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Crossing the Wide Forever
Cody Walsh leaves Arkansas for California. Lured by stories of opportunity, even for women, Cody disguises herself as a man and prepares for the arduous journey west.
Lillie Ellis leaves New York to accept a post as a schoolteacher on the frontier near a small homestead she just inherited from her uncle. Lillie’s ultimate desire is to become a painter, and she hopes the Kansas frontier will offer her the freedom to follow that dream. In the nineteenth-century, a young woman has few options in the East that don’t revolve around marriage and motherhood. Lillie is interested in neither.
Cody rescues Lillie after a chance encounter in Independence, Missouri. Their destinies and desires become entwined as they face the perils of the untamed West. Despite their differences, they discover that love’s uncharted frontier is not for the weak in spirit or the faint of heart.
Lillie Ellis leaves New York to accept a post as a schoolteacher on the frontier near a small homestead she just inherited from her uncle. Lillie’s ultimate desire is to become a painter, and she hopes the Kansas frontier will offer her the freedom to follow that dream. In the nineteenth-century, a young woman has few options in the East that don’t revolve around marriage and motherhood. Lillie is interested in neither.
Cody rescues Lillie after a chance encounter in Independence, Missouri. Their destinies and desires become entwined as they face the perils of the untamed West. Despite their differences, they discover that love’s uncharted frontier is not for the weak in spirit or the faint of heart.
240 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2017
44 people are currently reading
573 people want to read
About the author
Missouri Vaun
24 books142 followersMissouri Vaun is a two-time Golden Crown Literary Society award-winning lesbian romance writer published by Bold Strokes Books. FOREVER'S PROMISE is Vaun's latest, a historical romance. Wes dresses as a man for property rights. Will she risk it all for love?
Vaun spent a large part of her childhood in southern Mississippi, before attending high school in North Carolina and college in Tennessee. Strong connections to her roots in the rural South have been a grounding force throughout her life. Vaun spent twelve years finding her voice working as a journalist in places as disparate as Chicago, Atlanta and Jackson, Miss., all along filing away characters and their stories. Her novels are heartfelt, earthy; speak of loyalty and our responsibility to others.
She and her wife live in Northern California.
Vaun spent a large part of her childhood in southern Mississippi, before attending high school in North Carolina and college in Tennessee. Strong connections to her roots in the rural South have been a grounding force throughout her life. Vaun spent twelve years finding her voice working as a journalist in places as disparate as Chicago, Atlanta and Jackson, Miss., all along filing away characters and their stories. Her novels are heartfelt, earthy; speak of loyalty and our responsibility to others.
She and her wife live in Northern California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
June 6, 2017
3 1/2 Stars. This was a good, historic-fiction, by Vaun. I like how Vaun writes, and I easily got sucked into this story. I am not the biggest historical-fiction fan. I think part of that is because women were treated so badly back then, that it can be hard to read about. Luckily, this was mostly a feel good story, with some romance.
The story is about two mains, Lillie and Cody. Lillie, is well bread and raised in New York. Her uncle dies and left a homestead in Kansas, in her name. Lillie decides she will travel there, to live by herself. Cody is from Arkansas, dealing with an abusive father. She finally has enough and runs off towards California to be with her brothers. Cody has always been lean and tall, not many outward signs she is a woman. Cody dresses in her cousins clothes and pretends to be a man. Lillie and Cody meet on a steamer, and decide being together, would be safer for both of them. Will Lillie and Cody remain friends, or will the sparks surrounding them turn into something more?
I've read other books and seen movies about what it was like during these times of westward expansion. I'm very happy for the most part, this was a feel good story. There is some excitement and danger, but all in all, a happy ending. It gives me hope during these tough times, some gay women still found happiness.
I thought all the traveling aspects were very well done. The wagon train, the steamers, Vaun obviously did her homework. I felt like I was there in the old west. I also thought Vaun did a nice job of putting together a romance, with everything else going on. I was not crazy about the bit of angst towards the end. I figured they had been through enough and didn't need it. But at least it has a happy ending.
I would recommend this to historic-fiction fans, or fans of the old west. Vaun is a good writer, and I always look forward to her books.
An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.
The story is about two mains, Lillie and Cody. Lillie, is well bread and raised in New York. Her uncle dies and left a homestead in Kansas, in her name. Lillie decides she will travel there, to live by herself. Cody is from Arkansas, dealing with an abusive father. She finally has enough and runs off towards California to be with her brothers. Cody has always been lean and tall, not many outward signs she is a woman. Cody dresses in her cousins clothes and pretends to be a man. Lillie and Cody meet on a steamer, and decide being together, would be safer for both of them. Will Lillie and Cody remain friends, or will the sparks surrounding them turn into something more?
I've read other books and seen movies about what it was like during these times of westward expansion. I'm very happy for the most part, this was a feel good story. There is some excitement and danger, but all in all, a happy ending. It gives me hope during these tough times, some gay women still found happiness.
I thought all the traveling aspects were very well done. The wagon train, the steamers, Vaun obviously did her homework. I felt like I was there in the old west. I also thought Vaun did a nice job of putting together a romance, with everything else going on. I was not crazy about the bit of angst towards the end. I figured they had been through enough and didn't need it. But at least it has a happy ending.
I would recommend this to historic-fiction fans, or fans of the old west. Vaun is a good writer, and I always look forward to her books.
An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.
April 17, 2020
The plot was very similar to Jae’s Backwards to Oregon although I didn't like this one as much. I really liked the vivid descriptions of their journey. The romance was sweet. I liked that Cody was shy and Lillie was the more forward of the two. IMO the secret came out way too soon. And what was that ending? Cody just forgot about her sister.
May 16, 2017
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.
In 1856 two women, separately, begin to head west. Lillie Ellis has an inheritance of land that she’s decided, against her mother’s advice/desire, to go assume. She’s setting out from New York, heading to Kansas via St Louis and Independence Missouri. Meanwhile, Cody Walsh cannot take another whipping from her father, and so she’s also going to head west – starting from Arkansas with some vague idea to head off to join her two brothers in California. She’s also planning to head through St. Louis and Independence Missouri.
Lillie is from a higher level of society, a richer tier, though not sure of society position (as in, not sure if they just have money or if they also ‘have a name’). I’ve gotten the impression, right or wrong, that the higher up you go in society/wealth in the 1800s, the fewer ‘rights/privileges/freedoms’ that a woman will be granted. Well, Lillie has a certain greater freedom, due to a somewhat indulgent father (getting a tutor for art and the like). But even with this limited freedom, Lillie still feels both stifled and undermined – because she’s female. She might be allowed to paint, but she’s not going to have a great deal of luck getting past the ‘she’s a female artist’ burden. The land inheritance is Lillie’s breath of fresh air – her chance to have greater freedom, which she leaps upon, though she doesn’t know much about the West, or farming for that matter.
