The Texan's Wager

This was definitely a disappointing read. I see it recommended all the time, but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations.

When I read a western romance with an arranged marriage, I'm almost always looking for a book that's full of domestic fluff. I want to read a story of two strangers getting to know each other by working together on a farm and overcoming life's hurdles. This book, for the most part, started out following this formula. Carter wins the wife lottery for Bailee and they are thrown together in an unexpected marriage. Carter is the town outcast that doesn't seem to speak and Bailee has to adapt to her new life. There's some lovely scenes of Bailee doing homely things like baking bread, bringing lunches out to Carter in the orchards, naming his dogs, etc. that warmed my heart. However, the book quickly departs from this cozy home life both figuratively and literally.

About halfway through the book, Carter and Bailee leave the farm after a train robbery occurs in a nearby town. The only survivor is a deaf girl and the sheriffs need Carter's help to communicate with her. From here on out, the book primarily focuses on an external conflict that separates our main couple a number of times throughout the rest of the book. Unfortunately, this is a book that quickly becomes boring when the couple spends large portions of the book in separate locations. On top of that, after only about a week of knowing each other and in the midst of all that external conflict, Carter and Bailee somehow start having feelings for each other. It really ruined their romance for me. I wish there had been more time for them to realistically get to know each other and come to care for one another.

I imagine I would have liked this book just fine if the external conflict wasn't such a prominent part of the story. I'm planning to continue reading the series in the hope that the romance becomes more of a focal point for the other couples' stories.