Emily and Jacob: A Historical Romance of the American West

The McLeod Brothers were sons of a Virginia Tobacco Plantation owner. After the War Between the States, each of them begins to find his way west to carve out his own niche as America begins to grow and discover that the strength of a Frontier woman is a necessary part of creating that niche.

Jacob McLeod rode with Mosby’s Raiders during the War Between the States, through connections of his Virginia plantation family; he winds up working in the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Philadelphia. One of his first assignments is to track down Emily Fuller so that Dillon Montgomery can dispute her claim to a portion of his father’s inheritance. Though Jacob does not trust the sinister Montgomery heir, he honestly goes about his work, but can’t bring himself to abandon Emily once he’s finished the job; especially after he catches sight of her for the first time.

When Emily Fuller stepped off of the passenger ship that had brought her back to Philadelphia from a London finishing school, she had no idea that her entire world was going to be turned upside down. Her mother and the wealthy Mister Montgomery, who was a client in her mother’s brothel and also Emily’s father, were killed in an accident while traveling together. Emily learns that not only had she inherited the brothel and a tidy sum from her mother, but she has also been included in the will of her father. There are stipulations to her inheritance that must be met, one of which is to marry within a year’s time.

Will Dillon reveal Emily’s true identity as a bastard child whose mother ran Philadelphia’s most popular brothel or will Jacob be able to save the day?