Cody, we learn almost instantly, comes from an average size family, maybe a little small (for a farming family in the 1800s). She has two older brothers and one younger sister. When she was ten, Cody’s mother died. The father, who apparently was a nice enough man before the death, fell apart completely, and crawled into a bottle of whiskey and only comes out to savagely whip his children. The two older brothers have fled to California, but Cody stayed behind to try to raise her, then, four year old sister. The book starts years later (something like 8 or 9 years later, making Cody about 18 or 19 in the book – based entirely on a vague believe that Ellen, the younger sister, is around 12 when Cody finally leaves the small remote isolated farm), and Cody is taking a whipping. Ellen, being clumsy, knocked over papa’s drink. Naturally that calls for a whipping, Cody jumped in front of the whip, but eventually knocks out her father as it’s just too much. She’s off to the west, stopping briefly with her mother’s sister (who lives 2 miles, or so, away who they haven’t seen in about 5 (or is it 9?) years). Up until this point in time, Cody has lived a life of being kind of manly but presenting as a female. The aunt tells Cody that she’d get better luck dressing up in her dead son’s clothing and pretending to be a man. So Cody does. Which is putting things somewhat wrongly – Cody already had had the idea that she might pass herself off as a man, she just hadn’t put that idea into practice.
Eventually Cody and Lillie separately reach St. Louis – and they meet when a stationmaster at the station calls over a young man to help Lillie with her baggage. And no, it is neither love nor lust at first sight. They go their separate ways only to bump into each other again on the steamship heading from St. Louis to Independence. Again they do not instantly attach themselves to each other or find deep longing love/lust, but they do strike up a friendship that very quickly becomes more (and no, I mean becomes a method for both to continue West with the ‘cover’ of the other ).
It’s hard to mention what happens next as I’m on the edge as it is with revealing too much (if I haven’t already crossed over). Everything else I can mention leads directly off of the spoiler above so, can’t mention anything else.
What I can say: As noted, Cody is somewhere around 18 to 19 years old, ‘had no curves to speak of, and she was tall, at the high end of five feet. She’d always kept her hair short too.’ ‘She was eighteen now.’ So, her age is actually mentioned. 18 in 1856. And has no real trouble passing herself off as a man (or at least as a boy, due to lack of facial hair). Lillie, on the other hand is somewhere near her mid-twenties (based on a comment that someone she had meet, Beth, ‘seemed close to her age, maybe a few years older, but definitely still in her mid-twenties.’) So there is an age difference, and a cultural difference involved here.
The book was quite interesting, rich in certain areas, less so in others (ooh, ooh, give me details! . . . um, well, occasionally I rather felt as if I really was there – the muddy rain filled wagon journey, the bouncing train, the smokey air of St. Louis; and . . . um . . . not exactly sure what to put down as ‘less rich’). For a good long while I was thinking that the book was quite strong, quite interesting, but not anything at or above five star. But then I kept reading. And experiencing, and the book really did leave me feeling like it is at about that level – maybe, perchance, 4.75? Maybe lower at 4.66? Somewhere between 4.66 to 4.92.
One of the first things I thought of when I learned of the book, and thought of as I read the book, is that there aren’t exactly many lesbian fiction books involving two women heading west, one of whom has assumed a male persona. The most ‘famous’ example I can think of would be Jae’s Backwards to Oregon, which I’ve also read and enjoyed. So, compare and contrast? Despite the differences in length, some of the back story that ‘Crossing’ provided, isn’t actually in ‘Backwards to Oregon’ – things like the time the ‘woman posing as a man’ didn’t pose as a man. But yes, both books involve one obvious woman, and one woman who dressed up and acted like a man; and both books follow the two women ‘to the west’. And both include . . . the thing I put in spoiler somewhere above. But in many ways the two are completely different books. Though I’m going more by memory as it has been more than three years since I read ‘Backwards’. I’ll just lightly note that the women in Backwards seemed older, to me, and of a . . . ‘lower class’ – at least background wise (since, while the book opens with the ‘man’ being an officer in the military, ‘he’ also was the daughter of a prostitute, and the other main character in Backwards worked as a prostitute). And, um . . . stuff. Heh, just been too long for me to do a compare/contrast. Oh, and .
Enjoyable book. Quite readable. Oh, and, somewhat surprising to me, much sex.
Rating: 4.79
Expected publication: June 20th 2017
May 16 2017
In 1856 two women, separately, begin to head west. Lillie Ellis has an inheritance of land that she’s decided, against her mother’s advice/desire, to go assume. She’s setting out from New York, heading to Kansas via St Louis and Independence Missouri. Meanwhile, Cody Walsh cannot take another whipping from her father, and so she’s also going to head west – starting from Arkansas with some vague idea to head off to join her two brothers in California. She’s also planning to head through St. Louis and Independence Missouri.
Lillie is from a higher level of society, a richer tier, though not sure of society position (as in, not sure if they just have money or if they also ‘have a name’). I’ve gotten the impression, right or wrong, that the higher up you go in society/wealth in the 1800s, the fewer ‘rights/privileges/freedoms’ that a woman will be granted. Well, Lillie has a certain greater freedom, due to a somewhat indulgent father (getting a tutor for art and the like). But even with this limited freedom, Lillie still feels both stifled and undermined – because she’s female. She might be allowed to paint, but she’s not going to have a great deal of luck getting past the ‘she’s a female artist’ burden. The land inheritance is Lillie’s breath of fresh air – her chance to have greater freedom, which she leaps upon, though she doesn’t know much about the West, or farming for that matter.
Cody, we learn almost instantly, comes from an average size family, maybe a little small (for a farming family in the 1800s). She has two older brothers and one younger sister. When she was ten, Cody’s mother died. The father, who apparently was a nice enough man before the death, fell apart completely, and crawled into a bottle of whiskey and only comes out to savagely whip his children. The two older brothers have fled to California, but Cody stayed behind to try to raise her, then, four year old sister. The book starts years later (something like 8 or 9 years later, making Cody about 18 or 19 in the book – based entirely on a vague believe that Ellen, the younger sister, is around 12 when Cody finally leaves the small remote isolated farm), and Cody is taking a whipping. Ellen, being clumsy, knocked over papa’s drink. Naturally that calls for a whipping, Cody jumped in front of the whip, but eventually knocks out her father as it’s just too much. She’s off to the west, stopping briefly with her mother’s sister (who lives 2 miles, or so, away who they haven’t seen in about 5 (or is it 9?) years). Up until this point in time, Cody has lived a life of being kind of manly but presenting as a female. The aunt tells Cody that she’d get better luck dressing up in her dead son’s clothing and pretending to be a man. So Cody does. Which is putting things somewhat wrongly – Cody already had had the idea that she might pass herself off as a man, she just hadn’t put that idea into practice.
Eventually Cody and Lillie separately reach St. Louis – and they meet when a stationmaster at the station calls over a young man to help Lillie with her baggage. And no, it is neither love nor lust at first sight. They go their separate ways only to bump into each other again on the steamship heading from St. Louis to Independence. Again they do not instantly attach themselves to each other or find deep longing love/lust, but they do strike up a friendship that very quickly becomes more (and no, I mean becomes a method for both to continue West with the ‘cover’ of the other ).
It’s hard to mention what happens next as I’m on the edge as it is with revealing too much (if I haven’t already crossed over). Everything else I can mention leads directly off of the spoiler above so, can’t mention anything else.
What I can say: As noted, Cody is somewhere around 18 to 19 years old, ‘had no curves to speak of, and she was tall, at the high end of five feet. She’d always kept her hair short too.’ ‘She was eighteen now.’ So, her age is actually mentioned. 18 in 1856. And has no real trouble passing herself off as a man (or at least as a boy, due to lack of facial hair). Lillie, on the other hand is somewhere near her mid-twenties (based on a comment that someone she had meet, Beth, ‘seemed close to her age, maybe a few years older, but definitely still in her mid-twenties.’) So there is an age difference, and a cultural difference involved here.
The book was quite interesting, rich in certain areas, less so in others (ooh, ooh, give me details! . . . um, well, occasionally I rather felt as if I really was there – the muddy rain filled wagon journey, the bouncing train, the smokey air of St. Louis; and . . . um . . . not exactly sure what to put down as ‘less rich’). For a good long while I was thinking that the book was quite strong, quite interesting, but not anything at or above five star. But then I kept reading. And experiencing, and the book really did leave me feeling like it is at about that level – maybe, perchance, 4.75? Maybe lower at 4.66? Somewhere between 4.66 to 4.92.
One of the first things I thought of when I learned of the book, and thought of as I read the book, is that there aren’t exactly many lesbian fiction books involving two women heading west, one of whom has assumed a male persona. The most ‘famous’ example I can think of would be Jae’s Backwards to Oregon, which I’ve also read and enjoyed. So, compare and contrast? Despite the differences in length, some of the back story that ‘Crossing’ provided, isn’t actually in ‘Backwards to Oregon’ – things like the time the ‘woman posing as a man’ didn’t pose as a man. But yes, both books involve one obvious woman, and one woman who dressed up and acted like a man; and both books follow the two women ‘to the west’. And both include . . . the thing I put in spoiler somewhere above. But in many ways the two are completely different books. Though I’m going more by memory as it has been more than three years since I read ‘Backwards’. I’ll just lightly note that the women in Backwards seemed older, to me, and of a . . . ‘lower class’ – at least background wise (since, while the book opens with the ‘man’ being an officer in the military, ‘he’ also was the daughter of a prostitute, and the other main character in Backwards worked as a prostitute). And, um . . . stuff. Heh, just been too long for me to do a compare/contrast. Oh, and .
Enjoyable book. Quite readable. Oh, and, somewhat surprising to me, much sex.
Rating: 4.79
Expected publication: June 20th 2017
May 16 2017
May 30, 2021
3.8 stars
Very nice historical romance with a little bit of adventure and not much angst. I like reading about women travelling to the West in the 1800 something, especially with a character achieving more freedom by living as a man. This novel played around 1860. One of the characters is from a well to do family and an artist, the other has a background of hardship. They connect while travelling on a boat to go west. Both of them were very likeable. Most supporting characters were nice too. Very nice read, recommend.
Very nice historical romance with a little bit of adventure and not much angst. I like reading about women travelling to the West in the 1800 something, especially with a character achieving more freedom by living as a man. This novel played around 1860. One of the characters is from a well to do family and an artist, the other has a background of hardship. They connect while travelling on a boat to go west. Both of them were very likeable. Most supporting characters were nice too. Very nice read, recommend.
August 16, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. It was written with passion and the adventurous spirit of those who made the journey all those years ago. It is a really enjoyable book and I could not put it down.
There are two main characters. Lillie from New York from a well educated and privileged background inherits her uncle's farm in Kansas and decides to make the journey west to new lands. Cody has a simple life on a farm in Arkansas, after her mother died her father became a violent drunk. So she leaves and asks her aunt to look after her younger sister while she travels west looking for her brother. She also dresses as a man so she can travel easier and find work. They meet in St Louis and decide to marry knowing each was female. Then they continue the arduous journey west to Lillie's farm. That is all you are getting. Want more? Then read it.
What I loved most about this book is the open spaces and freedom that going west gave these settlers. Yes, it must have been very hard. Harder for Lillie than Cody. It took hard work and courage which I think the author portrayed really well. I've read a few lesbian westerns and I would put this right up there with them. I also would not mind a sequel. I think there is more to Lillie and Cody's story to be told.
I think Vaun described the two women well. Lillie being a positive and confident young woman. Cody strong but not having much confidence in herself, probably due to her father's beatings.
This is my first book by this author but I will definitely be looking out for more by her.
Yes I would definitely recommend this book.
*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*
There are two main characters. Lillie from New York from a well educated and privileged background inherits her uncle's farm in Kansas and decides to make the journey west to new lands. Cody has a simple life on a farm in Arkansas, after her mother died her father became a violent drunk. So she leaves and asks her aunt to look after her younger sister while she travels west looking for her brother. She also dresses as a man so she can travel easier and find work. They meet in St Louis and decide to marry knowing each was female. Then they continue the arduous journey west to Lillie's farm. That is all you are getting. Want more? Then read it.
What I loved most about this book is the open spaces and freedom that going west gave these settlers. Yes, it must have been very hard. Harder for Lillie than Cody. It took hard work and courage which I think the author portrayed really well. I've read a few lesbian westerns and I would put this right up there with them. I also would not mind a sequel. I think there is more to Lillie and Cody's story to be told.
I think Vaun described the two women well. Lillie being a positive and confident young woman. Cody strong but not having much confidence in herself, probably due to her father's beatings.
This is my first book by this author but I will definitely be looking out for more by her.
Yes I would definitely recommend this book.
*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*
July 11, 2017
I liked it.
Not much for historic novels but there's just something about the rugged west that draws me. This story was a good one. I really liked how the secret of Cody being a woman was discovered by Lillie early on. It their journey much more enjoyable. I will say that overall the story was lighthearted compared to others ive read like this l, which is why the scene with Beth and Joseph felt out of place. It didn't really add to the story because that wasn't the tone it was set. I will also say that I wished it was longer. The ending climax when Cody and Lillie have their little crisis seemed to be ending of the book...dont worry all is well but what about Ellen? I would have loved an epilogue maybe a year later or something.
Regardless, i enjoyed it. And fans of this genre, meaning Westernish, will enjoy it too...i think...i hope...
Not much for historic novels but there's just something about the rugged west that draws me. This story was a good one. I really liked how the secret of Cody being a woman was discovered by Lillie early on. It their journey much more enjoyable. I will say that overall the story was lighthearted compared to others ive read like this l, which is why the scene with Beth and Joseph felt out of place. It didn't really add to the story because that wasn't the tone it was set. I will also say that I wished it was longer. The ending climax when Cody and Lillie have their little crisis seemed to be ending of the book...dont worry all is well but what about Ellen? I would have loved an epilogue maybe a year later or something.
Regardless, i enjoyed it. And fans of this genre, meaning Westernish, will enjoy it too...i think...i hope...
May 30, 2022
4 stars
A very decent historical western.
Just like Lex Kent wrote when she recommended it to me, it feels a bit like Backwards to Oregon, but (in my opinion) diluted.
Less actual drama and less details but more miscommunication issues.
It's basically a lesbian fairytale but with prairies and horses.
So exactly what I expected
A very decent historical western.
Just like Lex Kent wrote when she recommended it to me, it feels a bit like Backwards to Oregon, but (in my opinion) diluted.
Less actual drama and less details but more miscommunication issues.
It's basically a lesbian fairytale but with prairies and horses.
So exactly what I expected
July 26, 2017
This is the first novel I have read by Missouri Vaun, but I really enjoyed it so I am going to read her other books. I love historical fiction, but I really enjoy this style of historical fiction. The cross dressing women of the frontier always get me. I wish there were more books out there like this one. It is a fast read, and was well written. It was a lot more fiction than historical... so you don't have to worry about reading a historical fiction that ends up reading like a history lesson. The book was a solid read, and even if you do no like historical fiction, you may want to give this one a go. It isn't going to bore you with information.
September 14, 2020
Just an OK book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Some parts I did like very much, but there were many more frustrating parts of started lines of story that never went anywhere, nor were ever expanded upon. Not to mention some plot holes.
Like, Lillie was actually supposed to be accepting a teaching position in the new town she arrived - that never went anywhere and fizzled out entirely. The position itself was perplexing since it appeared her education was in fine art and painting. So one wouldn't have thought she would be capable of being a school teacher with that background, Even in a pioneer town?
Many scenarios like this made me stop and question and scratch my head, snapping me out of the book. None other than her even going to the Kansas pioneering town to begin with, which I get is the whole premise so if that is shaky from the start then I'm just gonna struggle going on, and I did... she was left this land and property by an uncle, and her parents allowed her to take this journey on her own.
On the trek it becomes clear how entirely unprepared she is until she meets Cody who is far more worldly and competent. I just kept wondering how the heck would she had managed to make it there on her own if Cody hadn't came along? Let alone actually become a homesteader. She ended up seeming frivolous and spoiled to me. Spending her days painting while Cody did all the farm work. lol.
Although, I must confess, I did enjoy the connection between her and Cody.
Cody I liked a lot. She's living as a man and escaped an abusive father. She left her little sister, Ellen, behind at an Aunts and mentions several times wanting to bring her out when they can. This never happens. I don't think Cody even mentions it to Lillie? I don't recall a discussion on it.
I liked that the 'secret' of her hiding her gender wasn't huge between the couple, she tells Lillie up front when she realizes there is attraction there, so everything is out in the open and known before a marriage proposal is struck.
For people who are supposed to be roughing it on the open prairie, though, they never seemed to go without or have to deal with any real hardship. That could be explained by Lillie's own fortune helping things along, but the situation ends up feeling odd.
There's a bit of a black moment where Lillie goes back to New York for a visit and to sell and share her paintings. She's not told her family about Cody, or their 'marriage' and leaves behind her ring. They had discussed previously them making a good go of it homesteading together there, as husband and wife - but Cody has abandonment issues, and they had constantly fought about the future together, previously. Communication is an issue for them. So it ended up being a tedious continuation of arguments they've already had, and assumptions being made and yaddayaddayadda - but it all works out in the end. But by that point I kinda didn't care.
There are some lovely quotable lines at times, but the questions and disconnect from the story and characters for me was too great to enjoy it fully.
This is my first by Missouri Vaun novel, and I personally loathe unfinished storylines in books, the fact that they didn't tie up those lose ends that were created disappointed me and makes me skeptical of books by this author going forward.
Like, Lillie was actually supposed to be accepting a teaching position in the new town she arrived - that never went anywhere and fizzled out entirely. The position itself was perplexing since it appeared her education was in fine art and painting. So one wouldn't have thought she would be capable of being a school teacher with that background, Even in a pioneer town?
Many scenarios like this made me stop and question and scratch my head, snapping me out of the book. None other than her even going to the Kansas pioneering town to begin with, which I get is the whole premise so if that is shaky from the start then I'm just gonna struggle going on, and I did... she was left this land and property by an uncle, and her parents allowed her to take this journey on her own.
On the trek it becomes clear how entirely unprepared she is until she meets Cody who is far more worldly and competent. I just kept wondering how the heck would she had managed to make it there on her own if Cody hadn't came along? Let alone actually become a homesteader. She ended up seeming frivolous and spoiled to me. Spending her days painting while Cody did all the farm work. lol.
Although, I must confess, I did enjoy the connection between her and Cody.
Cody I liked a lot. She's living as a man and escaped an abusive father. She left her little sister, Ellen, behind at an Aunts and mentions several times wanting to bring her out when they can. This never happens. I don't think Cody even mentions it to Lillie? I don't recall a discussion on it.
I liked that the 'secret' of her hiding her gender wasn't huge between the couple, she tells Lillie up front when she realizes there is attraction there, so everything is out in the open and known before a marriage proposal is struck.
