Trailblazer
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
MEET THE HARVEY GIRLS: These real-life pioneering women were symbols of elegance in the wild frontier: taming rough manners, falling in love, and changing the face of the West forever.
Grace Rogers is ready for the adventure of a lifetime. With her family’s farm falling on hard times, she accepts a position with the prestigious Fred Harvey Company and heads for Juniper, New Mexico. There she meets a handsome cowboy who quickly turns her head. Too bad the Harvey Girls are forbidden to marry...
Nick Hopkins has a plan: buy a little land, marry, and raise a family—in that order. But after meeting Grace, he can’t keep away. Their only choice is to marry in secret...but Nick isn’t the only man entranced by Grace’s charms, and this unexpected rival doesn’t plan on taking no for an answer. He will have her, no matter the cost: to Grace, to Juniper, or to the happily ever after Grace and Nick fought so hard to make their own.
Cowboys & Harvey Girls Series:
Trailblazer (Book 1)
Praise for Anna Schmidt:
"Readers wanting a good old fashioned Western romance need look no further than this one." —Dear Author for Last Chance Cowboys: The Drifter
"The perfect read." —RT Book Reviews for Last Chance Cowboys: The Lawman
"A plot twist that will leave readers speechless." —Fresh Fiction for Last Chance Cowboys: The Lawman
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Schmidt (the Last Chance Cowboys series) builds this middling romantic western around strong and plucky farm girl Grace Rogers, who travels to New Mexico to become a Harvey Girl, one of the first waitresses of the Old West. On her way there, she meets Nick Hopkins, a handsome rancher. Harvey Girls aren't allowed to be married, and Grace wants to send money home to her family, but the promise of romance tempts her all the same. Descriptions of Grace's job are the novel's high points, and readers who have worked in restaurants will be able to connect with her plights, such as fending off rude customers and having to learn the job on the fly. Though the romantic plot has a bit of a lackluster start, it develops well. Readers may have to suspend their disbelief when the story acquires a third layer involving attempted rape and murder, and Grace's career falls somewhat by the wayside, but it's easy to identify with Grace's yearning for money, happiness, adventure, independence, and love. Easygoing western romance readers will cheer for this good-hearted heroine to achieve all her dreams.