The year is 1874. It is April in Chicago.
Instantly you will be on Miss Althia Heathley’s side and hoping her father’s new wife trips herself — any place, anywhere but preferably at the top of a long flight of stairs. Althia’s life has been miserable since her father remarried and it only took four months. And when she isn’t miserable, she is bored. Oh, she makes up stories in her head for the novel she wants to write, but her life is a “prison”. Which is why she secretly responded to an advertisement in her father’s discarded newspaper.
Her father is a wealthy (note the underscore) Chicago hog baron; Althia wants for nothing monetarily. Until her father remarried, Althia took care of the business dinners, parties, gatherings, meetings with new clients. His new wife has taken over. Fired all the staff and hired new. (Enjoy their incompetent moments.) And father doesn’t seem to notice. (Sigh, sometimes men are clueless.)
But when the new wife, Mayda (snarl, boo, hiss), tells Althia to wear a low-cut dress to a dinner party and be “nice” not just “polite” to Reginald Stanfield… When the new butler invades her room…
Enter Diego Roldan now living in Denver, Colorado; raised in north New Mexico Territory. Diego has sent for a bride who knows what Althia knows. Diego wants to expand his leather business; his last business dinner was a disaster. Of course, he forgets to include the new wife needs to be able to cook.
Diego was a bounty hunter before he became a leather worker. And one of the men he captured escaped… You will like this part. Trust me.
I enjoyed this novella immensely. It is complete. No rush, you turn the page, and it says, “The End”. The characters are fun. The pacing is well, perfect. A quick and completely entertaining read. Two minor things the author included that deserve acknowledgment: 1) Althia’s favorite author is Rhoda Broughton who was a real writer in that period. 2) Hot chocolate made with Baker’s cocoa. I grew up with Baker’s cocoa in the kitchen. A quick history search and Baker’s cocoa began in 1764 in Dorchester, Massachusetts by Dr. James Baker. This reviewer appreciates a writer who checks these things before inserting them.
A Match for Althia is #7 in the Marianne’s Mail Order Brides series. I had not read any of the previous six books. In fact, I had not read this author before. No problem; this novella can be read as a standalone. And I will be reading more by this author.
I received a complimentary e-ARC* copy of A Match for Althia from the publisher, Backlit PR, via NetGalley. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#AMatchForAlthia #LindaCarrollBradd #NetGalley
e-ARC* — electronic Advanced Reader Copy.
Updated: 1/20/2022 – moved to book review format.