For people who are supposed to be roughing it on the open prairie, though, they never seemed to go without or have to deal with any real hardship. That could be explained by Lillie's own fortune helping things along, but the situation ends up feeling odd.
There's a bit of a black moment where Lillie goes back to New York for a visit and to sell and share her paintings. She's not told her family about Cody, or their 'marriage' and leaves behind her ring. They had discussed previously them making a good go of it homesteading together there, as husband and wife - but Cody has abandonment issues, and they had constantly fought about the future together, previously. Communication is an issue for them. So it ended up being a tedious continuation of arguments they've already had, and assumptions being made and yaddayaddayadda - but it all works out in the end. But by that point I kinda didn't care.
There are some lovely quotable lines at times, but the questions and disconnect from the story and characters for me was too great to enjoy it fully.
This is my first by Missouri Vaun novel, and I personally loathe unfinished storylines in books, the fact that they didn't tie up those lose ends that were created disappointed me and makes me skeptical of books by this author going forward.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2019
Historical fiction novels are one of my favorite genres. I love to read about history, and I enjoy it even more if there is a romantic element in the tale. The really hard part has been finding good historical fiction/romance books with lesbian main characters. There just aren’t that many out there.
This is why I was so happy to find Crossing The Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun. The story is set in the year 1856 during the westward expansion of the American frontier. The tale is about Cody Walsh and Lillie Ellis. Lillie is headed west to Kansas from New York to live on a homestead she inherited from her uncle. She plans to work as a teacher in the small community nearby. Her dream though, is to become an artist, painting landscapes of the Kansas prairie. Cody is escaping an abusive father in the backwoods of Arkansas and decides that dressing as a man is the best and safest way to travel to California. The two meet briefly in St. Louis, and again on the way to Independence. They decide to work together and help each other on this very dangerous journey.
Missouri Vaun is one of my favorite authors. Something about the way she writes, the flow of her words, just speaks to me. I have enjoyed everything I have read of hers so far, and this book is no different. Her descriptions are so vivid, you can’t help but feel a part of the scene. Her characters are so well-drawn they become real to the reader.
The story itself is not unrealistic. Ms. Vaun did her research on this time period and found that quite a few women dressed as men to make the journey West. Some were escaping abusive husbands or families like Cody. Others were trying to escape arranged marriages. Some women realized this was the safest and easiest way to get jobs and earn money to provide for themselves. Women didn’t have many job opportunities during this period of our history. And of course there were some that wanted to live with the woman they loved, and this was just about the only way.
I will admit I was a bit upset at the end of the book. It has a beautiful ending, don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t want it to end. I wanted to read more about Cody and Lillie. I wanted to see a bit more into their future. I became that invested in these characters.
If you enjoy historical fiction with adventure, beautiful settings, realistic characters, and a lovely romance, then I encourage you to read this book.
This is a customer review and is my honest opinion.
This is why I was so happy to find Crossing The Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun. The story is set in the year 1856 during the westward expansion of the American frontier. The tale is about Cody Walsh and Lillie Ellis. Lillie is headed west to Kansas from New York to live on a homestead she inherited from her uncle. She plans to work as a teacher in the small community nearby. Her dream though, is to become an artist, painting landscapes of the Kansas prairie. Cody is escaping an abusive father in the backwoods of Arkansas and decides that dressing as a man is the best and safest way to travel to California. The two meet briefly in St. Louis, and again on the way to Independence. They decide to work together and help each other on this very dangerous journey.
Missouri Vaun is one of my favorite authors. Something about the way she writes, the flow of her words, just speaks to me. I have enjoyed everything I have read of hers so far, and this book is no different. Her descriptions are so vivid, you can’t help but feel a part of the scene. Her characters are so well-drawn they become real to the reader.
The story itself is not unrealistic. Ms. Vaun did her research on this time period and found that quite a few women dressed as men to make the journey West. Some were escaping abusive husbands or families like Cody. Others were trying to escape arranged marriages. Some women realized this was the safest and easiest way to get jobs and earn money to provide for themselves. Women didn’t have many job opportunities during this period of our history. And of course there were some that wanted to live with the woman they loved, and this was just about the only way.
I will admit I was a bit upset at the end of the book. It has a beautiful ending, don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t want it to end. I wanted to read more about Cody and Lillie. I wanted to see a bit more into their future. I became that invested in these characters.
If you enjoy historical fiction with adventure, beautiful settings, realistic characters, and a lovely romance, then I encourage you to read this book.
This is a customer review and is my honest opinion.
May 21, 2017
So, this is going to end up reading a bit like my review of Divided Nation, United Hearts; if you want to read an old timey western about a woman dressing up as a man to gain her freedom while travelling in a wagon train and then farming, read Backwards to Oregon. Yet again I let myself that another book might get it right and yet again I was wrong.
This starts off quite well, conflict two independent women, the secret's out early but then it loses pace and the happily ever after comes way too soon. While too much angst can be off-putting and completely ruin the dramatic tension, the few bits of attempted drama shoved in towards the end here barely register and for most of the novel I didn't really care too much about Cody and Lillie, mainly because it was blatantly obvious they were always going to be just fine. In contrast I'm still totally in love with both Norah & Luke and would love to read more (hint hint Jae!
This starts off quite well, conflict two independent women, the secret's out early but then it loses pace and the happily ever after comes way too soon. While too much angst can be off-putting and completely ruin the dramatic tension, the few bits of attempted drama shoved in towards the end here barely register and for most of the novel I didn't really care too much about Cody and Lillie, mainly because it was blatantly obvious they were always going to be just fine. In contrast I'm still totally in love with both Norah & Luke and would love to read more (hint hint Jae!
November 18, 2021
A sweet story of two brave women (one disguised as her brother) who 'Go West' during the westward movement in the US (19th century) and learn about their strengths and each other as they go. Nice touch of history combined with the unfolding love story -- and independence -- of the women. I liked the innocence of the two and how the author gradually unfolded them physically, emotionally, socially. I was more than happy to believe that the two strangers who accepted the woman-woman love and helped them along the way, could have existed. No need to think we modern ones are the only progressive people around!
This book set an easy pace that 'felt' like what I envision that experience would have been like, but it never lagged or got boring for me.
If you like sweet stories, this one's a winner.
This book set an easy pace that 'felt' like what I envision that experience would have been like, but it never lagged or got boring for me.
If you like sweet stories, this one's a winner.
May 27, 2025
4 Stars
I came in this situation with bias because I love frontier cross dressing women. This genre just satisfies me in a way no other genre does.
