Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew: Sun River Brides, #5
    Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew: Sun River Brides, #5
    Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew: Sun River Brides, #5
    Ebook62 pages1 hour

    Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew: Sun River Brides, #5

    By Karla Gracey

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Emily Wilkins has led a glamorous life, as part of a famous Circus family. She has her own Act and a loving family. But a dramatic accident in the Ring means she has to face up to the fact that she never felt she fitted in. With her faithful donkey Claude she sets out for Montana to heal and find herself, but she gets much more than she ever bargained for. Widower Matthew Simmons wants something more than he always has had. As a boy he longed to run away with the Circus, but now he is taking the biggest gamble of his life. It could be the best thing to ever happen to him, or could it ruin his life, and that of his beloved son.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKarla Gracey Books
    Release dateJul 24, 2016
    ISBN9781536533521
    Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew: Sun River Brides, #5

    Read more from Karla Gracey

    Related to Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew

    Titles in the series (9)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Christian Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      How Dementia Saved Mum & Me

      Mar 31, 2021

      How Dementia Saved Mum & Me
      5 min read

    • Article

      I’ll Be There

      Oct 25, 2019

      I’ll Be There
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Silence of Witches

      Dec 10, 2019

      The Silence of Witches
      6 min read

    • Article

      Winds Of Change

      Dec 10, 2019

      “Till the end of the pitted and dusty lane, she was a dry, brown leaf swiftly floating down a clear stream. Part of it was easy, the part about being brown. ‘Brown as mud and common as mud,’ Aaji would scream every morning waking her up. The rest of

      9 min read

    • Article

      Seeing RED

      Mar 31, 2021

      Seeing RED
      6 min read

    • Article

      Haunted House Whodunnit

      Sep 20, 2023

      Haunted House Whodunnit
      2 min read

    • Article

      Night Visions

      Sep 10, 2022

      Night Visions
      6 min read

    • Article

      Lasting LOVE

      Feb 28, 2024

      Lasting LOVE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Dead Woman

      Jun 5, 2023

      At first it seems like nothing. Headaches. Slight loss of appetite. An overall weariness Emma tries to ignore as she goes to work, yoga, Whole Foods. She’s forty-two and has always taken good care of her body. She stretches daily. Avoids fried foods

      24 min read

    • Article

      Cricket Ceague

      Apr 1, 2019

      Penelope Berkeley, age 9 Mars Hill, NC Night had fallen, and Luna awoke from where she had been sleeping in a cornfield. She moved steadily through the stalks with barely a sound, keeping her eyes on the glittering glass rooftop of the greenhouse in

      7 min read

    • Article

      This Is Me

      Mar 26, 2019

      This Is Me
      5 min read

    • Article

      Finding A Way Home

      Oct 21, 2019

      Finding A Way Home
      4 min read

    • Article

      Australia Reads At Home

      May 18, 2020

      Australia Reads At Home
      7 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Aug 9, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Jul 12, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Black Water Sister

      Aug 2, 2021

      The drawing must have been bundled up with other, less interesting papers, or Jess wouldn’t have thrown it away. Mom had kept every piece of art Jess had ever made, her childhood scrawls treated with as much reverence as the pieces from her first – a

      5 min read

    • Article

      Presumably Pat

      Sep 23, 2023

      Presumably Pat
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Little Trip

      Aug 2, 2021

      As the first morning light peeked through the gap in the curtains, Alice left her new husband in bed. She wrapped her silk kimono around her; a present from Jeremy, it reminded her yet again just how generous he’d been since their wedding. Even this

      5 min read

    • Article

      You Are My sunshine

      Mar 31, 2022

      You Are My sunshine
      5 min read

    • Article

      From Marge Simpson to Susan Kennedy: TV’s best mums!

      Mar 27, 2022

      The small screen boasts some magnificent mums. They are loving, loyal and always there to listen. They lay on excellent dinners and even better cuddles. So, to mark Mother’s Day, we’ve taken time out from our chores and homework (they gave us permiss

      3 min read

    • Article

      Seedlings

      May 6, 2021

      Seedlings
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew

    5/5

    4 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Mail Order Bride - A Bride for Matthew - Karla Gracey

      Mail Order Bride

      A Bride for Matthew

      Sun River Brides: Book 5

      Karla Gracey

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Epilogue

      Other books by Karla

      Mailing List And Free Gift

      Copyright

      Thank you for choosing a Karla Gracey story.

      As a way to say thank you, we would love to give you this lovely short story.

      book image image.jpg

      Click here to pick up your free story.

      Chapter One

      The gasp from the audience was incredulous, almost comical in its abject horror. Somehow it made everything seem even more unreal. Emily clutched at her throat, as if clawing for air but none seemed to be making it to her lungs. The air seemed hazy around her as if she was in a dream and not in the ring with Claude nuzzling at her gently, clearly wondering why she wasn’t getting up to finish the act. She tried to reach out and pet his soft nose, to fondle his long ears, to reassure him that she was alright. But, he seemed so far away too.

      Emily, Emily! Marcus the ring master cried as he rushed to her side. She turned to see the look of concern in his eyes and knew that something terrible had happened. Stay completely still. Don’t move. Claude, damn you, get away from her you stupid ass. Emily watched as Marcus tethered her beloved donkey away from her. He was probably right, but she wanted to tell him not to be so impatient with him. Claude was her family, as much a part of her as her long copper hair, or her flashing green eyes – and like them he was one of such a few things that she had left from her flamboyant and generous Papa.

      She drifted away, remembering the wonderful childhood she had enjoyed. Being a circus child wasn’t always fun, but for her it had been. Her parents had an Act. They were a big name in the circus world and people travelled from miles around when the circus was in town to see them and their bareback horses doing their tricks. Mama would ride, dressed in the most glorious of costumes, performing tricks while Papa would bounce from horse to horse, as if trying to chase her down and claim her as his own. Their acrobatic skills, their horsemanship and their dedication to one another had made for a heady mix. The crowds adored them. Their popularity had led them here, to Boston, to become a part of a Circus that never travelled. The giant arena was a permanent structure – yet it appeared to be just like the big tops of the travelling shows. Every night of the year it was full of the very best performers in the country: clowns and acrobats, aerialists and sharp shooters, magicians and novelty acts. It had meant that the little family had been able to set down some roots, and that she and her older brother, Evan, had been able to go to school.

      Emily had so longed to be like them, but it had become clear very early on that she would never become a part of their Act unlike Evan who had inherited all their grace and skill. She simply wasn’t able to emulate them no matter how hard she tried. She could do the tricks, and she loved the ponies, but she simply didn’t fit the smoothly executed and almost balletic style they embodied. But, then Papa had found Claude. He was an abandoned pit donkey, and had been nothing but skin and bones. But, she had adored him from their very first meeting. He was clever and gentle, but he had a wickedly cheeky nature and that had given her an idea. In secret she had begun to practice the tricks she had learned from Papa, but aiming to be even more ungainly and clumsy. Their partnership was the antidote to the glamour of her parents’ Act, and their antics never failed to make the crowds laugh. But, it seemed that this time she might just have gone too far.

      Emily, stay with me now. Wake up. The doctor is on his way. She opened her eyes to see Mama gazing down at her, tears in her eyes. She was in bed, at home. She wondered how long she had been unconscious. She couldn’t deny that every bit of her hurt, she had never had such a fall. Emily tried to speak, she needed to know that Claude was alright, but the words wouldn’t come. But Mama knew her so well, knew her agitation would never be for her own

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1