Synopsis

If only the walls could speak…

In one hundred and fifty years, Blake’s Folly, a silver boomtown notorious for its brothels, scarlet ladies, silver barons, speakeasies, and divorce ranches, has become a semi-ghost town. Although the old Mizpah Saloon is still in business, its upper floor is sheathed in dust. But in a room at a long corridor’s end, an adventurer, a beautiful dance girl, and a rejected wife were once caught in a love triangle, and their secret has touched three generations.

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Review

The story of Blake’s Folly, a saloon in the silver mining days, is told in four stories that span generations. The first story is set in the late 1800s and the last in the present and music was always involved in one form or fashion from a piano player to singers.

Silver mining towns popped up everywhere and most eventually became ghost towns. Blake’s Folly was not immune to the transient residents and the times. Mizpah Saloon was more upscale than some of the other saloons and didn’t offer women for the night…not that it might not have happened but it was more about entertaining the men and offering dances to ease their weary minds after long days. There was one room that was used by many throughout the years but the decor never changed. I think this added some charm to the book. The first story spawns future generations that are reflected in the following installments and I enjoyed connecting the dots to see how everyone was related.

The stories are not long so there isn’t a lot of deep character development, but I still enjoyed each one and imagined life in those times. The people were nice and took care of each other whenever possible. They saved women from those trying to control them and found love along the way. It wasn’t an easy task for the men in this book, but they were up to the challenge.

Because the stories center around a town, there are generations of family that intermingle and I loved putting the pieces together of what happened in the previous story and how it tied to the characters in the next especially since there were decades between each one. It was like bringing up fond memories of friends I had lost contact with over the years. Because these are shorter stories, I had more questions than answers, but that just means the author can continue the saga or expand upon one of the generations.

This was a fun book to read and we give it 4 paws up.

About the Author

As far as romance writing goes, I’m somewhat of an anomaly. I love creating stories with original heroines and romantic heroes … but they do tend to be real people. Some have – or have had – fascinating careers as herpetologists, archaeologists, country music singers, relief workers, and translators – but money, expensive cars, and designer clothes have no part in their lives. My men and women tend to be socially responsible, concerned about our planet and its well-being. Some are vegetarian; none drive fast cars or fly off for sunbathing holidays. But that doesn’t make them any less romantic: it’s a question of how we see ourselves. If we care about and love our environment, we want to do as little damage as possible.

I also write stories with an older audience in mind: those forty and over – and that includes baby boomers. There are no unexpected pregnancies in my tales and no hidden babies. When love comes knocking on the door, it is ageless. Take my father’s crony: he married his mistress of forty years when he was 90 years old and she was 89. A week later, they departed on a long voyage across the Great Lakes in his new yacht.

No matter how old they are, my heroes and heroines are comfortable with their age. They take care of themselves, accept their bodies, their wrinkles, and their beautiful silver hair when it appears. They also know that, along with age, they’ve gained experience, character, ideas, and interesting pasts.

Other characters pop up in my stories too, humorous and cranky ones: old-timers who live in the midst of collected junk, cantankerous rotgut brewers, short-order cooks who imagine camouflaged flies, strange and sleepy waitresses, and many small-town busybodies. I just can’t keep these folks out. As soon as I begin to write, here they come, bursting through the literary door. And because I enjoy them all so much, they’re here to stay.

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