The Officer's Bride: The Major's Wife, The Companion, An Honest Bargain Book

THE MAJOR'S WIFE by Merline Lovelace: I’ve never been a fan of this author; I was happily surprised with the quality of this story.

Coming home (to England) from the Crimea War in 1856, Major Sir Charles Trent finds his wife thoroughly changed. Trent left his wife soon after their marriage and she suffered a serious miscarriage; doctors said she could have no other child.

She’s no longer the shy girl Trent left behind; she’s made a life for herself and she has a young admirer. Trent realizes that he must woo his wife again – she is asking for a divorce!

THE COMPANION by Deborah Simmons: Of the three stories in this book, this one was my favorite. Christopher/Kit returned from the Napoleon Wars wounded and heart-sore. While gone, his beloved brother Garrett (Earl of Hawthorne), died suddenly, leaving Kit as the new earl.

Kit’s fiancée dumped him for an able-bodied man and Kit rejected his former friends; he also withdrew from his inherited role - managing the Hawthorne lands and interests. Kit’s grandmother was at her wit’s end; she couldn’t find a way to draw Kit out of his depression. Finally, Kit’s grandmother convinced a poor distant relation to act as Kit’s nursemaid/companion.

AN HONEST BARGAIN by Julia Justiss: This is a delightful story of second chances. Lieutenant Bryan Langford finds out that the love of his life (who married another officer) is a new destitute widow. He offers her his name to protect her from her financial plight.

The reader finds out that the widow’s husband was a gambler and womanizer who killed her love for her husband. When Langford tries to woo her to stay his wife, she is surprised to learn that he has loved her since they were teenagers.