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Josephine Nailor is desperate to escape a terrible situation. When the opportunity arises via a newspaper ad, she and her best friend slip away from their oppressive fathers and head for Richmond. Neither can relax until they’re far away from their tiny hometown. With wealthy young widow Lydia Harrison’s help, Josephine and six other young women have a new life waiting in Tarnation, Texas. Michael Buchanan is fairly content running his mercantile and being mayor of Tarnation. The town is dusty and tiny, but it’s growing. He believes it holds all he needs to be happy—except a wife. There are no available women in town, but he hopes Lydia Harrison’s Bride Brigade will offer a woman he can wed. He is immediately attracted to Josephine. But Josephine has every reason to mistrust men in general and politicians in particular. Will her misgivings ruin her chance at happiness?

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2015

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About the author

Caroline Clemmons

146 books384 followers
Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To make up for this tragic error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest.
Click on her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books and follow her there.
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5 stars
93 (57%)
4 stars
46 (28%)
3 stars
14 (8%)
2 stars
6 (3%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Cindy.
2,010 reviews41 followers
October 23, 2017
The town of Tarnation, Texas has no single females of marriageable age. The single men of the town are threatening to move to larger towns to find a wife which would cause Tarnation to die out. Young widow Lydia Harrison travels to her home state of Virgina where she places an ad in the newpaper and interviews several young women who are interested in moving west to marry. Seven young women ultimately head west with Lydia and her friend Sophie; each girl escaping something or someone and looking for acceptance and love.

A well written series with interesting characters. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series as well.
2,681 reviews17 followers
January 13, 2020
Michael and Josephine

This is an exciting, adventurous, love story written by Caroline Clemmons. She has done a great job with the plot and the characters too. Josephine and her friend run from abusive fathers to Tarnation, TX to find safety and husbands.You will enjoy discovering how they discover their happily ever after.
859 reviews2 followers
June 8, 2017
Josephine

Enjoyable book. The story of Josephine and Ophelia was sad. It's difficult to believe parents would treat their daughters that way. There is a happy ending.
Profile Image for Dottie.
289 reviews27 followers
July 23, 2016
This was my first novel from western romance author, Caroline Clemmons. I loved the entire idea of this story, as tales of manifest destiny and mail order brides have always held a fascination with me.

The story starts as two women are running from their lives in a small Virginia town. Josephine is trying to escape the clutches of the mayor, who wants to have his wicked way with her; and her father, who would force his daughter into prostitution to secure his job as town sheriff. Ophelia is Josephine's best friend and has a tale as equally devastating. She's running from her abusive father... he's a bit of a religious fanatic and thoroughly believes that to "spare the rod is to spoil the child". No one could ever accuse Ophelia of being spoiled by that standard.
As luck would have it, our two refugees hop aboard a wagon train with five other women looking for a better life out west. This is their story of a second chance at life in the wilds of Texas.

This author has given readers a story that is compelling and has all the charm of the old west. It's a very sweet heat level, meaning it's not an over-sexed romance.
there's natural dialogue and believable characters with relatable issues. It's a relatively quick read (just over 140 pgs) making it a perfect weekend read!

Upon finishing Josephine's story, I can't wait for the next books in this series! Ms. Clemmons you've found a fan!
Profile Image for Judy Esposito.
1,013 reviews15 followers
April 3, 2016
Josephine Book 1 Brides Brigade!

I just love this storyline, a new one for me. I loved meeting all the well thought out characters and will enjoy following each of them to their HEA, in the books to follow in the series. The first couple, Josephine and Matthew, started the series off perfectly and grabbed my heart from the beginning. Love their story and hope to see them in the next books. A fun light and clean read. JudyE
Profile Image for G.
218 reviews
November 2, 2015
The 1st wedding

What a nice story. I thought the characters developed well throughout the story. The reader learns that each woman has her reasons for being in Tarnation TX. The stories & subsequent weddings are sure to be full of fun & discovery as the women grow & blossom.
Profile Image for Fionn Jameson.
Author 34 books149 followers
May 4, 2016
Relatively harmless. A lot of talking made it somewhat tedious towards the end. Not a great deal of conflict, which made this book less than exciting, but like I said, harmless. If you're looking for a lukewarm read that doesn't offend, this is for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
37 reviews
July 23, 2016
This is a great series beginng book!!

This story is a very good beginning book for this series. I am trying to decide how I am going to get the rest of them!!
31 reviews1 follower
April 7, 2017
This was a very enjoyable book. I couldn't put this one down and am looking forward to reading the rest of the "Bride Brigade" stories. Thank you for a very fun, interesting town of characters.
Profile Image for Ashley.
Author 4 books4 followers
November 26, 2017
I really enjoyed the premise of this story as well as the characters. Josephine and Matthew, the romantic leads, are well developed and enjoyable to watch. There was maybe a moment or two where some of the hesitation on her part seemed a little insincere. I also liked the build up of the side characters. Obviously Ophelia got the most attention as she is Josephine's best friend. The romance itself had a good build up and was entertaining while also being an easy-to-root-for couple. Sweet instead of steamy with a couple of kisses stolen in private moments being as far as the heat rises. I gave this book four stars due to some editing issues.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews