About the Book
Book: Seven Brides for Seven Texans
Authors: Gabrielle Meyer, Erica Vetsch, Amanda Barratt, Lorna Steilstad, Keli Gwyn, Susan Page Davis and Vickie McDonough
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: April 29, 2025
Seven stubborn brothers navigate the delicate balance between duty and desire in this sweeping saga of romance, redemption, and second chances on the rugged Texas frontier.
In 1874 Texas, the wealthy patriarch of the 7-Heart ranch delivers an ultimatum to his seven independent sons: marry within the year or forfeit their inheritance. The directive sends these confirmed bachelors scrambling to secure their futures while protecting their fiercely guarded freedom
While the youngest brother races to be first at the altar, the other brothers are more reluctant to tie the knot.
The Hart brothers face unique challenges on the road to romance with a cast of remarkable women: a long-lost love haunted by the past, a former sweetheart guarding her heart, a cave-dwelling lady with mysterious money, a mail-order bride who falls for the wrong man, and a Civil War nurse willing to heal a scarred soldier's heart.
Will they find true love under the pressure of their father's demands, or will they sacrifice their inheritance to maintain their independence?
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Lucie's Review:
First Comes Love by Gabrielle Meyer
The youngest Hart boy, Hayes, is determined to beat his older brothers to the altar, so he puts up posters advertising for a wife all over town. The preacher's daughter, Emma, who also is the local schoolteacher, is a headstrong goal setter. She doesn't like his plan, and takes his signs down at every turn. But can these two motivated individuals find middle ground and perhaps, love?
A cute romance, a little more lighthearted than the other stories, it has great chemistry and opposites attract protagonists.
The Heart of Texas by Lorna Seilstad
Chisholm Hart is a Texas Ranger, devoted to his job, he helps a young woman rescue her cousin, and get to the bottom of a cattle rustling scheme.
Caro is a fiery woman, who loves her family and isn't afraid to stand her ground. It is a cute story with lots of action, adventure, and a dash of romance.
The Truest Heart by Amanda Barratt
Old love is rekindled in this sweet second chance romance.
Annie is a devoted mother, and starting over has been challenging. Her son Robby loves getting to now the Hart family, and especially takes to Travis and his father. Travis and has never loved anyone but Annie and is happy to have her back in his life, he doesn't want to waste any time convincing her to become his bride.
Such a sweet story, with great interaction, and a wonderful plot! One of my favorites of the collection.
A Love Returned by Keli Gwyn
Houston Hart has become a successful business owner out in California, but he comes home to claim his piece of the inheritance. Once he get's home he is determined to show his family that he can pull his weight on the ranch. He reunites with childhood sweetheart, Coralee from the neighboring ranch.
A sweet story of rekindled love and coming home.
For Love or Money Susan Page Davis
Crockett Hart sees smoke and rushes to help the neighbors. Jane is a clever young woman who makes the best of a bad situation. Crockett comes over to help when he can, and he brings his brother too. I liked seeing their relationship grow, they have good interaction, and it was a heartwarming story of good things coming out of tragedy.
Mail-Order Mayhem by Vickie McDonough
Austin Hart is the oldest of the brothers, and as his younger brothers are all getting married around him he writes for a mail-order bride. Rebekah accompanies her sister, Jenny, to Texas to meet Austin.
Rebekah and Jenny are sisters in a tough situation, with little other options available to them but to marry well. Rebekah encourages her sister to marry Austin, as she can see what a good man he is. But the more she tries to convince her sister to give Austin a try the more it becomes harder to hide her growing feelings for Austin.
A mixed-up mail-order bride situation that has you cheering for the protagonists to end up together against all odds.
Love At Last by Erica Vetsch
Bowie fought in the Civil War and through it all he never forgot the one nurse who showed him kindness, despite his disfigurement. He decides to take a stab in the dark and find Elise, the woman who left such an imprint on his heart. Elise has been struggling after the war working in her uncle's button factory, so she takes Bowie up on his offer of marriage.
Can this marriage of convenience turn to real love? A sweet romance, with likable characters and plenty of heart. Bowie has a gentle hand with animals, and I like the slow build relationship.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
About the Authors
Gabrielle Meyer, a Minnesota native, draws inspiration for her historical fiction from the rich stories and landscapes of her home state, where she lives on the banks of the upper Mississippi River with her husband and four children. A former employee of the Minnesota Historical Society, Gabrielle loves weaving real people, places, and events into her captivating tales.
Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch weaves her love for Jesus, history, romance, and sports into her stories, including The Debutante’s Code, the first in the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery Series. When she’s not crafting fiction or planning her next trip to a history museum.
Bestselling author Amanda Barratt brings to life overlooked moments in history through her award-winning novels, including The Warsaw Sisters, Within These Walls of Sorrow, and The White Rose Resists. Based in Michigan, she’s often immersed in research, tackling her ever-growing TBR stack, or savoring a slice of lemon cake.
Carol Award finalist Lorna Seilstad explores life’s complexities with humor in her nine novels, including the Lake Manawa Summers and Gregory Sisters series, as well as several novella collections. When she’s not writing, she teaches women’s Bible classes, runs a toy store, plans weddings, or spends time with her Pyredoodle, Honey Bea.
Keli Gwyn crafts inspirational historical romances that she loves to read. A California native, she now lives in the greater Sacramento area with her husband and their sweet orange tabby, enjoying life close to family.
Vickie McDonough, a CBA, EPCA, and Amazon best-selling author of 54 books and novellas, brings the Old West to life in her award-winning romances featuring ranchers, cowboys, and lawmen. Though married to a computer geek who fears horses, she lives out her ranching dreams through her stories—and when she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, gardening, making cards, and traveling.
More from Erica
Hi, I’m Erica Vetsch, and I loved collaborating on the stories for the 7 Brides for 7 Texans collection. It was fun writing stories that were so intertwined, and working closely with the other authors in the collection to bring the whole concept together.
Initially, I was approached by a publisher, asking if I would be interested in heading up a novella collection loosely based on the idea of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, the classic musical. The parameters were that the stories must be no longer than 25K words, be historical in setting, and that I could choose the overall concept, as well as my team of authors.
I, of course, jumped at the chance. Before I contacted anyone, I worked up a rough idea of the premise of the stories. A wealthy Texas rancher with seven strapping sons is tired of waiting for them to get married and provide him with grandchildren, so he issues an ultimatum. Get married by the end of the calendar year, or you’re disinherited.
I named all the sons after famous Texans, and gave them a birth order, then I began contacting writing friends to see if they were interested in joining the project. Everyone I asked said yes! 😊
Then the real fun began. We formed a private Facebook group, and as the characters were chosen by the various authors, the order of the stories in the collection formed, and as ideas for storylines poured in, I began creating what we came to call The Master Document.
In the MD we tracked main characters’ names and appearances, secondary characters, a map of the fictional town of Hartsville, TX, and more. It eventually ran to more than 20 pages of information. We named the town newspaper, the general store, and kept track of the layout of the Harts’ massive ranch house. Keeping these details all in one place made it easy for the authors to flesh out their story world in a way that was consistent with everyone else’s stories.
Because the stories are so closely tied and on such a tight timeline, each of the authors’ characters would appear in another author’s novella. We needed to respect each other’s visions for the characters and treat them with respect, while also having the freedom to write our own stories.
Early on, as the project coordinator, it was established that if a dispute arose between two authors on how something should go, it would be myself who would cast the final vote. However, that contingency never came into play, as all the authors worked so well together.
One of the most challenging aspects of the project was, that as the project lead, and the one writing the final story in the collection, I needed to know the most about all the stories. Just before the deadline to turn our stories into the publisher, each author sent their story along to me to read for continuity. I spent a long weekend at author Gabrielle Meyer’s house, and we read every novella aloud, making notes for consistency and continuity throughout. These notes were turned in to the project editor, and she used them in her editing process to make sure seven separate stories felt cohesive.
It truly was a fun—and to me—unique, project, and when the publisher asked if I would like to head up a follow up collection, I was eager to say yes, and thus 7 Brides for 7 Texas Rangers was born.
Both of these intertwined collections went out of print, but they are now being released once more, this time through Wild Heart Books. I’m thrilled that we can tell our stories to new readers and prolong the lives of these characters.
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 21
Pens Pages & Pulses, May 21
Texas Book-aholic, May 22
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 23
Locks, Hooks and Books, May 24
Simple Harvest Reads, May 24 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
Devoted To Hope, May 25
For Him and My Family, May 25
Stories By Gina, May 26 (Author Interview)
Jeanette’s Thoughts, May 26
She Lives to Read, May 27
lakesidelivingsite, May 27
Labor Not in Vain, May 28
Tell Tale Book Reviews, May 28
Cover Lover Book Review, May 29
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, May 29
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 30
Holly’s Book Corner, May 30
Books You Can Feel Good About, May 31
Blossoms and Blessings, June 1
Jodie Wolfe, June 1
Pause for Tales, June 2
Book Butterfly in Dreamland, June 2
Leslie’s Library Escape, June 3
Giveaway
To celebrate their tour, the Wild Heart Books Authors are giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
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