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Hardland
“One of the top standalone Westerns in 2022.” — True West magazine
Arizona Territory, 1899. Ruby Fortune faces an untenable murder her abusive husband or continue to live with bruises that never heal. One bullet is all it takes. Once known as “Girl Wonder” on the Wild West circuit, Ruby is now a single mother of four boys in her hometown of Jericho, an end-of-the-world mining town north of Tucson. Here, Ruby opens a roadside inn to make ends meet. Drifters, grifters, con men, and prostitutes plow through the hotel’s doors, and their escapades pepper the local newspaper like buckshot. An affair with an African American miner puts Ruby’s life and livelihood at risk, but she can’t let him go. Not until a trio of disparate characters—her dead husband’s sister, a vindictive shopkeeper, and the local mine owner she once swindled—threaten to ruin her does Ruby face the consequences of her choices; but as usual, she does what she needs to in order to provide for herself and her sons.
Set against the breathtaking beauty of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and bursting with Wild West imagery, history, suspense, and adventure, Hardland serves up a tough, fast-talking, shoot-from-the-hip heroine who goes to every length to survive and carve out a life for herself and her sons in one of the harshest places in the American West.
Arizona Territory, 1899. Ruby Fortune faces an untenable murder her abusive husband or continue to live with bruises that never heal. One bullet is all it takes. Once known as “Girl Wonder” on the Wild West circuit, Ruby is now a single mother of four boys in her hometown of Jericho, an end-of-the-world mining town north of Tucson. Here, Ruby opens a roadside inn to make ends meet. Drifters, grifters, con men, and prostitutes plow through the hotel’s doors, and their escapades pepper the local newspaper like buckshot. An affair with an African American miner puts Ruby’s life and livelihood at risk, but she can’t let him go. Not until a trio of disparate characters—her dead husband’s sister, a vindictive shopkeeper, and the local mine owner she once swindled—threaten to ruin her does Ruby face the consequences of her choices; but as usual, she does what she needs to in order to provide for herself and her sons.
Set against the breathtaking beauty of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and bursting with Wild West imagery, history, suspense, and adventure, Hardland serves up a tough, fast-talking, shoot-from-the-hip heroine who goes to every length to survive and carve out a life for herself and her sons in one of the harshest places in the American West.
376 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2022
23 people are currently reading
500 people want to read
About the author
Ashley E. Sweeney
9 books109 followersMulti award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney’s fourth novel, The Irish Girl, released December 2024. Her previous novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek, and Hardland, have won a total of 17 awards, including the Nancy Pearl Book Award, Independent Press Award, WILLA Literary Award, and New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. Sweeney, a native New Yorker and graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, spends winters in Tucson and summers in the Pacific Northwest.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
July 27, 2022
Ruby Fortune makes a split second decision, to save herself and her four young boys, and she shoots her husband Willie dead. He has his hands wrapped around her throat, he’s been violent for years, and Ruby doesn’t want to die, and leave her boys without a mother.
Ruby’s own mother passed away giving birth to her, she was raised by her father Big Burl, and he owned a Wild West Show and Divina his wardrobe assistant took care of her. Ruby was taught to shoot by her dad, Ruby preformed in his carnival show, and she was nicked named “Girl Wonder.”
Ruby lives in Jericho, a mining town north of Tucson, it’s a rough place, and you need to be tough to survive. To provide for her sons she opens a roadhouse, Ruby rents out rooms to miners, cowhands, and drifters. Its hard work, lots of cleaning, washing, cooking, and Ruby becomes famous for her pies.
You don’t want to mess with Ruby, she protects her sons like a lioness, two have disabilities, and she faces challenges head on. Ruby doesn’t care what people think of her, and she’s a rather raunchy woman, and she likes some action between the sheets.
Hardland is set in the Arizona desert, in the late 1800 hundreds and living in the Wild West was hard. The story empathizes how difficult life was for women at the time, many suffered terrible abuse from their own husbands, and while pregnant, they lost babies, with no medical care, and in a remote place.
I received a copy of Hardland by Ashley E. Sweeney from Edelweiss and Ingram Publisher Services in exchange for an honest review. I found Ruby and the narrative of Hardland a little rough around the edges and crude, and I guess the west was like that! My favorite characters were Divina, Wink who did odd jobs for Ruby, and Miss. Stern the school teacher. It’s a shame I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the author's previous novel Answer Creek, I was really looking forward to reading it, and three and a half stars from me.
Ruby’s own mother passed away giving birth to her, she was raised by her father Big Burl, and he owned a Wild West Show and Divina his wardrobe assistant took care of her. Ruby was taught to shoot by her dad, Ruby preformed in his carnival show, and she was nicked named “Girl Wonder.”
Ruby lives in Jericho, a mining town north of Tucson, it’s a rough place, and you need to be tough to survive. To provide for her sons she opens a roadhouse, Ruby rents out rooms to miners, cowhands, and drifters. Its hard work, lots of cleaning, washing, cooking, and Ruby becomes famous for her pies.
You don’t want to mess with Ruby, she protects her sons like a lioness, two have disabilities, and she faces challenges head on. Ruby doesn’t care what people think of her, and she’s a rather raunchy woman, and she likes some action between the sheets.
Hardland is set in the Arizona desert, in the late 1800 hundreds and living in the Wild West was hard. The story empathizes how difficult life was for women at the time, many suffered terrible abuse from their own husbands, and while pregnant, they lost babies, with no medical care, and in a remote place.
I received a copy of Hardland by Ashley E. Sweeney from Edelweiss and Ingram Publisher Services in exchange for an honest review. I found Ruby and the narrative of Hardland a little rough around the edges and crude, and I guess the west was like that! My favorite characters were Divina, Wink who did odd jobs for Ruby, and Miss. Stern the school teacher. It’s a shame I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the author's previous novel Answer Creek, I was really looking forward to reading it, and three and a half stars from me.
July 18, 2022
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, or so I’ve been told. Well, He must’ve had His knickers in a knot when He conjured up Arizona Territory because there’s nothing but dust and cactus and rattlesnakes in these parts–and some of the rattiest men you’ll meet this side of Kingdom Come.
from Hardland by Ashley E. Sweeney
From the first sentence, Ruby Fortune leaps from the page, fully realized and vital, raw, and unpolished, lusty, and strong. To survive in the Arizona Territory in 1899 a woman had to be determined. It was a hard land, and the people had to be just as hard. Especially the women.
Ruby’s father ran a traveling wild west show, returning at the end of the season to the hardscrabble town of Jericho. Ruby was the Girl Wonder, adept with a gun. Her mom had died, then her father, leaving the teenager with one friend in the world, Divina, the show’s seamstress. The show was taken over by Willy Fortune who forced Ruby into a common-law marriage.
Too soon, Willy’s abusive side came out. When he started in on their boys, a confrontation ended in Willy’s death–and Ruby’s deliverance. Ruby had to fend for herself, building a business. It was a hard life. She worked hard, and played hard, and stood up to hard men, suffering more abuse. She tried her best for her sons, watched them leave home to find themselves. She found forbidden love, and accepts the love and protection of the town sheriff. And she had Divina, a surrogate mother.
This is not a romanticized view of the West. It recalled to mind Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry in that way, the hard realities, the deaths, women strong and women victimized and women used. Here, it is the woman who tells her story, and it is a story of a place not a journey. Jericho endures through fires, builds again. It’s a harsh land, but has its beauty. There are men who wish to bring Ruby down, but she also forges unlikely friendships with the Shakespeare quoting alcoholic who protects her and the prim school teacher.
One in three women suffer domestic violence, Sweeney states in her discussion questions at the end of the novel. I would hazard to guess that the statistics were higher a hundred years ago. At the core of Ruby’s story is the impact of abuse on her and her sons, and how Ruby faces life’s challenges and survives. And, in the end, thrives.
I received an ARC in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
from Hardland by Ashley E. Sweeney
From the first sentence, Ruby Fortune leaps from the page, fully realized and vital, raw, and unpolished, lusty, and strong. To survive in the Arizona Territory in 1899 a woman had to be determined. It was a hard land, and the people had to be just as hard. Especially the women.
Ruby’s father ran a traveling wild west show, returning at the end of the season to the hardscrabble town of Jericho. Ruby was the Girl Wonder, adept with a gun. Her mom had died, then her father, leaving the teenager with one friend in the world, Divina, the show’s seamstress. The show was taken over by Willy Fortune who forced Ruby into a common-law marriage.
Too soon, Willy’s abusive side came out. When he started in on their boys, a confrontation ended in Willy’s death–and Ruby’s deliverance. Ruby had to fend for herself, building a business. It was a hard life. She worked hard, and played hard, and stood up to hard men, suffering more abuse. She tried her best for her sons, watched them leave home to find themselves. She found forbidden love, and accepts the love and protection of the town sheriff. And she had Divina, a surrogate mother.
This is not a romanticized view of the West. It recalled to mind Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry in that way, the hard realities, the deaths, women strong and women victimized and women used. Here, it is the woman who tells her story, and it is a story of a place not a journey. Jericho endures through fires, builds again. It’s a harsh land, but has its beauty. There are men who wish to bring Ruby down, but she also forges unlikely friendships with the Shakespeare quoting alcoholic who protects her and the prim school teacher.
One in three women suffer domestic violence, Sweeney states in her discussion questions at the end of the novel. I would hazard to guess that the statistics were higher a hundred years ago. At the core of Ruby’s story is the impact of abuse on her and her sons, and how Ruby faces life’s challenges and survives. And, in the end, thrives.
I received an ARC in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
October 12, 2022
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, or so I’ve been told. Well, He must’ve had His knickers in a knot when He conjured up this corner of Arizona Territory because it’s nothing but dust and cactus and snakes - and some of the rattiest men you’ll meet this side of Kingdom Come”.
Historical fiction author Ashley Sweeney hooks readers right from the first sentence in her newest historical fiction novel Hardland.
Arizona Territory, 1899. In Hardland, we’re introduced to the harsh terrain of Arizona in the turn of the century in the late 1800s/early 1900s and also to the story of Ruby Fortune (nee Barstow), who’s presented as a mother of four trying to survive in the harsh enough terrain, but unfortunately has to deal with a prickly family situation which mind you started out well, but quickly showed its ugly side.
Ashley Sweeney not only created a very compelling story that keeps you absolutely riveted to your seats but is a master of creating such vivid images and of course incorporating impeccable details and research.
As an example of the vivid images mentioned above, I present you with the below:
“Ruby winds her way around cactus thickets, thorny ironwood, and sun-whitened bones of the dead: big horn sheep, mule deer, bobcat and desert hare”.
As mentioned above, the author does her impeccable research as well to fill in the historical feel of the surroundings and to help to make you feel like you’re really in the time period and geography of the novel.
Example:
“Horses have navigated this terrain since Francisco Vasquez de Coronado brought horses north from New Spain in the 1540s. Conquistadors, priests and vaqueros have roamed these Apache hills for centuries”.
As for the characterization of the main character Ruby Fortune, she’s presented in different ways in this novel - as a mother of four sons trying to make her way in the Arizona Territory but also as an entrepreneur. More importantly though, she’s presented as a hard shelled take no “shit” kind of gal . . . As an example, below is a perfect summary of Ruby Fortune:
“Let’s just say you grow scales like a lizard, to survive here. I should know, or my name’s not Ruby Fortune”.
