Review: A satisfying read, if you know what you're getting
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2013
Mail Order Mayhem is a short novella set in New England in 1883. At 80% of the ebook, the story was over and the rest was an excerpt from Osbourne's other books.As a reader, the storyline of a mail order bride was pretty typical.  I agree with other reviewers that Maude was courageous to leave her family and home and do what she did.  Osbourne obviously new about the orphan situation of the time period as well.  It was a short clean read, but certainly not a sweet romance.As an author myself, that was one of the things that bothered me about this novella. Sweet romance does not contain bedroom scenes, whereas clean romance can contain bedroom scenes between married couples. Sweet romance is a genre of romance with rules and not just a term used to describe the story.This is the first book I've read by this author, but it appeared to me that Osbourne didn't do thorough research.  Having grown up on a farm, I'm fairly certain you don't go out and "weed" the wheat fields.  Farmers plow, plant, and even irrigate where and when possible, but usually just pray for rain.  Most grain crops are called "dry farming." Alfalfa needs water and if the Farmer's Almanac predicted a dry season then they planted grain crops.  I'm not a historical author, but Osbourne's details of the time period weren't as realistic as I would expect them to be.  It made me wonder about her other reads set in this time period. Still, it didn't stop me from continuing to read.Osbourne also did a lot of head-hopping (jumping from one character's point of view to another in the same scene) and even did omniscient point of view in places.Overall, this book is a satisfying read, if you were expecting bedroom scenes.