a home and a job, and in no shape to support the bride he desperately wants to marry, after all.

Autumn’s in bigger trouble than ever. Not only has she fallen in love with the subject of her expose – she might be carrying his child. If she doesn’t write this article and secure her contract for another year, she’ll lose everything – her career, her apartment, and more importantly, her family’s approval. The only alternative is to stay and marry Ethan. But how can she trust a man she’s just met when she knows too well that men always let you down?

Can a love based on lies last?

Review:
Love based on lies can't last, so while Ethan and Autumn each have their hidden motives and secrets, it isn't stopping them from falling in love. And when you've been lying to each other for a while, it gets harder to tell the truth, because they are afraid to lose each other.

They both haven't had the easy life, while Autumn has been raised by the motion of all men are evil and none can be trusted, Ethan has learned it the hard way that when the times get tough the women get going. So they are more similar than they first realize. They will need to put aside their mistrust and learn to trust each other if they want a chance at making it work.

The Cowboy's E-mail Order Bride starts of with an original idea, but in the end there weren't any really big surprises. Still it's a very fun and fast read with lovable characters, some fun jokes, great scenery (and I'm not just talking about nature) and a happy ending. I probably am going to read all the other upcoming books in this serie. Also this type of book is preferably read while you're lying in your backyard enjoying some sunshine.

Connect with Cora Seton:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads

Excerpt:

She glanced up at Ethan to find him glancing down, and the warm feeling curved around her insides again. Surely New York men couldn’t be shorter than this crew, or any less manly, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been around so much blatant testosterone. She must be ovulating. Why else would she react like this to a perfect stranger?

Ethan touched her arm. “This way.” She followed him down the hall, the others falling into place behind them like a cowboy entourage. She stifled a sudden laugh at the absurdity of it all, slipped her hand into her purse and grabbed her digital camera, capturing the scene with a few clicks. Had this man – this…cowboy – sat down and planned out the video he’d made? She tried to picture Ethan bending over a desk and carefully writing out “Sweet. Good cook. Ready for children.”

She blew out a breath and wondered if she was the only one stifling in this sudden heat. Ready for children? Hardly. Still…if she was going to make babies with anyone…

Shaking her head to dispel that dangerous image, she found herself at the airport’s single baggage carousel. It was just shuddering to life and within moments she pointed out first one, then another sleek, black suitcase. Ethan took them both, began to move toward the door and then faltered to a stop. He avoided her gaze, focusing on something far beyond her shoulder. “It’s just…I wasn’t….”

Oh God, Autumn thought, a sudden chill racing down her spine. Her stomach lurched and she raised a hand as if to ward off his words. She hadn’t even considered this.

He’d taken one look and decided to send her back.

**GIVEAWAY**

Cora will be awarding a $50 Etsy gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

The more you comment, the better your chances are of winning. The tour dates can be found here.