In conclusion, if you’re a fan of historical fiction, tough heroines in tough geographic terrains/time periods and well written, I highly recommend Hardland!
Move on over Wyatt Earp, there’s a new sheriff in town and her name is RUBY FORTUNE!
Historical fiction author Ashley Sweeney hooks readers right from the first sentence in her newest historical fiction novel Hardland.
Arizona Territory, 1899. In Hardland, we’re introduced to the harsh terrain of Arizona in the turn of the century in the late 1800s/early 1900s and also to the story of Ruby Fortune (nee Barstow), who’s presented as a mother of four trying to survive in the harsh enough terrain, but unfortunately has to deal with a prickly family situation which mind you started out well, but quickly showed its ugly side.
Ashley Sweeney not only created a very compelling story that keeps you absolutely riveted to your seats but is a master of creating such vivid images and of course incorporating impeccable details and research.
As an example of the vivid images mentioned above, I present you with the below:
“Ruby winds her way around cactus thickets, thorny ironwood, and sun-whitened bones of the dead: big horn sheep, mule deer, bobcat and desert hare”.
As mentioned above, the author does her impeccable research as well to fill in the historical feel of the surroundings and to help to make you feel like you’re really in the time period and geography of the novel.
Example:
“Horses have navigated this terrain since Francisco Vasquez de Coronado brought horses north from New Spain in the 1540s. Conquistadors, priests and vaqueros have roamed these Apache hills for centuries”.
As for the characterization of the main character Ruby Fortune, she’s presented in different ways in this novel - as a mother of four sons trying to make her way in the Arizona Territory but also as an entrepreneur. More importantly though, she’s presented as a hard shelled take no “shit” kind of gal . . . As an example, below is a perfect summary of Ruby Fortune:
“Let’s just say you grow scales like a lizard, to survive here. I should know, or my name’s not Ruby Fortune”.
In conclusion, if you’re a fan of historical fiction, tough heroines in tough geographic terrains/time periods and well written, I highly recommend Hardland!
Move on over Wyatt Earp, there’s a new sheriff in town and her name is RUBY FORTUNE!
August 9, 2022
Strap on your chaps and holster when you pick up HARDLAND and meet Ruby Fortune. To survive, you’ll need them to fit in with the residents of Jericho. A rough character straight out of a wild west show of the late 1800s, Ruby stares down her fate in life with a pearl-handled, six-shooter pistol in her split skirt waistband. That at-the-ready pistol comes in handy when a rattler raises its head, or your husband raises his hand. Regardless of who’s looking back at you, sometimes you need to “assess the situation and pull the trigger.” And Ruby does.
In HARDLAND, Sweeney confronts the grit in life that rubs us raw. Abusive relationships, swindlers, disease, fire, and brimstone. Nothing is swept under the rug, or out the back door. Ruby’s bravado provides her refuge and strength to survive as a woman and single mother. Life evolves on her terms. She’ll make her own fortune and future, come hell or high-water, right or wrong.
Sweeney’s storytelling immerses readers into the desert with her vivid descriptions of the Arizona Territory at the turn of the twentieth century. The scorching heat pulsates off the ground. The prickly pear stabs with piercing pricks. The outcropping of rocks and heaven-reaching cacti arms silhouette against the beauty of a sky on fire at sunset. Her use of language of the times sounds like a script off the backlot of an epic Western movie. There’s no mincing of words, no polite dialogue, just plenty of cussing to make a Victorian grandmother reach for her smelling-salts.
Ruby Fortune’s story seeks to instill a sense of bravado in all women. For those who need the nudge to hold on and stare their fate in the eyes. Be not afraid. You may be in Hell, but you’re the one who can keep those walls from tumbling down. Assess your situation and pull the trigger to make the change you need.
Brava Ruby. And thank you Ashley for telling this story.
I received an advance reader copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
In HARDLAND, Sweeney confronts the grit in life that rubs us raw. Abusive relationships, swindlers, disease, fire, and brimstone. Nothing is swept under the rug, or out the back door. Ruby’s bravado provides her refuge and strength to survive as a woman and single mother. Life evolves on her terms. She’ll make her own fortune and future, come hell or high-water, right or wrong.
Sweeney’s storytelling immerses readers into the desert with her vivid descriptions of the Arizona Territory at the turn of the twentieth century. The scorching heat pulsates off the ground. The prickly pear stabs with piercing pricks. The outcropping of rocks and heaven-reaching cacti arms silhouette against the beauty of a sky on fire at sunset. Her use of language of the times sounds like a script off the backlot of an epic Western movie. There’s no mincing of words, no polite dialogue, just plenty of cussing to make a Victorian grandmother reach for her smelling-salts.
Ruby Fortune’s story seeks to instill a sense of bravado in all women. For those who need the nudge to hold on and stare their fate in the eyes. Be not afraid. You may be in Hell, but you’re the one who can keep those walls from tumbling down. Assess your situation and pull the trigger to make the change you need.
Brava Ruby. And thank you Ashley for telling this story.
I received an advance reader copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
January 11, 2023
Ruby Fortune, Girl Wonder a sharpshooter in a traveling circus. She marries an abusive man and has 5 sons with him. He gets what’s coming to him. Ruby becomes proprietor of an Inn to make ends meet. She meets all kinds of characters, some good and some not so good. Ruby is oftentimes hot-headed and says whatever she wants. She has trouble holding her tongue! I really enjoyed this refreshing book. The writing is more descriptive than most other historical fiction books I have read.
