Description
"Seven years after her rescue...from the outlaw who held her captive for well over a year, Etta [Capstone] still cannot stand a man's touch... She wishes she could accept affection from her rescuer, Harmon Drake, who is willing to continue waiting for her to thaw... Harmon's...campaign to win Etta isn't written as genre readers might expect, but it's effective...and calls to mind the subtle hand of Lorraine Heath's western historicals." Publisher's Weekly ABNA review, 4/18/13"stand-alone Western in classic style...believable characters...a satisfying resolution..." Akron Beacon Journal, 4/12/13A quarter-finalist for Amazon's 2013 Breakthrough Novel of the Year Award Karen J. Hasley grew up in America's heartland. Research into 17th-century female poets showed her the rich treasures in women's lives of the past, and in 2006 Karen's first novel, "Lily's Sister," hit the stands. The rest is -quite literally - history. xa0xa0xa0xa0 Do you recognize these American women? Jane Addams.Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Dr. Alice Hamilton. Dr. Kate W. Barrett. Donaldina Cameron. Gertrude Stein. Mary Cassatt. You'll find them all - and then some -in Karen's books, which intertwine the lives of fictional heroines and historical real-life women so closely and convincingly that you may need to check a history book to figure out which is which. xa0xa0xa0xa0 Hasley's 6-book Laramie Series spans the years between1880 and 1919 with satisfying stories from America's past, each with a competent, courageous woman at its center. The books can stand independently and be enjoyed in any order. One reviewer wrote that "Hasley's impeccable writing" offered a "satisfying read from beginning to end."(ABJ, 2006) xa0xa0xa0xa0 The author's first stand-alone novel "The Dangerous Thaw of Etta Capstone" was a quarter finalist for Amazon's 2013 Breakthrough Novel of the Year, the PW review stating that it was "subtle and effective." "Magnificent Farewell," a second stand-alone novel set during World War One, was a "highly recommended" Finalist in the 2016 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.xa0xa0 xa0xa0xa0xa0 In 2014, Karen offered readers a trio of light-hearted Victorian romances. The Penwarrens Series ~ made up of "Claire, After All," "Listening to Abby," and "Jubilee Rose" ~ is the author's affectionate, admiring homage to Georgette Heyer. xa0xa0xa0xa0 Karen returned to America's heartland in 2017 with the first book of a new series set in 19th-century New Hope, Nebraska. As readers have come to expect, "What We Carry With Us" offers mystery, history,and romance with an engaging, strong-minded woman at its center.Remarkable women. Unforgettable stories.xa0 All in historical settings.
Features & Highlights
- The Dangerous Thaw of Etta Capstone was a quarter-finalist for Amazon's 2013 Breakthrough Novel of the Year Award.“Revenge is very good eaten cold”For most people food serves a purpose and the purpose isn’t complicated. You eat it. But for Etta Capstone it’s not that simple. An excellent cook and the owner of a successful restaurant on the Texas frontier, she’s had years to perfect other uses for food besides the obvious. Food as shield. As wall. As love letter. As peace offering. Food as life—well, half a life, anyway. Etta’s not like other women. She’s been frozen in the past, frozen heart and soul for a long time, captive to memories of unbearable violence. Until suddenly, with the sighting of the man she holds responsible for her painful history, Etta begins to consider the possibility of a more satisfying future. She knows that with a good cooking fire and the steady heat of a patient man’s love, a lot of things are possible—even change, even happiness—and to her way of thinking, all that stands in the way of a bright future is one wicked man, one necessary execution, and lessons in good penmanship. So as a woman used to creating dishes from diverse and rare ingredients, Etta concocts a deadly recipe using just those elements. She knows better than most that life offers few guarantees, and if all it takes to free her from the past is one wicked man, one necessary execution, and lessons in good penmanship, she’ll take the risk and make the effort, no matter who gets burned. Because after years of keeping the fires of love and the warmth of hope at a distance, Etta Capstone is finally ready to thaw.From the Publisher's Weekly ABNA review:"...Etta isn’t written as genre readers might expect, but it’s effective nonetheless and calls to mind the subtle hand of Lorraine Heath’s western historicals."