Crossing the Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun is as historical fiction about two women trying to forge a life in their own terms in a time when being a woman was a disadvantage.
Setting - with these types of books, the setting is quite important to establish the time and place. Wide open spaces, rolling planes, a few to no trees, etc. Missouri Vaun had setting in the bag. The author painted the setting vividly and it was easy to navigate America in the 1800’s thanks to their exceptional writing skills.
Characters - the main characters were set-up to come from opposite sides of society’s spectrum. Cody, the salt of the earth sorts with a difficult upbringing but strove to be better than her past. And then we have Lizzie who’s brought up in high society New York, a painter and has never worked a hard day’s labour in her life but is willing to learn, wants to break free from expectations and wants independence from any man. The perfect set-up for a cute blossoming romance.
Of course with the frontier setting comes the ever so adorable misogynistic men. It’s funny how the author showed how they threaten women whether they be highbrow or the philistine sorts. The author showed how women had to literally carve their way into existence and survival during those times because they had zero advantage because of their sex. I so adore a side character, Betty the midwife, who was such a girl’s girl because she understood how hard it was.
Crossing the Wide Forever could be an acquired taste sort of reading for some but for me it’s one of my all time favourite genres.
I came in this situation with bias because I love frontier cross dressing women. This genre just satisfies me in a way no other genre does.
Crossing the Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun is as historical fiction about two women trying to forge a life in their own terms in a time when being a woman was a disadvantage.
Setting - with these types of books, the setting is quite important to establish the time and place. Wide open spaces, rolling planes, a few to no trees, etc. Missouri Vaun had setting in the bag. The author painted the setting vividly and it was easy to navigate America in the 1800’s thanks to their exceptional writing skills.
Characters - the main characters were set-up to come from opposite sides of society’s spectrum. Cody, the salt of the earth sorts with a difficult upbringing but strove to be better than her past. And then we have Lizzie who’s brought up in high society New York, a painter and has never worked a hard day’s labour in her life but is willing to learn, wants to break free from expectations and wants independence from any man. The perfect set-up for a cute blossoming romance.
Of course with the frontier setting comes the ever so adorable misogynistic men. It’s funny how the author showed how they threaten women whether they be highbrow or the philistine sorts. The author showed how women had to literally carve their way into existence and survival during those times because they had zero advantage because of their sex. I so adore a side character, Betty the midwife, who was such a girl’s girl because she understood how hard it was.
Crossing the Wide Forever could be an acquired taste sort of reading for some but for me it’s one of my all time favourite genres.
May 11, 2017
This was my first Missouri Vaun book and it will not be my last. I have found that I absolutely love stories like these and anyone that likes books such as Jae's Backwards to Oregon will also like this. It was well-written, the pace was great, and the romance was sweet. I'd definitely recommend this for those that like historical fiction romance.
ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review
ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review
June 11, 2017
It is a good book, an enjoyable, plausible story of two women finding each other a long time ago.
It kept me interested from the beginning to the end, but it bothered me that a lot of expressions seemed too modern for the time. For example "she wasn’t sure if the adrenaline charging through her system was because of the fistfight or because she was in Lillie’s cabin." I don't think that adrenaline was commonly known back in the 1800s. There are several similar out of time words, but overall it was an enjoyable book.
ARC copy in return of an honest review.
It kept me interested from the beginning to the end, but it bothered me that a lot of expressions seemed too modern for the time. For example "she wasn’t sure if the adrenaline charging through her system was because of the fistfight or because she was in Lillie’s cabin." I don't think that adrenaline was commonly known back in the 1800s. There are several similar out of time words, but overall it was an enjoyable book.
ARC copy in return of an honest review.
June 4, 2017
3,5 stars
Okay so, first of all, this is the first time I read anything by Missouri Vaun, and so far I'm enjoying her writing. She clearly got some research done because I've never read any historical fiction like this book.
This book tells a story about two female characters so different from one another. One is Cody, a farmer daughter that came from a big lower-class family. She had 2 older brothers that was close in age with her and one younger sister (which was 12 while Cody was 18). Her mother died when she was 10, and her father had become an abusive drunk since. She feared about her sister safety, so she and her sister ran away from home and to her aunt's house. Maybe it was farm life, maybe it was her two older brothers, or maybe it was the lack of mother figures, but everyone had told Cody that she acted and looked like a boy. So when she said she wanted to go searching for her brothers, her aunt suggested she went as a man.
And then there is Lillie, a daughter of a wealthy family. She was a beauty, graceful and slender with all the curves. She was an artist, a painter to be exact. Everything was perfect in her life except she felt like she needed greatly for freedom. So when her uncle died and left his property for her to inherit, she was so excited that she went there to the wild unchaperoned.
Needless to say, they met along the way and then the cover scene happened #grins
Talking about the cover, I absolutely love it!! It captures their relationship perfectly! That is another thing I love:
Whoever the artist that made that cover, you better keep them, Bold Strokes Inc!
As much as I like the plot, I don't really like the pace. This is written in slow pace that makes us think, okay so why nothing happens?? And then there's also the last quarter part of the book. It was dragging okay? No real problem really happened, just small problems that we all know will end well.
I was given the opportunity to read the ARC of this book by NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review
Okay so, first of all, this is the first time I read anything by Missouri Vaun, and so far I'm enjoying her writing. She clearly got some research done because I've never read any historical fiction like this book.
This book tells a story about two female characters so different from one another. One is Cody, a farmer daughter that came from a big lower-class family. She had 2 older brothers that was close in age with her and one younger sister (which was 12 while Cody was 18). Her mother died when she was 10, and her father had become an abusive drunk since. She feared about her sister safety, so she and her sister ran away from home and to her aunt's house. Maybe it was farm life, maybe it was her two older brothers, or maybe it was the lack of mother figures, but everyone had told Cody that she acted and looked like a boy. So when she said she wanted to go searching for her brothers, her aunt suggested she went as a man.
And then there is Lillie, a daughter of a wealthy family. She was a beauty, graceful and slender with all the curves. She was an artist, a painter to be exact. Everything was perfect in her life except she felt like she needed greatly for freedom. So when her uncle died and left his property for her to inherit, she was so excited that she went there to the wild unchaperoned.
Needless to say, they met along the way and then the cover scene happened #grins
Talking about the cover, I absolutely love it!! It captures their relationship perfectly! That is another thing I love:
Whoever the artist that made that cover, you better keep them, Bold Strokes Inc!
As much as I like the plot, I don't really like the pace. This is written in slow pace that makes us think, okay so why nothing happens?? And then there's also the last quarter part of the book. It was dragging okay? No real problem really happened, just small problems that we all know will end well.