September 21, 2022
The jig is up for Ruby’s good for nuttin’ bulldozing husband and he’s as good as gone.
Can’t blame her, she taking care of her four kids and it was either him or her. Bye boy bye!
Loved the fighting spirit of Ruby during the time of The Wild West.
Can’t blame her, she taking care of her four kids and it was either him or her. Bye boy bye!
Loved the fighting spirit of Ruby during the time of The Wild West.
September 24, 2022
I just love her novels! She writes with so much detail and historical accuracy, I also really loved the map in the front of this book.
This story follows Ruby Fortune, who grew up in the Wild West as part of the circus her father ran with. Here Ruby learned a lot about life, surviving on her own and that things are never certain and always changing. Having had a difficult life and not making the best of choices, Ruby is finally pushed to the brink when her children are harmed and she does the unthinkable for a woman during that time. But isn’t that what she was best at, having performed night after night after night with the perfect shot. She just put her talent to use in a time of threat. In an instant she has become a single mother of four, and must figure out how to make it on her own and continue to raise her boys and a dream in reach might just accomplish that.
Running the Jericho Inn, Ruby meets all sort of characters and although she has a roof over her head and food is never a worry, there are some who do not like who she has become and how she has gotten where she is. Ruby does her best to do good, but trouble always seems to find her and as her boys get older they start to question Ruby’s choices.
If you have not read any of her novels, I suggest you just buy them all! I love how she writes about strong women in historical fiction who often had to overcome trial and tribulations on their own, while in a man’s world. Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite and the author for the free novel. I cannot wait to see who she writes about next.
This story follows Ruby Fortune, who grew up in the Wild West as part of the circus her father ran with. Here Ruby learned a lot about life, surviving on her own and that things are never certain and always changing. Having had a difficult life and not making the best of choices, Ruby is finally pushed to the brink when her children are harmed and she does the unthinkable for a woman during that time. But isn’t that what she was best at, having performed night after night after night with the perfect shot. She just put her talent to use in a time of threat. In an instant she has become a single mother of four, and must figure out how to make it on her own and continue to raise her boys and a dream in reach might just accomplish that.
Running the Jericho Inn, Ruby meets all sort of characters and although she has a roof over her head and food is never a worry, there are some who do not like who she has become and how she has gotten where she is. Ruby does her best to do good, but trouble always seems to find her and as her boys get older they start to question Ruby’s choices.
If you have not read any of her novels, I suggest you just buy them all! I love how she writes about strong women in historical fiction who often had to overcome trial and tribulations on their own, while in a man’s world. Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite and the author for the free novel. I cannot wait to see who she writes about next.
September 30, 2022
I knew from the first few chapters that I was going to like Ruby Fortune. She’s a survivor; she’s feisty and even a little raunchy too!
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 is a western-like novel but from a woman’s perspective. And life is hard out here in the desert, but even more so for women. But Ruby is a woman, a mother, who is not taking it anymore. She protects her sons but lives as she pleases - no one can tell her any different - not after that one bullet.
Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and @ashleysweeneyauthor for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 is a western-like novel but from a woman’s perspective. And life is hard out here in the desert, but even more so for women. But Ruby is a woman, a mother, who is not taking it anymore. She protects her sons but lives as she pleases - no one can tell her any different - not after that one bullet.
Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and @ashleysweeneyauthor for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.
July 7, 2022
HARDLAND; a Novel
By Ashley E. Sweeney
ISBN 978-1647422332
368 pages
Published by She Writes Press
Reviewed by Charles Johnson
The first chapter (both pages) gives it all: Here’s Ruby Fortune in all her guts and verve, in her own version of style. There’s a driving swagger to the heroine with no apologies to social norms or politically correct ways expected of women of the west. She’s a survivor of a circus world of Wild West shows, abusive roustabouts at carnivals, and a particularly sleazy dude – I use the word ‘survivor’ for a reason that I won’t go into now.
Here's Ruby, a loved but unguided young girl at first, with adventures that would consume any young lady. Not Ruby. She develops into an experienced, wise and controlled figure in her community. Yet, she exudes flaws that may bring her downfall – notice: I said “may”. Various characters in her life pull and push on Ruby’s options. Travel with her great friend? Be the best mother she can be to her troupe of four boys, each flawed in ways that defy parenthood? The miner who meanders through her life? Those who abandon her? The local law official, who seems to waver in so many ways?
Ruby Fortune lives in a dusty, hot, sunburned desert world of a small-time mining town of Arizona in the 1890s. Here she is, having bested previous trials, running a mildly successful business in the scrabbled territories of the mining crazes of the era. Here she is, facing social pressures as she cannot (or refuses to) follow community expectations. It is hot, dusty, snake-bitten town that can’t seem to decide to accept or reject our Ruby. After all, she carries her own firearms at will; she’s nowhere near shy with her opinions and actions. Yet, she reserves moments for those quiet walks (sometimes alone, sometimes with that one special son) in the post-sunset walks in the desert where she reflects on life.
The author Sweeney, by the way, tells Ruby’s story all in present tense, which is an intense exercise for both writer and reader. This review is an attempt at it – I could barely hang on for one page. Ms. Sweeney did it for almost 400 pages.
In the end, the reader learns if Ruby Fortune complacently rides off into the sunset – or with some other distant goal in her sights. The reader, as the first chapter says, is challenged to make the pick as to which occurs.
By Ashley E. Sweeney
ISBN 978-1647422332
368 pages
Published by She Writes Press
Reviewed by Charles Johnson
The first chapter (both pages) gives it all: Here’s Ruby Fortune in all her guts and verve, in her own version of style. There’s a driving swagger to the heroine with no apologies to social norms or politically correct ways expected of women of the west. She’s a survivor of a circus world of Wild West shows, abusive roustabouts at carnivals, and a particularly sleazy dude – I use the word ‘survivor’ for a reason that I won’t go into now.
