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Sable Flanagan
Strikingly beautiful red haired Sable risked everything-for an unknown love. A perilous journey from Old New York around Cape Horn brought her to the gilded shores of San Francisco - lawless boom town of greed and desire. There, rugged men waited to claim brides they had never seen.Lanse Wakefield, a southern gentleman making his fortune in California, saw Sable, and took her as his wife. Through mob violence, disastrous fires, and raging gold fever she was always safe in his arms.Then one rain-lashed night, a notorious man from Sable's past appeared - determined to possess her and destroy Lanse at any cost. But Sable had not endured the dangers of an untamed land to surrender the grandest passion of her life.
394 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 4, 2011
Sable was the adored and slightly pampered daughter of business man Keith Flanagan, but fate takes a few unexpected twists and she finds herself alone in the world and at the mercy of an evil bounder after her virtue. Penniless, Sable finds only one option out of this mess, and that's to sign on as a mail order bride with a group of other women preparing to set sail for San Francisco. Once there, the women find themselves inundated with men hungry for a decent woman to marry, and Sable catches the eye of wealthy business man Lanse Wakefield and they're married on the spot.
That's the basic set-up and I really liked the idea of watching two virtual strangers trying to build a successful marriage, as well as dealing with life in burgeoning San Francisco - the lawlessness, the constant fires and the birth of the vigilante committee in hopes of stopping it all. I've read other books by this author and enjoyed them a lot and always on the hunt for more books set in this period, so I had high hopes going into this one. It really did start out fairly well, but then the very worst thing happened - the Big Misunderstanding. Huge. Stupid. Lame. A Big Misunderstanding of McNaught sized proportions. And completely illogical because no matter how beautiful Sable might be, there is still no logical reason for the person who caused it to have taken such a long journey to get there, nab her and make the long journey back. It's not like there was a great fortune involved FGS.
If you are a die-hard fan of this period and willing to wade through a good 300 pages of Big Misunderstanding to get about five pages of HEA and it lands in your lap, go for it. I recommend giving it a pass, and would recommend Gwen Bristow's awesome Calico Palace for a better representation of this period.
That's the basic set-up and I really liked the idea of watching two virtual strangers trying to build a successful marriage, as well as dealing with life in burgeoning San Francisco - the lawlessness, the constant fires and the birth of the vigilante committee in hopes of stopping it all. I've read other books by this author and enjoyed them a lot and always on the hunt for more books set in this period, so I had high hopes going into this one. It really did start out fairly well, but then the very worst thing happened - the Big Misunderstanding. Huge. Stupid. Lame. A Big Misunderstanding of McNaught sized proportions. And completely illogical because no matter how beautiful Sable might be, there is still no logical reason for the person who caused it to have taken such a long journey to get there, nab her and make the long journey back. It's not like there was a great fortune involved FGS.
If you are a die-hard fan of this period and willing to wade through a good 300 pages of Big Misunderstanding to get about five pages of HEA and it lands in your lap, go for it. I recommend giving it a pass, and would recommend Gwen Bristow's awesome Calico Palace for a better representation of this period.
October 22, 2025
One of the best
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews