Friday, April 15, 2016

Westward Winds by Linda Bridey


Publisher & Release: Beldene Publishing, June 24, 2014

Time and setting: 19th century, Montana

Genre: Western Romance

Length:  166 pages

Heat Level: 1 Sweetheart

Rating: 4 Gold Crowns

Book Description: 

Bored socialite Tessa craves adventure, and finds it when she becomes a mail-order bride to Montana rancher and widowed father Dean Samuels. Can this pair — as different as night and day — find love?

Buy Links:



Add to Goodreads:


Vikki’s Musings

While searching for offers where the book is FREE and the narration is $1.99, I came across Westward Winds. The premise sounded interesting so I thought I would give it a read. While there are many things I like about the story. I think it is not the best book to listen to. I think if I had read it, I would have enjoyed it a bit more.

The story is solid and has very likable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between the brothers, and the romance between Tessa and Dean is fulfilling. The pacing is excellent, making it a quick read.

Tessa is a fantastic heroine. The perfect mix of independence and femininity. For a woman of her times, she is quite forward-thinking, and I totally understood why she chose to become a mail order bride. While I also understand why she became so upset with Dean, I do think she is a bit hard on him. I know I’m being vague, but to go into detail would give away a plot point. You’ll need to read this story to decide if you agree or disagree with my opinion.

Dean is your typical clueless male hero. Since he married so young the first time, he does not have anything to compare to this woman except his late wife. He expects Tessa to react as she would have, but that does not happen because Tessa is a completely different type of woman. I thoroughly enjoyed his bewilderment as to why Tessa becomes so upset. I had a lot of sympathy for his character.

I listened to the narration by J. Scott Bennett and thoroughly enjoyed his narrative. He reads with an easy pace and articulates extremely well. He does an excellent job with the various character, especially the female ones, which is rare for a male narrator. I will definitely look for other books by Mr. Bennett. 

I mentioned above that I did not think this books worked well as an audiobook. The reason I feel this way is because Ms. Bridey used the dialogue tag, said, a great many times, well over five hundred. When I read, I can skip over that, but when I’m listening, it becomes annoying. That is in no way the narrator’s fault.


I truly liked this couple, and I’m glad I found this book. If you enjoy a great love story in an authentic historical setting, then you will love Westward Winds. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. Happy reading!

No comments:

Post a Comment