Here's Ruby, a loved but unguided young girl at first, with adventures that would consume any young lady. Not Ruby. She develops into an experienced, wise and controlled figure in her community. Yet, she exudes flaws that may bring her downfall – notice: I said “may”. Various characters in her life pull and push on Ruby’s options. Travel with her great friend? Be the best mother she can be to her troupe of four boys, each flawed in ways that defy parenthood? The miner who meanders through her life? Those who abandon her? The local law official, who seems to waver in so many ways?
Ruby Fortune lives in a dusty, hot, sunburned desert world of a small-time mining town of Arizona in the 1890s. Here she is, having bested previous trials, running a mildly successful business in the scrabbled territories of the mining crazes of the era. Here she is, facing social pressures as she cannot (or refuses to) follow community expectations. It is hot, dusty, snake-bitten town that can’t seem to decide to accept or reject our Ruby. After all, she carries her own firearms at will; she’s nowhere near shy with her opinions and actions. Yet, she reserves moments for those quiet walks (sometimes alone, sometimes with that one special son) in the post-sunset walks in the desert where she reflects on life.
The author Sweeney, by the way, tells Ruby’s story all in present tense, which is an intense exercise for both writer and reader. This review is an attempt at it – I could barely hang on for one page. Ms. Sweeney did it for almost 400 pages.
In the end, the reader learns if Ruby Fortune complacently rides off into the sunset – or with some other distant goal in her sights. The reader, as the first chapter says, is challenged to make the pick as to which occurs.
July 7, 2022
Ruby has lost both her parents but kept her superstar skills as a sharpshooter performing in traveling show at the turn of the century in Arizona Territory. As an orphan girl, she is coerced to marry Willie and suffers abuse as a result. Life is miserable, but plucky Ruby has had enough when her boys are at risk and shoots Willie. (I thought if she didn't I would have). The journey to raise her boys as a single woman in Jericho Arizona is a tall order that confirms women's struggles date back centuries. Ruby's cleverness in spite of her limited education combined with her character and good heart make for a terrific story. Sweeney's careful research and descriptions of the history of the region combined with complex characters with distinctive voices results in an extraordinary novel. I enjoyed reading an advanced copy.
October 22, 2022
Thank you to Books and Pens on Green Gables & Blue Cottage Agency for the free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, this is quite an enjoyable story. I like reading about people in a time period that I know little about, and I will always root for a strong female main character! I did find myself looking for a bit more drama/intrigue after the first half of the book, and found the ending a bit too neat and tidy, but Ruby is a scrappy character that I enjoyed reading about.
Recommend this one to someone looking for a casual read about the harsh times of the Old West (so glad I didn’t live back then!), a strong female main character who is flawed in her own way (aren’t we all?), and an intriguing story about life, love, and survival.
Overall, this is quite an enjoyable story. I like reading about people in a time period that I know little about, and I will always root for a strong female main character! I did find myself looking for a bit more drama/intrigue after the first half of the book, and found the ending a bit too neat and tidy, but Ruby is a scrappy character that I enjoyed reading about.
Recommend this one to someone looking for a casual read about the harsh times of the Old West (so glad I didn’t live back then!), a strong female main character who is flawed in her own way (aren’t we all?), and an intriguing story about life, love, and survival.
December 3, 2022
Ruby Fortune is a bold, savvy, gutsy, tender, fierce, resilient heroine. I love her! And this book. Ashley Sweeney has imagined Ruby and brought her to life in Hardland, a fast-paced novel of the wild west that is indeed a hard land, especially for a woman. I couldn’t put it down.
February 25, 2023
2.5 stars rounded down. Daughter of a prostitute who died in childbirth, raised by a single father in a traveling circus who dies of a heart-attack when she is 14, married off to an abusive husband, births 5 sons and single-handedly runs a roadhouse in the Sonoran desert. This is the life of protagonist Ruby Fortune. Nothing goes right for Ruby during her difficult life, or for those around her, but she fights with grit and humor along the way.
August 18, 2025
I really loved this character and was easily wrapped up in her story.
January 20, 2023
Tale of strong women scrambling to survive in the early days of Arizona. The author’s descriptions of the desert heat and constant dust put me right in the scene. I could never have the strength of Ruby but I would have liked to have been her neighbor.
October 7, 2022
Gritty, raw and insanely good!
Ruby Fortune's life hasn't been easy. Motherless, she grows up with her father and his wild west traveling show as the "Girl Wonder", a sharp shooter to rival Annie Oakley. She marries young and soon has an abusive husband and four boys to contend with. There's only so much abuse some women can take and Ruby's comfort with her gun comes in handy one night. Now a single mother trying to survive in the harsh Sonoran Desert, she uses her wits and unlawfully gained income to buy a rundown roadhouse. From here the story gets wild as our determined heroine deals with life and love in the American West.
This is one very well crafted story that had me fall in love with Ruby right from the beginning. Her grit and determination are second to none. The descriptive writing puts you right there in the dry, dusty dessert town while the characters come alive within its pages. I haven't read such a captivating, turn of the century, western novel in a long time and I can't recommend this one highly enough.
Thank you to the author, She Writes Press and Suzy Approved Book Tours for the gifted copy and including me on this tour.