I was given the opportunity to read the ARC of this book by NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review
August 25, 2017
Cody is tired of her violent home life so she decides to leave and head west. California seems a lot better than what she was leaving behind. Cody dresses as a man thinking she'd have more freedom and less problems on her journey.
Lillie feels stifled at home. She recently inherited a homestead in Kansas. Lillie looks at this as an opportunity for some independence and freedom from expectations.
I was quickly pulled into the story. The characters were likable and I wanted to learn more about them. I really enjoyed Cody and Lillie' s chemistry. They were so sweet together. I liked that even though both of them didn't understand what was going on between them they both were willing to figure it out together.
The history felt well researched. The story made me want to learn more about the settlers that travelled west during this time. I loved the descriptions of their journey. The information about travelling on the trails was interesting. My favorite part of the trip was definitely the riverboat.
I can't wait to read more by Missouri Vaun in the future.
I received this book from Bold Strokes Books via netgalley for an honest review.
Lillie feels stifled at home. She recently inherited a homestead in Kansas. Lillie looks at this as an opportunity for some independence and freedom from expectations.
I was quickly pulled into the story. The characters were likable and I wanted to learn more about them. I really enjoyed Cody and Lillie' s chemistry. They were so sweet together. I liked that even though both of them didn't understand what was going on between them they both were willing to figure it out together.
The history felt well researched. The story made me want to learn more about the settlers that travelled west during this time. I loved the descriptions of their journey. The information about travelling on the trails was interesting. My favorite part of the trip was definitely the riverboat.
I can't wait to read more by Missouri Vaun in the future.
I received this book from Bold Strokes Books via netgalley for an honest review.
June 10, 2017
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.
It was a quick and easy read but for some reason the main characters did just not seem believable or realistic enough for me. The historic parts seemed well researched and accurate but it is a timeframe I'm not particularly interested in, so the story didn't keep my attention.
It was a quick and easy read but for some reason the main characters did just not seem believable or realistic enough for me. The historic parts seemed well researched and accurate but it is a timeframe I'm not particularly interested in, so the story didn't keep my attention.
May 29, 2017
*ARC provided by Netgalley and the Publisher for an honest review*
Missouri Vaun is an amazing writer and Crossing the Wide Forever is a very well written story. So why have I given it such a low rating? Because it's is an amazing story for another time period.
Lillie and Cody are an adorable couple and I love how aggressive, the city girl, Lillie is and how nervous and shy Cody, it adds to their dynamic.
If this story had been set in a different time period I would have definitely given it 4 - 4.5 stars but because of the era that the author chose, I just couldn't bring myself to believe it.
Everyone was just too accepting of the fact that Cody was disguised as a man and Lillie and Cody's physical relationship just seemed too rushed, which I felt dint fit in with Cody's shy innocent and bashful character.
*3.4 stars
Missouri Vaun is an amazing writer and Crossing the Wide Forever is a very well written story. So why have I given it such a low rating? Because it's is an amazing story for another time period.
Lillie and Cody are an adorable couple and I love how aggressive, the city girl, Lillie is and how nervous and shy Cody, it adds to their dynamic.
If this story had been set in a different time period I would have definitely given it 4 - 4.5 stars but because of the era that the author chose, I just couldn't bring myself to believe it.
Everyone was just too accepting of the fact that Cody was disguised as a man and Lillie and Cody's physical relationship just seemed too rushed, which I felt dint fit in with Cody's shy innocent and bashful character.
*3.4 stars
June 9, 2018
Very good period book
This was a very good book about the 1850s Americans. Cody and Lillie were very good characters. Well depicted and their love story reminded me in some ways to the story of Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller which was set in much earlier times but with similar hardships that women had to go through back then. The author did an excellent job of depicting the prairie they traveled on and the way St. Louis looked like back in the day. Overall, very well done!
This was a very good book about the 1850s Americans. Cody and Lillie were very good characters. Well depicted and their love story reminded me in some ways to the story of Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller which was set in much earlier times but with similar hardships that women had to go through back then. The author did an excellent job of depicting the prairie they traveled on and the way St. Louis looked like back in the day. Overall, very well done!
July 3, 2017
A 2 1/2 star book at best for me with at least half a star for the cover alone, which is far more interesting than the actual story. I've read quite a few historical les-fics set in this rough time period and they're all pretty similar with almost carbon-copy characters. This story didn't do much to differentiate itself from the rest of the pack with the same ho hum characters and a very light story with no real stakes no overcome. For a story about fording the great frontier and staking a claim in the "wilds", there was precious little descriptions of these struggles, save a brief scene or two. Most of this book just takes place during various stages of travel and just plods along with the two leads making moon eyes at each other, while secondary characters tell each how obvious it is that the other likes them. Huge pet peeve of mine! The final act irritated me for a similar reason. All in all, this book was just "okay". It's a light and breezy quick read but not a story that will stay with you for any length of time after finishing.
ARC provided by NetGalley
ARC provided by NetGalley
March 20, 2018
Jae’s Backwards to Oregon is probably one of my top 5 favorite lesfic books, so of course I was going to compare this one to that one. This book didn’t quite meet that bar, but it was still really enjoyable. Definitely my favorite by Vaun so far.
May 30, 2017
I have an appreciation for historical reads with interesting and engaging leading ladies. Cody Walsh is unsure of the fortitude she has yet she knows life can and should be better for her and her sister. Lillie Ellis is naïve to some extent but has a willingness to go after what she wants. The description of the landscape, people and hardships was so well articulated that I felt for and cheered for the leading ladies. The romance was so sweet as Cody and Lillie worked together to overcome various challenges. I also learned about geography, travel, and farming during that time period which in my opinion is a good thing when you can be entertained and learn while reading a good story.
Read received from NetGalley via Bold Strokes Books.
Read received from NetGalley via Bold Strokes Books.
June 19, 2017
Historical fiction and lesbian romance … what a great combination! I loved this book and was caught up in the story immediately. One of my hobbies is genealogy and I have learned that many of my ancestors rode wagon trains in the 1850’s to settle in the Midwest. I experienced an instant melding with the characters.
The two main characters are Lillie and Cody. Lillie is from New York city and longs to be free of the
confines of societal rules for women. She inherits a Kansas farm and heads out west against her parents’ wishes. Cody, on the other hand, is from Missouri and is running from an abusive father. They meet up and join a partnership to help achieve their goals and dreams.
