Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride

Loved it!

This is Eli Easton at her best! Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride is a historical western with plenty of wit, humor, and romance. Full of interesting characters, a terrific plot, and suspense - this book has it all.

Marry the story with Matthew Shaw's fantastic narration and you have a fabulous listen that's so entertaining I went back and listened to it all over again! I loved the way Shaw performs the dialogue and brings the locales and settings to life. This listen is a perfect example of how an audiobook can absolutely feel like a complete experience.

Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride is a truly fantastic audiobook - clever, fun, funny, sexy, suspenseful, and absolutely recommended!

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Wonderful Story & Matthew Shaw is Perfect!

Eli Easton writes some of the most charming romances I’ve ever read and Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride hits the mark in the best possible way. The connection she creates between her characters is engaging and there’s no end to the interesting situations they find themselves in. Between Eli Easton’s captivating story, and Matthew Shaw’s stunning narration, this is one gosh darn terrific audiobook!

This story takes place in the mid 1800’s and Eli Easton manages to completely capture the mood of the period. The old-timey expressions she digs up are hilarious and add so much to the overall feel of the book. There’s a perfect blend of humor, romance, and action in this one. Fast paced and clever, I enjoyed every minute of Robby Riverton.

I love the delightful and very colorful cast of characters, though they’re all a bit stuck in their slovenly ways. In addition to their appalling manners, they don’t treat their women-folk well at all. As Robby infiltrates the Crabtree family as Rowena, he uses the talents he’s honed on the stage to wrap them all around his little finger. Thankfully they see the error of their ways once Rowena gets up the gumption to insist on some changes.

The attraction between Robby and Trace is immediate, and both men are surprised by its intensity. With everything they have going against them, waiting to see how Eli Easton was going to find a way for them to be together was the sweetest kind of torture. There’s not a ton of sex, but what’s here is raw and hot and incredibly intimate, and I loved watching them fall in love.

Matthew Shaw’s character voices are always creative, and his range never fails to impress me. He has the most wonderful variety for each person in Robby Riverton. Pa-Pa’s craggy cackle, the perfect drawls for the uncouth brothers, and I could listen to Trace’s smokey, sexy, sultry voice all day. The high pitched girly voices he uses for “the gals” and his Rowena voice, are just what I’d think a man would try to emulate, and it was hilarious.

Like all the Eli Easton novels I’ve read, Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride is a wonderful, feel good story. I think this might just be her best one yet, and delivered with Matthew Shaw’s impeccable narration, it’s a winner!

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Absolutely brilliant!

From the title and cover, I expected this one to be funny, and I certainly found that. What I didn't expect was the level of emotion and the complete sweetness of Robby and Trace together. The whole story is just absolutely brilliant. Some things, like the Crabtree family's table manners, may have been over the top, but somehow they were just right for this story. And the characters! Each and every one felt real enough to reach out and touch. Eli Easton has taken handfuls of humor, drama, emotion, scorching hot sexy, and a bit of danger, mixed them all up, and created a charming story that is absolutely unputdownable. Then she put it in the very capable hands of narrator, Matthew Shaw, who did a wonderful job conveying all the emotion and excitement this one deserved. This may be my first experience with this author, but it certainly won't be my last.

1 sur 1 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

A western with hidden depths and lots of laughs

I had read this book a few months ago and absolutely loved it! Hearing it was coming out on audio with Matthew Shaw's narration I was so excited to get it, as his narration on Easton's Howl At The Moon book series was wonderful. Shaw really gets into his performance, making animal sounds and singing. He puts a wide range of emotions into his voice and brings this story to life wonderfully. He started the book with a song which was surprising and delightful, he nailed the accents and tones of voice. In a way Robby, the actor running away from the thugs after witnessing a murder, is a very fitting character for audio narration. Not unlike the narrator himself, Robby takes on many roles and characters to hide is identity and it just fits the audio format so well.

Every character is well rounded, interesting and funny, there are many funny moments but also, hidden depths. Despite this book being a typical western the characters have a deeper sense of humanity and the men in particular a vulnerable side. Trace seemed at first a lazy selfish man, but the scars he carries from the past are much deeper and show his complexity. His family, PaPa and his brothers and sisters in law have secrets themselves but they are kind and loving people once Robby gets to know them. I liked the change he brings into their lives and they to his, and the way Easton managed to bring some of the emotional toll a gay man had to endure in that time. There are a few moments of quite talk between Trace and Robby that touched my soul with the longing these men had for a free life to be who they are.

Thrust into this dangerous situation and forced into a web of lies and deceit the passion and chemistry they share seems transient or that it will not last after Robby's pursuers are taken care of. There is also a lot of action, gunfights and the very real fear for Robby's life. This book has everything a western should have with the added depth of emotions Eli brought into the story and two very real men who just want a place in the world to call their own.
I enjoyed this book very much and the narration only enhanced it.

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A fun story, great narration.

Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride is the first audiobook I've listen to by Matthew Shaw. He does a fantastic job with the different voices needed in this story. His voice has nice deep tones (higher, of course, when necessary) and is extremely easy and pleasing to listen to. Eli Easton's writing is great. The story is both funny and serious and really kept my attention while I was listening to it.

Forced to disguise himself as a woman in order to avoid the bad guys who are after him, Robby becomes Rowena, the mail order bride of Clovis Crabtree. Robby/Rowena catches the eye of Clovis' brother, Trace and he is puzzled by his reaction to her (he has never been attracted to women) until he finally figures out who Robby/Rowena is.

In his role as Rowena, Robby challenges the Crabtree men to behave better and stop treating their women as servants. There is a deliciously funny secret about an activity that the family enjoys which had me in stitches when it was revealed. Robby/Rowena's interactions with the Crabtree family are probably my favorite parts of the book. This is due, in no small part, to the great voices done by Matthew Shaw.

Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride was a seriously fun story to listen to and I'll be looking for more audiobook performances by Matthew Shaw as well as more stories from Eli Easton.

An copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

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More historic fiction than steamy romance

I was expecting a story where the romance was the main focus (like most Eli Easton books) but the historical fiction side of things really was the main point of the story. I thought it was an interesting concept and I did enjoy the book, but for me the romance was a little bit of a let down. It didn't feel as developed as some of the author's previous couples, and in that way it felt a little tacked on. Honestly you could have just taken the relationship out of it and the story wouldn't be much different. Despite that, and the really terrible book cover, I enjoyed this read.

Engaging and endearing

The main characters are so well written, and the narrator's performance was superb! This is an audio book I will enjoy again and again. The cover drew me in. by making me detect the humor that would be found in thus book, but didn't hint at the depth. the goodness, the bravery of Robbie. Trace was a close second, but Trace's family filled out that depth. Overall, just a great experience.

Funny and entertaining historical romance.

Loved this historical romance, set in the Wild West. Robby/Rowena manages to uproot the Crabtree's lives in only a few weeks, and they will manage to change Sheriff Trace's view on life and love. Great narration by Matthew Shaw!

Best Old West Story Ever!

There's not a lot to add to other reviews. Adulation is adulation and I join the fray. I hope there is a sequel.

I didn't love the narration but loved the story

First, let me tell you how psyched I was for this. So psyched! Because Eli is one of my favs, this looks hysterical and one of my fav f/m tropes is the “mail order bride/forced marriage” scenarios.

Second, this surpassed my expectations by also being ridiculously touching – more on this in a bit.

I was wondering how the heck Eli could pull this off. Who would be fooled for long enough for this to work out and what would the long term game be. Well – she came up with a great plot and it totally made sense and kept me rooting for Robby. (If I have any complaints is that there is maybe too much lead in to the story and not enough post time with our couple as a couple… however that is a lot on taste.)

Trace is also another perfect MC for his role and plays it well. His family and their “secret” kept me laughing out loud! I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you that Robby likes to control things and has no problem brining Pa to hand – and it was one of my favorite parts of this story!

(All in all this was a wonderful “period” story from the old west that felt authentic and plausible in what should have been totally implausible. While I am eternally grateful for not living during those times, I believe she portrayed them accurately.)

Highly recommended!

5 of 5 stars


Audio

Matthew Shaw does a nice enough job. I wasn’t super wowed, but he is really easy to listen to and manages to keep all the various players separate.

This was a fine way to experience this really fun story.

4 of 5 stars

Overall 4.5 of 5 stars