Too Rich for a Bride

It's always fun when the setting of a book you're reading is a place you've actually been.  It's not that the author needs help painting a picture of the setting in your mind- it's just a different dimension- not better, not worse than reading about a place to which you have never been.  I just finished Too Rich for a Bride by Mona Hodgson, set in the mining boom-town of Cripple Creek, Colorado.  I visited the town as a child when my family lived in Colorado Springs....I felt like I was in a time warp of sorts, so it wasn't too difficult for me to picture the town the way in would have looked in the late 1800s, when the story takes place.

Ida Sinclair is the eldest of four sisters; two of her sisters already live in Cripple Creek, and she plans to join them after she completes her business degree in Maine.  Once she arrives in Cripple Creek, she is determined to let nothing distract her from her goal of becoming a successful business woman- even if that means potentially comprising some of her ethics to make it in a 'man's world'.  The last thing she needs is the complication of a romantic relationship, but two of the town's eligible bachelors- the fashionable attorney and the mysterious traveling preacher- have both sets their sights on her.  With the addition of a landlady known for being the town matchmaker and two sisters who have already found love in the mining town, it will take all Ida has to focus on her career.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book; I actually read it in one day.  It's a quick read, but it's not as fluffy as I was anticipating.  Hodgson touches on some rather interesting issues- including business ethics, tuberculosis, and the early days of the stock market.  Apparently, Too Rich for a Bride is a follow-up to Two Brides Too Many, which follows the story of Ida's two sisters Kat and Nell, whom she joins in Cripple Creek.  The youngest sister Vivian still lives in Maine and is set to join everyone the following summer.  I'm guessing a third book will be appearing in the near future sharing with us Vivian's trek out West and her adjustment to Cripple Creek.  While Too Rich for a Bride is a follow-up, you can still read it without reading the first story (as I did), but there are a few events to which Hodgson alludes that most likely happened in the first book; if you can read the first book, it might give you a more complete picture of the Sinclair family and enhance your experience, but if you can only get your hands on the Too Rich for a Bride, by all means, read away!

Click here to download the first chapter of Too Rich for a Bride!  The book will be available May 3, 2011.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah as part of their Blogging for Books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”