A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer

Earlier this year I read the first two books in the Archer brothers series, Short Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher, and I loved them both! There is only one unmarried Archer brother remaining, the baby of the family, Neill Archer, so I was both pleased to see that his story was available, and sad that it was only a novella length story.

Neill is sick of being seen as a boy by his brothers – he’s 28 years old now and he’s planning on setting up a place of his own, in partnership with his friend Josiah.  While Josiah stays at home and works there Neill is travelling from place to place getting what work he can. He arrives in a new town and makes it known that he’s looking for work. He finds a note asking him to replace the roof for Mrs Danvers, a widow. He envisions a poor, defenceless old lady, and when he sees the rickety shack she’s living in, he is indignant on her behalf.

However Clara Danvers is not what he’d imagined. She’s a mere 20 years old, heavily pregnant, extremely unfriendly and the most exotic beauty Neill has ever set eyes on.  The attraction between them is mutual, but Clara has been hurt before so she’s not interested in finding herself a man.

This man’s eyes were warm and honest. Kind. And they had lovely green flecks that added a sparkle to the brown depths.
Clara took a step back. No need to look that close. He was a workman, nothing else.

The only thing Clara is focused on is preventing her father in law from stealing her baby when it’s born. For this she needs to keep her guard up at all times for a physical attack or kidnap, and she also needs to make sure she doesn’t set a foot wrong, as her father in law is seen as a pillar of the community. So she needs her shack to be in good condition. She’s done what she could to maintain it, but she has limited materials and tools and she physically can’t manage to fix the roof. Clara is of Comanche blood, so a lot of the townsfolk are wary of her, she has no family, now no husband, and no friends, aside from the anonymous benefactor who sent Neill to her.

Reluctantly Clara accepts Neill’s help, and despite herself she begins to warm to him, telling him the sad tale of how she ended up alone and the wife of a man who married her for really hurtful reasons.  She isn’t filled with self pity, though; Clara is just getting on with things, and focusing on protecting her baby

Clara Danvers was no fragile flower. She was a coyote who’d learned to scrape and scavenge and protect what was hers.

Neill is desperate to protect Clara, both out of compassion to keep her and her baby together, and also because he’s decided he wants to marry her. Aside from the fact that he can see she is full of admirable qualities and beauty there is also something else drawing him to her:

No one had ever needed him before, not to this extent. The youngest of four brothers, he’d always been included yet never felt truly essential. Until today. Clara needed him.

Although I really enjoyed this story, I couldn’t help but feel that it was just too short. The relationship between them developed too quickly. In one respect, this made sense because there was a limit to how many days he could stretch out working on her house, and since she was heavily pregnant there was a timescale there too, but I think the story really could have benefited from being longer. The story only covers a short timescale but I would have liked more detail, for example, there is a 2 day journey which is described in just a few pages, when I would have liked to see their relationship building. I also felt the pacing was uneven; it starts out at a moderate speed then gets faster. In common with the other Archer books this book has Christian themes, but they are not explored in great depth.

We see the other Archer brothers too, but unfortunately only very briefly. I’d really recommend reading this book, both to find out what happens to Neill and because even though I felt it was too short, it’s still a really good story!

You can buy this story on its own as a novella (but be warned, there is a sample at the end, meaning you get a gaaaaaaah! moment when you reach 58% and the story is over!), or as part of an anthology called A Match Made in Texas which also has stories from other authors.

Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

This is the first of the books about the Archer brothers, a Christian book set in Texas in the 1880s.  I’d read book 2, Stealing the Preacher, and loved it, so I picked up Short Straw Bride, which introduces the four Archer brothers, Travis, Crockett (who is the hero of Stealing the Preacher), Jim and Neill. These four have a very sad backstory – their mother died from childbed fever after having Neill, and their father continued to raise them for a few years before he died after falling from his horse.  On his deathbed he extracted a promise from the eldest boy Travis, then just 15 years old, that he would protect his brothers and stay on Archer land. Mr Archer’s fears for his boys were just ones, as they were sitting on some prime land and were therefore vulnerable to attack or conmen. Travis followed this promise and the Archer brothers soon had the reputation of being wild and unfriendly to visitors, scaring off do-gooders who wanted to take in the orphan boys as well as people with less altruistic motives.

