Indebted scoundrel Coy Logan offers his wife, Melissa and their new baby daughter, Jenny as payment for a $1,200 debt to Dylan Harper, a work-hardened shop owner. Melissa looks upon the transaction with horror and resignation, while Dylan sees the deal as a burden he must accept to keep Melissa and Jenny from ending up in worse straits.

Harper’s Bride, originally published in 1997 and re-released for Kindle, is a charming story about two people trapped in a situation neither wants. Stranded in Dawson City during the Yukon gold rush, Melissa knows that she’s made a huge mistake marrying Coy to escape her drunken father and brothers. After her experience with Coy, Melissa has an ingrained fear of men, while Dylan has foresworn women altogether because of a failed relationship in his past. This is not a good start for a romance. Nevertheless, Harrington weaves together a sweet story of two individuals trying to overcome their pasts and find a better future.

This is not a love story in the current style with sexual tension almost at first glance, these are two gun-shy individuals determined to earn enough money working in the Yukon gold rush territory to establish a better life for them somewhere else. The relationship between Melissa and Dylan builds slowly, but it is definitely worth the wait.

I enjoyed this book in spite of the slower pace and I think it’s worth 3.5 stars for the quality of the writing and the detail of the characterization.

Stars: [rating=3]

Publisher: Topaz
Image courtesy of Amazon.com