The Bridegroom: Stone Creek series

by: Linda Lael Miller

Published by: Harlequin (August release)

Reviewed by Shawn Remfrey

She needs the money and stability. That’s all there is to it. Lydia agrees to marry a heartless banker in order to save her home for her aunts and herself. She sees no other way. Her only salvation lies in the possibility that her childhood crush, Gideon, will come and save her in response to the letter she mailed him.

Gideon is an undercover agent and on his way to the mines to do some investigating when he receives the letter from Lydia. Having written it years ago for her to send to him in case she ever needed him, there’s no way he can stop himself from going to save her.

This is the fourth installment in the Stone Creek series, which follows the families of Stone Creek, Arizona. I’ve only read one of them before, but I remember enjoying it and it was wonderful to see the characters all return again in this book.

As usual, Linda gives us a wonderful array of emotions in this book. You become quickly invested in the characters and situations and feel that you’re right there along with them. There are points during the book when you have to put it down because you’re laughing so hard, and others where you just shake your head because you can feel the danger closing in.

My only complaint with this book is that I kept getting the frustrating feeling that I’d read this same book many times over. It was sort of like book déjà vu. Though the characters and situations are unique from other books, we have the age-old problem of poor communication. Neither one is willing to tell the other what’s really going on–and it leads to everyone thinking the wrong thing.

I know this is standard romance protocol, but in this book I found it quite annoying and really wished that Linda would have been a little more original in this area of the book.

Armchair Interviews says: No. 4 in this historical romance series is a good read.

Author’s Web site: http://LindaLaelMiller.com