Blue Horizons

Women of Paragon Springs #2

by Irene Bennett Brown

Book by Brown, Irene Bennett

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance

311 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

I was born in Topeka, Kansas but from the age of nine, Oregon’s Willamette Valley has been home. As a child in one-room schools where I was often the only student in my class, I read, reread, and lived vicariously books like HEIDI, CADDIE WOODLAWN, MAMA’S BANK ACCOUNT, and LITTLE WOMEN. Jo in LITTLE WOMEN and Katrin in MAMA’S BANK ACCOUNT, writing away in their dusky attics, fueled my own dream to be a writer.

Author William Least Heat Moon is surely correct when he says “our passions at age 12 will always be with us and indicate our intended career.”

A writer who can’t not write, I pounded out my first seven books on a manual typewriter borrowed from a neighbor. Payoff for sore arms from throwing the carriage was national publication of my children’s books: in hardcover by Atheneum, E.P. Dutton, Thomas Nelson and David McKay, and in paperback book club editions by Viking Penguin, Scholastic, and Junior Literary Guild. Awards and honors include a Spur Award from Western Writers Of America and nomination for the Mark Twain Award for BEFORE THE LARK, the Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award for significant contribution to children’s literature, and inclusion on several best books’ lists.

THE PLAINSWOMAN, published originally by Ballantine, was my first novel for adults and a Western Writers Of America Spur Award finalist. Other novels include my Women Of Paragon Springs series from Five Star Cengage: LONG ROAD TURNING, BLUE HORIZONS, NO OTHER PLACE, and REAP THE SOUTH WIND. A love story set in Oregon’s Hells Canyon, HAVEN, a single title, was also published by Five Star. My historical novel, THE BARGAIN, was released by my own company, Riveredge Books, in 2007. WHERE GABLE SLEPT, the first book in my Celia Landrey mystery series, followed in 2010 and WHERE DANGER DANCED in 2012. All are now published by Riveredge Books and are also available as Kindle and Nook ebooks.

When not following my favorite pursuits, writing and reading, you’ll find me enjoying travel and exploring historic places with my husband, Bob, a retired research chemist, and spending time with our growing and busy family.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this series! I met the author at the Oregon state fair several years ago and bought the first book. This one, Blue Horizons, came to me through the inter-loan library from Kansas! My first time using this system. I like this series because of the whole homesteading theme - the trials and joys of working the land. I wish I had as much gum shun for my own garden!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Kansas pioneering

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in the series about the women of Paragon Springs (fictional) Kansas. Laced with historic data this is a delightful tale of the trials and joys of settling the "west". Not as sappy as little house on the prairie but just as many perils in every day life.

A delightful read.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2nd in a series about the women of Paragon Springs, a fictional Kansas town. Easy reading, it's like Little House on the Prairie for grownups. I enjoyed learning about the hardships and life in the late 19th century.

[Gerald Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the second of the series about the pioneer women settlers in what became known as Pargon Springs and was equally written and told with the first of the series.