Ruby Fortune's life hasn't been easy. Motherless, she grows up with her father and his wild west traveling show as the "Girl Wonder", a sharp shooter to rival Annie Oakley. She marries young and soon has an abusive husband and four boys to contend with. There's only so much abuse some women can take and Ruby's comfort with her gun comes in handy one night. Now a single mother trying to survive in the harsh Sonoran Desert, she uses her wits and unlawfully gained income to buy a rundown roadhouse. From here the story gets wild as our determined heroine deals with life and love in the American West.
This is one very well crafted story that had me fall in love with Ruby right from the beginning. Her grit and determination are second to none. The descriptive writing puts you right there in the dry, dusty dessert town while the characters come alive within its pages. I haven't read such a captivating, turn of the century, western novel in a long time and I can't recommend this one highly enough.
Thank you to the author, She Writes Press and Suzy Approved Book Tours for the gifted copy and including me on this tour.
March 10, 2023
“Hardland” is set in the fictional town of Jericho in the hills above Tucson, Arizona in the early 1900s. Ashley Sweeney is a master at setting a scene—“the world blazed red orange yellow white, colors so brilliant they could goddamn blind you,saguaro,totem,cholla,prickly pear…shoving fist-sized blossoms toward the rising sun.” Sweeney immerses us in this desert world and into the heart of an unforgettable character—Ruby Fortune.
Sharp shooter, renowned pie maker, boarding house manager and admirer of beautiful underwear, Ruby is a lusty woman forced to make hard choices and live with the consequences, surviving as woman alone in the wild American west where she does her best to raise four sons. The prose is crisp, the dialogue snappy and the characters are the kind you can’t stop thinking about. Hardland is the kind of book you can’t put down either.
Bravo Ms. Sweeney!
Sharp shooter, renowned pie maker, boarding house manager and admirer of beautiful underwear, Ruby is a lusty woman forced to make hard choices and live with the consequences, surviving as woman alone in the wild American west where she does her best to raise four sons. The prose is crisp, the dialogue snappy and the characters are the kind you can’t stop thinking about. Hardland is the kind of book you can’t put down either.
Bravo Ms. Sweeney!
April 11, 2023
Hardland by Ashley E. Sweeney was an interesting historical fiction story of Ruby's life from being a child performer in her father's traveling carnival to owning her own roadhouse in Jericho, Arizona Territory. The story takes places in the south and southwest from 1879 to 1907. Ruby was an interesting character that had to overcome challenges and heartache throughout her life. She was quite clever and outwitted her opponents to come out victorious. I enjoyed this book and how the author created so many characters that I loved and despised. The author also described the setting in Arizona Territory with just the right amount of detail that I could just imagine Ruby walking (and sometimes sneaking) around Jericho. As a fan of HF, I enjoyed traveling to this time and place!
September 16, 2022
I have often said I am a fan of flawed characters, because humans are flawed and the more real a character is, the easier it is to come to care for and to see ourselves within them. I definitely connected to Ruby's character. Although I have not gone through the hardships she has, I could empathize with her pain, her struggle, and the strength she gained from those impossible times.
Ruby's character is the driving force of this story. She goes through some unspeakable, unbearable, heart-shattering moments in her life. Moments that would bring most of us to our knees. And Ruby does suffer. She cries and she pleads for life to give her a break. She wonders how she can go on, but then she does. She takes that pain, she molds it, and uses it as a driving force. She makes her own way in the world even as it tries to beat and tamp her down. Her character was so inspiring to travel along with.
Sweeney also did a phenomenal job of discussing those subjects which are difficult, impossible, or even taboo to discuss. She highlighted the struggles of women, the quiet acceptance of domestic abuse, the mistreatment of those because of their race or disabilities, and more. Of course, her story is set in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Our society has grown since then, but a lot of the issues her story brings up are still things we struggle with today.
This story showed a character who is only human doing her best to be a good daughter, friend, mother, and overall person. Ruby wasn't always a perfect character. She made bad choices and did things that she herself wasn't proud of, but, like the rest of us, she learned and persevered. She did what she was able and tried to do right in life. It made her an easily loveable character along with Sweeny's other characters such as Sheldon, Perce, Sam, Wink, and my favorite, Virge.
This book was truly wonderful, and I look forward to reading more of Sweeney's work.
Ruby's character is the driving force of this story. She goes through some unspeakable, unbearable, heart-shattering moments in her life. Moments that would bring most of us to our knees. And Ruby does suffer. She cries and she pleads for life to give her a break. She wonders how she can go on, but then she does. She takes that pain, she molds it, and uses it as a driving force. She makes her own way in the world even as it tries to beat and tamp her down. Her character was so inspiring to travel along with.
Sweeney also did a phenomenal job of discussing those subjects which are difficult, impossible, or even taboo to discuss. She highlighted the struggles of women, the quiet acceptance of domestic abuse, the mistreatment of those because of their race or disabilities, and more. Of course, her story is set in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Our society has grown since then, but a lot of the issues her story brings up are still things we struggle with today.
This story showed a character who is only human doing her best to be a good daughter, friend, mother, and overall person. Ruby wasn't always a perfect character. She made bad choices and did things that she herself wasn't proud of, but, like the rest of us, she learned and persevered. She did what she was able and tried to do right in life. It made her an easily loveable character along with Sweeny's other characters such as Sheldon, Perce, Sam, Wink, and my favorite, Virge.
This book was truly wonderful, and I look forward to reading more of Sweeney's work.
September 22, 2022
𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🌵 love the southwest
😢 need a good cry
👩🏻 would do anything for your children
🎪 have seen a traveling circus show
• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄
After Ruby Fortune kills her no-good-husband in a standoff, she’ll have to raise her four sons up by herself by purchasing an inn with the money from Willie’s mine shares.
• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓
Ruby was raised shooting bullets. As the star of her father’s traveling circus show, Ruby has life made, until an unexpected death leaves her married to Willie Fortune, a drunk and a cheat who beats her. After enduring years of abuse, she finally ends it all with one single bullet. Now, alone with four sons, Ruby must find a way to make ends meet for her and her children. As she navigates the hard life of the southwest, she’ll make and lose friends, enemies, and lovers, and eventually come to find herself after all of the heartache and tears.
• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
This story was amazing, in every way possible. Not only does Ashley do a fantastic job of creating this fictional Jericho, Arizona Territory for us, but she paints a clear image of what a woman endured back in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Ruby was a remarkable character who will stay with me for a long time. I loved her grit and determination. She always did what she wanted, damn the consequences, and I loved her for it. This story felt like it could have been someone’s true memoirs, spilled onto the page for all of us to read. The ending had me sobbing my eyes out as well.
TW: stillborn death, rape, abuse, racism
🌵 love the southwest
😢 need a good cry
👩🏻 would do anything for your children
🎪 have seen a traveling circus show
• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄
After Ruby Fortune kills her no-good-husband in a standoff, she’ll have to raise her four sons up by herself by purchasing an inn with the money from Willie’s mine shares.
• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓
Ruby was raised shooting bullets. As the star of her father’s traveling circus show, Ruby has life made, until an unexpected death leaves her married to Willie Fortune, a drunk and a cheat who beats her. After enduring years of abuse, she finally ends it all with one single bullet. Now, alone with four sons, Ruby must find a way to make ends meet for her and her children. As she navigates the hard life of the southwest, she’ll make and lose friends, enemies, and lovers, and eventually come to find herself after all of the heartache and tears.
• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
This story was amazing, in every way possible. Not only does Ashley do a fantastic job of creating this fictional Jericho, Arizona Territory for us, but she paints a clear image of what a woman endured back in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Ruby was a remarkable character who will stay with me for a long time. I loved her grit and determination. She always did what she wanted, damn the consequences, and I loved her for it. This story felt like it could have been someone’s true memoirs, spilled onto the page for all of us to read. The ending had me sobbing my eyes out as well.
TW: stillborn death, rape, abuse, racism
October 5, 2022
Hardland is one of several books I read recently that topple the Western genre, first by being from a woman’s point of view and by not romanticizing the American Old West. The novel follows the life of Ruby Fortune from her early teens, though her rise as an Annie Oakley type sharpshooter in a Wild West show, losing both her parents, her marriage in her mid teens, the four sons she births, and her survival of the spousal abuse she endures—and its aftermath. Gutsy and painfully aware of her flaws, she cusses like a sailor and carries a two-shot Derringer at her waist. She develops into a hard-working capable woman.
Hardland is set as America’s Gilded Age winds down, in Jericho, a fictional town situated near Phoenix, Arizona. Sweeney captures the heat and dust of the physical locale as well as the mores of a small mining town populated by drunken miners, grifters masquerading as nuns, a prim school marm, and a love-sick marshall—plus the man Ruby falls in love with. Even among these many oddballs, Ruby struggles to fit in as she tries to raise four boys while running a boarding house.
Written in present tense, the novel draws the reader into a most intimate look at a staunch heroine.
Hardland is set as America’s Gilded Age winds down, in Jericho, a fictional town situated near Phoenix, Arizona. Sweeney captures the heat and dust of the physical locale as well as the mores of a small mining town populated by drunken miners, grifters masquerading as nuns, a prim school marm, and a love-sick marshall—plus the man Ruby falls in love with. Even among these many oddballs, Ruby struggles to fit in as she tries to raise four boys while running a boarding house.
Written in present tense, the novel draws the reader into a most intimate look at a staunch heroine.
September 13, 2022
Hardland is my third novel by Ashley Sweeney. I have previously read her Answer Creek and Eliza Waite. Let’s just say I cannot wait for her next book. All three have been excellent reads. Each tale unique in scope but each one featuring a strong female protagonist.
Here Ruby Fortune (gotta love that name) lives her life in Jericho, Arizona, a small but hopefully up and coming town. Her life is not what she hoped it would be – by a long shot. And she is a very good shot as her abusive husband finds out.
Ruby runs an inn where she manages to maintain her relationships (ahem) and provide a place for her grown sons to call home. Nothing in her life is fairy tale but she is content. But forces are gathering that threaten all she holds dear.
As with Ms. Sweeney’s previous books, Hardland is very compelling and fronted by a strong, female protagonist. No one is going to mess with Ruby Fortune and survive to tell the tale. She is not perfect and she has been hurt but she is a survivor.
I have loved every single one of Ms. Sweeney’s books and this one is no exception. You are drawn in from the start and it’s hard to put down once you begin. I cannot wait for the next one to come out.
Here Ruby Fortune (gotta love that name) lives her life in Jericho, Arizona, a small but hopefully up and coming town. Her life is not what she hoped it would be – by a long shot. And she is a very good shot as her abusive husband finds out.
Ruby runs an inn where she manages to maintain her relationships (ahem) and provide a place for her grown sons to call home. Nothing in her life is fairy tale but she is content. But forces are gathering that threaten all she holds dear.
As with Ms. Sweeney’s previous books, Hardland is very compelling and fronted by a strong, female protagonist. No one is going to mess with Ruby Fortune and survive to tell the tale. She is not perfect and she has been hurt but she is a survivor.
I have loved every single one of Ms. Sweeney’s books and this one is no exception. You are drawn in from the start and it’s hard to put down once you begin. I cannot wait for the next one to come out.
