Isabella: Bride of Ohio (American Mail-Order Brides series book 17)

Debra Parmley 
Robert Arrow
Genre: 
Historical

Isabella Britta Stolt, still relatively new to America, has decided to try her luck as a mail- order bride and answers an ad placed by a man named Donald Jenks. With no other long term option available and dreaming of finding a happy place to call home, she travels by train to meet him. She encounters disaster along the way when unsavory men try to abduct her. Pinkerton agent Tom Allenby saves her and, as it turns out, does it on more than one occasion. After she arrives in Ohio her situation turns out to be less then what she hoped for and she begins to think that perhaps Tom is meant to be more than just her rescuer.

 

Isabella is sweet and although she plays the damsel in distress far too often she is still very likable. The villains seem to lurk in every direction that poor Isabella heads to and although her escapades end with mostly foreseeable consequences both she and the reader are left without much time to catch their breath. As the hero, Tom suffers from a lack of quality time in the story. Although his mysterious persona intrigues, his back story is lacking and it is difficult to fully connect to him. Events move a bit abruptly from one to the next, but "Isabella: Bride of Ohio" is an enjoyable read with a pleasant story and a happily ever after.

 

Margaret Faria