This story is bad. It will take the book you think is bad and punch it in the face. This short story is an Amazon freebie. I love reading historical novels about mail order brides. Usually the women in these stories agree to be mail order brides because 1) They are burdens to their families. 2) They are in dire circumstances and need to a way to escape/provide for themselves. The stories generally have a happy ending. So, I downloaded it to read while drinking my afternoon coffee. I should've kept a tally of how many times I said, "What?", "WTF?" and "Are you kidding me!?"This story takes the historical mail order bride premise and injects it awkwardly into modern times. We meet Amanda when she's standing in the airport the day before her wedding to a man she's only emailed. Her friend from college...a friend she hasn't seen in 10 years but who she trusts to set her up in a life-long commitment (suspend reality...). Amanda's mentality is from a century when when wore bonnets and people rode a covered wagon to work. Seriously. This college educated teacher feels like she's in such dire straits to get married that she agrees to marry a man site unseen. Hold on, please. There's a shortage of men in the small town where you live? Go to the library and choose one of the cotton-pickin' dating sites that abound there. Move to Dallas. Do something besides think you're helpless and that your uterus is drying up. Surely those would've been options to consider before thinking about the sperm bank. So Amanda show's up in Wisconsin and meets her long-lost-friend Stephanie. Stephanie has all the details for the wedding arranged. Meanwhile, Amanda has done NOTHING to prepare for a marriage. And holy-crap a total stranger is gonna pop her cherry! *Bangs head on desk.*...So they get married and then go to a hotel for some lovin'. About 1/3 of the book is taken up by their non-awkward honeymoon. This makes me wonder if the whole getting-together-with-a-stranger scene was the reason for writing the book and the reason to create such a flimsy premise? A month later, Stephanie is bored out at their farm in back-of-beyond Wisconsin. But she and Jason, her hubby, are in love so everything is good. I have no problem with the idea of arranged marriage. This is a practice that has been going on for centuries in many cultures for many reasons. However, I consider an arranged marriage under these circumstances to be laughable, awkward and ineffective as a plot device. Not only is the plot ridiculous and the characters baffling, it's written like the first draft of a high schooler's creative writing assignment. Take it back to the drawing board. Sweet story about Amanda and Jason looking for marriage and kids before love. Set up by a friend, they e-mail, text and talk on the phone getting to know each other. Jason asks her to marry him and she meets him for the first time face-to-face at their wedding and then get to know and love each other. I know it's a short story, but I wish it were a little longer. You know I think 100 pages is a short story. 3.5 stars
What do You think about Text Order Bride (2000)?
SHORT ENOUGH, BUT NOT TOO SHORT. ALSO NOT LACKING IN CONTENT AND CHARACTER DEVELOPEMENT.
—brianna
really cute book. feel good story if ur lookin for a little love
—Mark
