Review: The Golden Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse

Goodreads Blurb--- "Olivia Brighton finds herself widowed and working her brother’s restaurant in San Francisco during the height of the rush for gold. Even though she receives at least twenty marriage proposals a day, she will never marry a gold miner. Her brother’s friend Joseph Sawyer has gotten caught up in local politics and the plight of Chinese in forced labor. The more Joseph gets pulled into investigating crime in the city, the less Olivia sees of the compassionate man. And just when she thinks she could love again, a fire threatens to steal all hope. "

I'm giving this book 5 stars. From chapter three, I was hooked. San Francisco in 1850 was one of the most corrupt places to be, and this story follows three upstanding citizens trying to influence as much of their city as they can. The premise isn't that different, but as soon as you get into it, this book shows you things you rarely see. Joseph and Olivia both have secrets and feelings that get in the way of the romance you want to happen, (male lead with a gold mine that DOESN'T consume him! Insert shocked emoji) but together they work towards a better city (I misspelled the name of this city like 500 times so I'm just not doing it anymore ;) ) One of the coolest things was the journals from previous "brides" in the series. That was a really neat way to connect to the past. The little boy that Olivia helps is another great part of this book. Obviously, there are bad guys to hate, and waiting for their comeuppance is really hard. And of course, the epilogue got me being a mess. (I swear, a good epilogue is essential to have me raving about a book!) I only wish there were a book about Daniel and his romance, too! Pick up this installment of the Daughters of the Mayflower! You won't be disappointed. Great writing leads to great reading! 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review