I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Had a couple of things I like in an historical--orphans and a prairie setting. Julia heads west on an orphan train and as she prepares to return east after delivering the girls to their new families, finds she's been setup as a mail-order bride with no ticket to make the return trip. Finding her would-be husband undesirable, she now has to find a way to make the trip back home.

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This is my favorite read of the year, so far! Love Finds You In Lonesome Prairie, Montana, was the funny and yet serious story of a young woman from New York City, charged to deliver orphans throughout the west. She has a surprise waiting for her at the end of the line - Lonesome Prairie. It seems bad, but something good is about to happen as she meets and becomes part of a wonderful family. Highly recommended!

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I chose this book because I wanted to read something by Tricia Goyer (having read one of her books recently and really enjoyed it). I also love historical fiction, and Montana is one of my favorite places on earth, so this seemed like the perfect fit for me.

This was an interesting twist on the popular mail order bride trope. The main character, Julia, has no idea she is a mail order bride until her prospective husband comes to claim her from the train station. This is the time when her true love interest, the local parson, comes to her rescue, although they don't immediately hit it off.

My favorite aspect of this book was Julia's desire to know more about the Word. I don't think I've read about a character like that in any other Christian fiction novels, and it was very refreshing. I liked that Julia and her love interest's relationship really started with conversations centered around the Bible, as a opposed to a flirtatious comment or, what seems most common in modern romance novels, a misunderstanding or argument!

Another favorite part was when Aponi forgave Mabelina for the accident that took her husband's life. Talk about unconditional forgiveness! What a great example of God's love and forgiveness towards all of us!

One small issue I have with this book (and with a lot of fiction novels in general) is that there's a very heavy emphasis on who is ugly and who is attractive. Julia's prospective husband is described as toothless, portly, and balding. Such a description is meant to be immediately off-putting to the reader, so that we don't have to think about who we want Julia to be with. Toothless old man or hunky parson â there's just no contest!

The first time I remember reading about this trope was in When Calls the Heart when a local man (short with a red face) tries to court Beth, and he is immediately rebuffed (and heavily contrasted with the handsome Wynn). Of course I understand authors wanting to be detailed in their descriptions of their characters, but Christians aren't supposed to judge based on outward appearances. There's a way to say a person is not attractive (in the main character's eyes) without being completely insulting, and I wish more authors would take that route.

Overall, this was a sweet, easy read. I recommend it if you're a fan of Christian or historical fiction!

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