A welcome return to the McBrideverse, which explores new ground while retaining its essential charm.
It’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that Amy Barry may be credited for the invention of a new literary sub-genre: the comic western romance. Her first book Kit McBride Finds A Wife was an instant hit, and it has now been followed by a sequel: Marrying Off Morgan McBride.
Readers of her first book may recall that while it finished with the wedding of mountain man Kit and the acquiescent but somewhat bamboozled Irish ex-maid Maddy, the McBride clan of Buck’s Creek, Montana, still had three eligible bachelors on its books.
Given her success finding happiness for Kit in the Matrimonial Times, the irrepressible Junebug (surely one of the most fun literary characters of the last few years) tries again, this time with the aim of finding a decent cook and a reason for eldest brother Morgan, who has developed a bad case of itchy feet, to remain home with the family.
One of the pitfalls of writing a sequel is the often unconscious temptation for an author to simply tell the same story again, but with Marrying Off Morgan McBride, Amy Barry has refreshingly taken a different route. Junebug’s counterfeit letters are this time answered by Pip Hopgood, unwilling spinster and native of neighbouring Nebraska. Pip is no Maddy; she can cook and work up a head of steam as well as Junebug, Morgan or any of the inhabitants of Buck’s Creek. From the moment she arrives with her feisty grandmother and reliable milch cow in tow, we get the feeling that Junebug may have met her match.
In the romance genre a happy ending is generally guaranteed, however in Marrying Off Morgan McBride there are many twists and turns to be had as Morgan’s bullish nature and Pip’s determination not to return to Nebraska in shame combine to take the story in unexpected directions. We see new sides to our well-known characters and meet old friends from the first novel, and somehow the world of the McBrides gets bigger.
The key to this book is its humour, but running a close second is its heart. Junebug may be an inveterate meddler in everyone’s lives, but she does so out of love for her family. Amy Barry makes her characters feel real, with believable motivations and powerful connections. This is no Mills and Boon-style romance; this is a fleshed-out story of what it is to be human, to be lonely, and to find love when you weren’t expecting it.
Kudos should also go to Amy Barry for writing a fully fledged western in which no-one wears a gun, and there’s no sheriff and not a cattle-rustler in sight.
Marrying Off Morgan McBride is a charming, happy and ultimately fulfilling story of love and family. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by DC White
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Simon & Schuster Australia
Released: July 2024
RRP: $22.99