The only time Travis has left Archer land in the intervening years was the day that 10 year old Meredith Hayes trespassed onto their land to retrieve her lunch pail, which a bully had thrown there. Her leg got caught in a trap that Travis had set to deter trespassers, believing that they wouldn’t truly hurt anybody. Travis frees Meredith from the trap and takes her safely home. Following this interlude Meredith is about the only person who thinks well of the Archers, and she has a particular soft spot for Travis, making him the hero of her dreams.

12 years after the incident with the trap, Meredith is being pressured to accept an offer of marriage from Roy Wheeler, a business associate of her uncle, which will see her family’s land signed over to him. Walking out with Roy, Meredith overhears a plan to burn down the Archers’ barn, containing all their winter stores, to force them to sell their land to Roy. She tries to warn the Sherriff’s office and isn’t believed, so she heads out to the Archers’ land to warn them of what is coming. Unfortunately for Meri, she ends up being there as the attack happens, and winds up with concussion, which leads to her having to stay at the Archers’ home. Her uncle is outraged at her loss of reputation and demands that one of the Archer brothers does the honourable thing and marry his niece. Meredith has the indignity of walking in on the brothers drawing straws for who will marry her but the scene isn’t quite how she sees it...

Choosing marriage to Travis over the alternative of moving away, Meredith is faced with a situation she hadn’t anticipated – she can marry the man of her dreams, but he’d be doing it for duty rather than love. However, Travis feels more for her than she knows – he sees her good qualities, her kindness, her bravery, but he feels that she has drawn the short straw in being forced to marry, so he sets about courting his bride. The time following their wedding reminded me a bit of the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Meredith taking over the chores from her new brothers. Meredith was a very likeable heroine, brave, hardworking, kind. She had been left with lasting consequences to her leg from the incident with the trap so it was interesting to see people’s attitudes towards her and you could see that it had affected her self-esteem somewhat. Meredith tries to make the best of her situation – she has a husband to encourage, as best she can, family issues are falling into her lap and all the meantime she tries  to do God’s work for the family, which she believes is encouraging them to open their hearts and their gates to welcome in their neighbours – they are no longer the unprotected young boys that they were when their father died, but grown men who have no need to hide, and should be able to feel free to follow their callings in life.

I loved this introduction to the Archer clan! They were wonderfully close and each contributed willingly to help the upkeep of the home, taking on the roles of doctor/preacher, cook, launderer etc, and they were fiercely protective of each other, but still teased each other like brothers would. I couldn’t help but feel for Travis, who’d been carrying a burden of guilt for his father’s death in addition to the huge responsibility of assuring the protection and welfare of his younger brothers. The younger brothers, Jim, Crockett and Neill, are less major characters in this book, but I was particularly fond of Jim with his stoic silences. 

Crockett has his own story, told in Stealing the Preacher and I noticed that in May 2014 a novella is coming out containing Neill’s story, called Cowboy Unmatched (UK / US) which I’m sorely tempted to get, despite the length of my to be read list! I believe Cowboy Unmatched is also available in the collection of short stories by various authors called A Match Made in Texas.

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Crockett Archer is on his way to a job opportunity, his first as a preacher.  He’ll be orating, as will another candidate, but Crockett is confident of his chances.  However, he never makes it to his job interview – the train gets held up by some surprisingly old bandits, are not looking for valuables, they are looking for the preacher.  Crockett finds out to his astonishment that he has been kidnapped... as a birthday present! 

Joanna Robbins, daughter of Silas Robbins, ranch owner (and some years previously, a train robber) is struggling spiritually.  The area they live in lost their preacher some time ago and a replacement has never been found, meaning that many people in the area can’t go to church as the nearest one is too far away.  She worries greatly for her father’s spiritual wellbeing – he has always been anti-church, deeming the clergy as hypocrites.  Both Joanna and Silas are still mourning the loss of Martha, Silas’s wife and Joanna’s mother, who was a woman of deep faith.  Martha always hoped that Silas would find his way back to God, and Joanna has now taken on this worrying, and doesn’t feel up to the task.

