Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love by the Letter | 2013 | Melissa Jagears | Buy |
| 2 | A Bride for Keeps | 2013 | Melissa Jagears | Buy |
| 3 | A Bride in Store | 2014 | Melissa Jagears | Buy |
| 4 | A Bride at Last | 2015 | Melissa Jagears | Buy |
| 5 | Tied and True | 2015 | Melissa Jagears | N/A |
The Unexpected Brides series was Melissa Jagears’ debut, launching with A Bride for Keeps in 2013. Set on the Kansas frontier in the late 1800s, each book follows a different couple whose path to marriage is anything but planned. Whether through mail-order arrangements, misunderstandings, or circumstances beyond their control, the heroines and heroes find themselves bound together before they are ready.
The series established the themes that Jagears would carry through her later work: strong-willed women, patient men, the harshness of prairie life, and a quiet faith that shapes decisions without preaching. A Bride for Keeps won the Carol Award and introduced readers to a frontier community that expands over the course of the five books. Each novel works on its own, but the shared setting and returning characters reward readers who follow the series from the start.