Ms. Vaun did a wonderful job of character development. I loved the way she would not only display the dialogue, but also the mental thoughts of the characters. This mental dialogue allowed the reader to also feel the “real” thoughts and emotions of the characters.
The story was well written and quite conceivable. You can tell that Ms. Vaun did her research work on the development of the story. The scenes where smooth and flowed together in such a way that you wanted to continue reading. At the end of each chapter the story pulled me into the next chapter.
The romance between Lillie and Cody was convincing. Instead of the usual attraction followed by jump in the bed romance, this book was quite the opposite. First there is a connection and then attraction. This allure builds through their day to day interactions and eventually a mutual agreement to help each other to meet their goals. Of course, through this partnership, love grows and with it comes the passion.
I highly recommend this historic romance. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars.
I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.
The two main characters are Lillie and Cody. Lillie is from New York city and longs to be free of the
confines of societal rules for women. She inherits a Kansas farm and heads out west against her parents’ wishes. Cody, on the other hand, is from Missouri and is running from an abusive father. They meet up and join a partnership to help achieve their goals and dreams.
Ms. Vaun did a wonderful job of character development. I loved the way she would not only display the dialogue, but also the mental thoughts of the characters. This mental dialogue allowed the reader to also feel the “real” thoughts and emotions of the characters.
The story was well written and quite conceivable. You can tell that Ms. Vaun did her research work on the development of the story. The scenes where smooth and flowed together in such a way that you wanted to continue reading. At the end of each chapter the story pulled me into the next chapter.
The romance between Lillie and Cody was convincing. Instead of the usual attraction followed by jump in the bed romance, this book was quite the opposite. First there is a connection and then attraction. This allure builds through their day to day interactions and eventually a mutual agreement to help each other to meet their goals. Of course, through this partnership, love grows and with it comes the passion.
I highly recommend this historic romance. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars.
I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.
May 17, 2017
Read this in one go! As far as I know this is the first book I've read by this author. I was kinda nervous to read it. It's similarity to one of my favorite books ever Backwards to Oregon, made me afraid I would be sorely disappointed. Wow was I wrong!
This was a great romance! It was full of wonderful historical detail but so not boring. There is alittle bit of everything-tender romance, sex, angst and just enough drama to keep things interesting.
Very much enjoyed this one!!
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a great romance! It was full of wonderful historical detail but so not boring. There is alittle bit of everything-tender romance, sex, angst and just enough drama to keep things interesting.
Very much enjoyed this one!!
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 30, 2022
I so enjoyed this work of historical fiction as it begins in my beloved home state, and I enjoyed the relationship development between the two mains. They defy convention though in a way, adhere to convention as well, giving me a little hope that LGBTQ people were able to thrive in the 1800s. There were a couple plot holes including Lillie’s teaching post and retrieving Cody’s sister, Ellen. For these unaddressed story lines, had to knock it down a star rating. Here’s hoping for follow up books to take care of those matters, and see Lillie and Cody’s evolution as a homesteading couple.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2022
I loved it! Loved the characters, how their relationship develops and their adventures almost angst free and how the author doesn’t delve on tragedy or extreme violence to show how hard those times were, more if you were a woman. The couple has great chemistry and Lillie is simply delightful, brave and bold; Cody her perfect counterpart.
July 5, 2023
A Story of America
Cody Walsh couldn’t take her father’s beatings any longer. She flees with her sister to their aunt’s home. Leaving her sister with her aunt she dresses as a man and heads west to find her brothers. When she rescues a lady in Independence, Missouri, she finds a friend and some to protect. Lillie Ellis has inherited her uncle’s claim in Kansas. A story of strong women in the journey to the west.
Cody Walsh couldn’t take her father’s beatings any longer. She flees with her sister to their aunt’s home. Leaving her sister with her aunt she dresses as a man and heads west to find her brothers. When she rescues a lady in Independence, Missouri, she finds a friend and some to protect. Lillie Ellis has inherited her uncle’s claim in Kansas. A story of strong women in the journey to the west.
April 13, 2024
Sapphic western! Wagon trains! I really liked this story and how sweet the main couple is! Plus Missouri Vaun is a Mississippi born author so hey neighbor!
Cody is heading west to start over away from her horrible father. Lillie is heading west after inheriting her uncle's homestead. It's chance and a bit of fate that they find each other on the journey west, but it's serendipitous too because these two both really really need each other. And they get married! They're shy and awkward with each other because they really like each other! They set up the homestead together! It's cozy and sweet and just the slightest touch angsty. After all, Cody is dressing like a man for safety reasons (although she comes to realize she feels more at home dressing in men's clothes!) and Lillie is an aspiring artist from an affluent New York family. So there's the perfect mix of "I'm not enough to make this heiress stay" mixed with "can I really give up the safety of my family money to start over out in the wide open?".
I think maybe at times the story dragged a bit because I would sort of expect a climactic moment and then it didn't happen? But that's probably just a me problem!
Also really loved Cody and Lillie's neighbors and the friendship they built!
Cody is heading west to start over away from her horrible father. Lillie is heading west after inheriting her uncle's homestead. It's chance and a bit of fate that they find each other on the journey west, but it's serendipitous too because these two both really really need each other. And they get married! They're shy and awkward with each other because they really like each other! They set up the homestead together! It's cozy and sweet and just the slightest touch angsty. After all, Cody is dressing like a man for safety reasons (although she comes to realize she feels more at home dressing in men's clothes!) and Lillie is an aspiring artist from an affluent New York family. So there's the perfect mix of "I'm not enough to make this heiress stay" mixed with "can I really give up the safety of my family money to start over out in the wide open?".
I think maybe at times the story dragged a bit because I would sort of expect a climactic moment and then it didn't happen? But that's probably just a me problem!
Also really loved Cody and Lillie's neighbors and the friendship they built!
March 23, 2024
Cody Walsh runs away from an abusive father in Arkansas, disguising herself as a man in order to more safely make her way across the country to California. Lillie Ellis leaves her privileged life in New York City to claim her inheritance of a Kansas farm, determined to be independent and make her own way as an artist. When the two encounter each other in Missouri, their feelings for each other may change both of their lives.
This was a really sweet historical romance. The characters were well written, with depth and heart. There was adventure, action, and romance. This is the second title I've read by the author and she has delivered an interesting and entertaining story each time. Definitely worth a read.
*I received a copy of this title from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley.
This was a really sweet historical romance. The characters were well written, with depth and heart. There was adventure, action, and romance. This is the second title I've read by the author and she has delivered an interesting and entertaining story each time. Definitely worth a read.
*I received a copy of this title from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley.
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