Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Julia Justiss | History ReFreshed: The Valentine of Success
Author Guest / February 17, 2021

The month of romance conjures up thoughts of candy, cards, sweethearts, and gifts.  But for women who have historically struggled to make a place for themselves that isn’t defined or restricted by men, a truly sweet treat is to read uplifting stories of women who struggled–and succeeded–in expanding the narrow roles thrust upon them, striking out to master new ventures. In Karen J. Hasley’s WAITING FOR HOPE, a girl from a San Francisco brothel escapes the past to establish a new life and a new identity in the beauty of the wilderness.  After inheriting land and a cabin, Hope Birdwell sets off for 1905 Wyoming Territory, determined to succeed as a homesteader.  There she meets the Davis family, who offer her friendship and assistance, and John Thomas, a man in whom she might just be able to believe.  But when a brutish man from her past tracks her down, threatening all she’s grown to love, it will require all her courage and ingenuity to defeat his menace and emerge victorious. We meet another strong heroine determined to create a new life for herself in LOVE OF FINISHED YEARS by Gregory Erich Phillips.  After arriving at Ellis Island in 1905, German…