Joanna is horrified at what her father has done, although she appreciates that his motivation was her happiness.  She confides her worries to Crockett and arranges for him to reach the next town, in order to try and save his job prospects, but the job has already been given to the other candidate, as the townsfolk took it as a sign from God when Crockett didn’t show up.  Although disappointed, Crockett begins to wonder whether it was in fact a sign from God, that he should help Joanna try and bring her father closer to God, and provide spiritual guidance for the area.

This is the second story about the Archer brothers. I haven’t read the first, but I didn’t feel lost, I think it reads well as a stand-alone.  Crockett and his brothers basically had to bring themselves up and as a result he is very resourceful and hardworking.  Rather than being the type of preacher that Silas is used to, who says all the right things, but doesn’t follow his own teachings, Crockett genuinely believes in his message, and is admirably trying to live his life accordingly:

‘He might be preaching on Sundays, but the rest of the week he’d be living out the message on a more practical level.’

Joanna has a similar spiritual depth and works hard to live up to her Christian values, although she struggles with her self-esteem.  She is a very good and lovable character, and you are completely in her corner from the very beginning.

This is a Christian romance, and while it isn’t so evident in other Karen Witemeyer books the Christian theme is very strong indeed within this story, due to its subject matter of trying to bring a man back to his faith. There are some dark moments within this book, and plenty of action.  Luckily, I started reading it pretty early in the day, as I am not sure if I could have put the book down at some points until I was sure everything would turn out alright! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it, as long as you don’t mind a strong Christian theme.

Head in the Clouds by Karen Witemeyer

This is a story set in Texas in the late 1800s. Miss Adelaide Proctor took a job as a teacher after her father died, and part of the conditions of the contract were that she wasn’t allowed to marry for 2 years. At the end of this time, the potential suitors who she met when she first came into town have moved on.  Adelaide has no family and she dreams of starting a family of her own, so she’s been concentrating her efforts on a young man called Henry, whom she doesn’t love, but likes enough to see as a potential husband.  Henry works as a travelling salesman, so Adelaide only sees him about once a month, and when he gets a promotion he tells her he won’t be in the area again. Adelaide believes Henry is too shy to propose, so she decides to give him some encouragement, resigning her job and followings him to a new town where she is met with disappointment.

Adelaide needs a new job quickly, and is lucky enough to be given a chance of being a governess to Gideon Westcott’s 5 year old daughter, Isabella.  The poor child lost her mother 5 months ago, and has been mute ever since.  She is absolutely crushed by her grief, and Gideon isn’t so much looking for a teacher for Isabella, but somebody who will bring her back to a normal childhood.  Adelaide is no stranger to grief and she and Isabella immediately bond.  Adelaide also feels a strong pull towards Gideon, but she’s getting her head out of the clouds this time; he’s her employer, the son of an English baron, and she’s not exactly marriage material he’s likely to be looking for.  In addition to this Adelaide is under the belief that Gideon’s wife has just died, not realising that he adopted the orphaned Isabella.

Adelaide is a great character, she is fun, hard-working, brave, sensible and sweet.  Her father used to call her his sunshine, and it’s an apt nickname, she is a very sunny soul! She has a genuine affection for Isabella and is patient with her, trying to draw her out of her shell and come out from the shadow her experiences have cast on her short life. Adelaide and Gideon’s attraction towards each other is almost instant, but it’s still believable, and you are rooting for them to get together when it becomes apparent that there is a very real danger threatening Isabella, and they have to work together to fight it off.  There is quite a bit of action going on in this book, and I was riveted to the page!

This book has a strong Christian theme, but I didn’t feel it was too much; Adelaide in particular has a bit of a spiritual journey in this book, starting off by being almost impatient with God for how her life is, and moving towards the realisation that rather than asking God to give her certain things in life she should instead have been asking for courage to do what needs to be done and patience to wait when needed. 

This is the first book I’ve read by this author but I would definitely read other books by her, I really enjoyed this read.