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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Is So Great about this Popular Mail-Order Bride Series?

by Chautona Havig · 1 Comment

In today's episode, I tell about Westward Home and Hearts Mail-Order Bride series featuring mail-order brides with a twist of suspense.  via @chautonahavig

I suppose you could say that mail-order brides have been a thing since the Garden of Eden–if you change the spelling just a smidge.

In today’s episode, I tell about a large, multi-author series featuring mail-order brides with a twist of suspense.  The Westward Home and Hearts Mail-Order Bride series offers stories of men and women who are broken, under threat, or hiding for reasons only the story will tell.

Westward Home

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What Is So Great about this Popular Mail-Order Bride Series?

In a world that romanticizes the mail-order brides of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, I always have trouble ignoring the ugly side. Just like every child who was sent from London to the English countryside as part of Operation Pied Piper during WWII didn’t get an idyllic experience with “The Professor, every bride didn’t have a happily-ever-after. Enter the Westward Home and Hearts Mail-Order Bride Series.

As of the recording of this episode, there are twenty-one books available (either to read or on preorder) by eleven different authors.  They are also available in Kindle Unlimited, so for those with that subscription, we’re talking a lot of books for no extra expense!

The brain-child of author Elaine Manders whose book Lacy’s Legacy kicks off the series, all the books are stand-alone novels or novellas but… there’s one thread that ties them together.  Mildred Crenshaw, the owner and genius behind the Westward Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency.

What can you expect from this series?

Oh, so much. Lost loves mistaken identities bad experiences with the process, and love.  Lots of happily-ever-afters despite the suspense, danger, and more.

This is the element that convinced me to join a couple of years ago, and this is finally the year for my book.  I had planned to publish in February, but life gets ugly sometimes and refuses to cooperate. So, I didn’t do it. Another author, Margaret Tanner, stepped up and released her book early just so the series could continue to have a new book releasing every month! I haven’t read that book, Saffron’s Savior, but I intend to.  I did read her June release Harriet’s Heartache, and it has a unique premise involving a strange cult.

Penelope's PursuitMy book Penelope’s Pursuit releases June 29 and I’m so excited!

I’ve long dreamed of writing three different mail-order bride stories, and now I have the perfect opportunity.

Penelope’s Pursuit covers the difficult topic of human and sex trafficking with the mail-order bride being the means of doing it. The book tackles three particularly difficult topics, prostitution, opium dependence, and suicide, but despite these heavy topics, the book isn’t heavy itself. And of course, as historical romance, it definitely has its happily-ever-after.

I have two more planned, as I said. Verity’s Valley takes place in the same fictional world as Penelope and involves a farmer who would be considered on the Autism spectrum today.  Felicia’s Foibles examines what might have happened if young ladies of a small town back east got “westward fever” and created a dearth of marriageable women in their town.

After reading all the synopses of all the books, I do want to read them all, but I believe i’ll start with:

  • Lacy’s Legacy
  • Ruby’s Risk
  • Lydia’s Lot
  • Rose’s Rescue
  • Sarah’s Surrender

You can find out more about the books, the authors, and even fun giveaways in the Westward Home and Hearts Reader Group on Facebook.

I know this episode was a bit of a plug for a series I’m a part of, but even if I wasn’t, I’d have wanted to chat about it. I do hope you’ll give some of the books a read and let me know which were your favorites!

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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If you’d like to be on the Because Fiction Podcast, please go HERE and submit your topic idea! I’d love to hear about it.

 

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Comments

  1. Catherine G says

    June 28, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    This series sounds interesting and an upgraded version of the traditional mail order brides. I’m looking forward to reading them.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 448: A Chat with Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

 I fell in love with Nancy’s writing with The Shell Collector. Imagine my joy when I discovered she has a SEQUEL! Eeep! Listen in and discover which characters you’ll find in To Light the Way Forward and what’s coming next for one of America’s favorite authors!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

It’s been three years since Nancy and I had a chance to talk, and in that time, she’s been BUSY.  So in addition to falling in love with her character, Tug, and wanting to give him his own story, she’s written a small-town duet (and maybe we talked her into a third?) as well as a romcom duo!  Think we can talk her into a third of that series as well?  Because… SPOILER ALERT… we’re getting a third Shell Collector Series book, too! EEEP!

To Light the Way Forward by Nancy Naigle

A novel of overcoming deep loss, taking risks, and learning that life—and love—often surprises you when you least expect it, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Shell Collector. “Bringing to life characters you can’t help but fall in love with, Nancy Naigle goes straight to the heart with this story of tragedy turned to triumph. A poignant reminder to never give up hope.”—Sheila Roberts, author of The Best Life Book Club Feeling adrift after the loss of her husband, Rosemary sets out to visit an old friend on Whelk’s Island, undeterred by the threat of a hurricane. Before the storm hits, she finds herself at Tug’s Diner where she quickly connects with the owner, Tug. But the storm destroys the diner, compounding Tug’s grief from losing his love the previous year. The longer Rosemary stays, the more she sees Tug’s deep sadness and resolves to help him. Together with Tug and friends Amanda and Paul, they all pitch in to help the close-knit community recover and rebuild. As Amanda and Paul reconnect after losing touch during the storm, their plans to take things slow seem increasingly impractical. While Rosemary and Tug help the young couple navigate their relationship, they also find themselves building a friendship that begins to restore them both. But can that friendship convince them that love is possible for anyone who’s willing to take a risk—even those who never hoped they’d find it again?

Learn more about Nancy on her WEBSITEand follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 448: A Chat with Nancy Naigle
Episode 448: A Chat with Nancy Naigle
July 19, 2025
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