Bridget, A Father’s Daughter (The Blood Sisters, Book 1)

Diana
Nicholas
Genre: 
Historical

Bridget Perkins and her sisters are pariahs in their small town in 19th century West Virginia.  After their father’s suicide, and the birth of a daughter to one of them (a closely guarded secret) they fall on hard times. Their solution is to become mail-order brides, and the first to go is Bridget.  Each sister has her own reasons to either want to stay in West Virginia or leave, and Bridget wants to stay.  She dreads the prospect of marrying a man she doesn’t know.  Alexander Baron is a Montana rancher whose mother wants him to settle down.  It is her idea to provide her son with a bride.  But will the prospective couple be able to love one another? Only time will tell.

 

The beginning of this novella spends much time developing the personalities of the sisters and their relationships with Sophie, the daughter.  Whose daughter, we are not told.  Ms. Nicholas does a fine job of drawing attractive, complex characters and detailing their relationships with each other.  She also gives the feel of what suffering a small town’s cold shoulder must be like.  We do not meet Alexander and his mother until late in the story, and, unfortunately, neither is as well developed as the sisters.  The plot, while promising, doesn’t really get going until the second half of the story and feels a bit threadbare and rushed.  Sadly, one’s enjoyment of the story is hampered by the many distracting and annoying editing problems.  This series shows real promise, as does Ms. Nicholas’ writing, with more attention to editorial details.

 

Marc Joseph