January 22, 2023
Hardland tells a gritty tale of a woman’s life at the turn of 20th century Arizona territory. This is a character study more than a plot driven novel. The sense of place and time is superb. A lot of research went into the period details and there’s a nice bibliography at the end of the book. Ruby starts out life traveling with a wild west show, and ends up a business woman in a small mining town modeled on Bisbee and Jerome, AZ. There aren’t many books out there detailing how a woman could forge her way in this place and era. The challenges are not romanticized in this western novel. It’s edgy and often fairly dark, but it’s also inspiring to see Ruby’s fortitude, ingenuity, and resilience play out.
The descriptive writing is excellent and takes you deep into the Sonoran Desert. At times transitions between sections felt abrupt or clunky, but it didn’t, in the end, greatly distract from my enjoyment of the tale. Sensitive readers should know there are graphic portrayals of domestic abuse and other violence, including rape. There are also a small number of sexually graphic scenes.
The descriptive writing is excellent and takes you deep into the Sonoran Desert. At times transitions between sections felt abrupt or clunky, but it didn’t, in the end, greatly distract from my enjoyment of the tale. Sensitive readers should know there are graphic portrayals of domestic abuse and other violence, including rape. There are also a small number of sexually graphic scenes.
June 28, 2022
“Everyone needs to know a woman like Ruby Fortune.”-Books and Pens on Green Gables
“Hardland was my first Ashley E. Sweeney book and
I can’t wait to read more! I loved the main character Ruby Fortune!”
-Books and Pens on Green Gables
Everyone needs to know a woman like Ruby Fortune.
Scared of no one. Scared of nothing. She is taking on the world and doing what is right to make it a better place.
When Ruby has to make a choice to save her own life, she’s left with four boys and needs a way to make a living.
Soon Ruby owns an Inn. She stands firm with the trouble that walks through her doors.
She loves her boys. Is troubled by her boys. Ruby will do anything to protect her town and the people she loves.
Ashley E Sweeney has written SUCH AN ENGAGING book! It was so hard to put Hardland down. It is a look into the 1900s and the lifestyle, danger, and forbidden love of the time.
“A well-written, bold, steely novel that I believe will be a best-seller!”
-Books and Pens on Green Gables
“Hardland was my first Ashley E. Sweeney book and
I can’t wait to read more! I loved the main character Ruby Fortune!”
-Books and Pens on Green Gables
Everyone needs to know a woman like Ruby Fortune.
Scared of no one. Scared of nothing. She is taking on the world and doing what is right to make it a better place.
When Ruby has to make a choice to save her own life, she’s left with four boys and needs a way to make a living.
Soon Ruby owns an Inn. She stands firm with the trouble that walks through her doors.
She loves her boys. Is troubled by her boys. Ruby will do anything to protect her town and the people she loves.
Ashley E Sweeney has written SUCH AN ENGAGING book! It was so hard to put Hardland down. It is a look into the 1900s and the lifestyle, danger, and forbidden love of the time.
“A well-written, bold, steely novel that I believe will be a best-seller!”
-Books and Pens on Green Gables
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October 6, 2022
What I enjoy about novels like Hardland is that it doesn't shy away from the hard stuff. Being a woman in the Wild Wild West was not easy, it was not romantic and to pretend otherwise is just wrong. Hardland follows the story of Ruby Fortune, who's mother dies while giving birth to her and is raised by her father who put on a Wild West Show. She is taught how to shoot and eventually joins the show as "Girl Wonder". In adulthood she married an abusive man who she eventually kills to protect herself and her sons. Hardland is about the extraordinary journey Ruby takes to get survive and build a life for herself and her sons.
I always appreciate a strong female MC. I also appreciate historical accuracy. Hardland has both in spades. Author, Ashley Sweeney, does a great job at balancing the harsh living conditions for women in the early 1900s with developing a story that is not only captivating but also impactful.
Great job by the author!
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy to review.
I always appreciate a strong female MC. I also appreciate historical accuracy. Hardland has both in spades. Author, Ashley Sweeney, does a great job at balancing the harsh living conditions for women in the early 1900s with developing a story that is not only captivating but also impactful.
Great job by the author!
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy to review.
February 16, 2023
Thank you to the author.
Not sure if I ever read a Western book before, but if I did, it didn't stand out like this one did.
Beginning in 1899, Ruby Fortune was a stubborn woman who held her own in life with 4 sons after killing her husband after he abused her time and time again. I loved her grit and determination with everything in life with opening a roadhouse which became eventually a respectable inn in Jerico, Arizona. The author did a wonderful job in describing it even back in the early days.
The characters were all well drawn out and most I enjoyed reading about. Divina was like a mother to her after her mother died in child birth with her. She loved her Pa. She was a sharpshooter when she was young and they traveled with their own traveling circus. The most beloved character to me was Wink, a drunk, who lived in a shack behind her house. He was lovable and quoted Shakespeare all the time and was smart in his own way, especially with Sam, her youngest son, who didn't speak since he saw something that he wasn't supposed to (not spoiling it sorry).
Not sure if I ever read a Western book before, but if I did, it didn't stand out like this one did.
Beginning in 1899, Ruby Fortune was a stubborn woman who held her own in life with 4 sons after killing her husband after he abused her time and time again. I loved her grit and determination with everything in life with opening a roadhouse which became eventually a respectable inn in Jerico, Arizona. The author did a wonderful job in describing it even back in the early days.
The characters were all well drawn out and most I enjoyed reading about. Divina was like a mother to her after her mother died in child birth with her. She loved her Pa. She was a sharpshooter when she was young and they traveled with their own traveling circus. The most beloved character to me was Wink, a drunk, who lived in a shack behind her house. He was lovable and quoted Shakespeare all the time and was smart in his own way, especially with Sam, her youngest son, who didn't speak since he saw something that he wasn't supposed to (not spoiling it sorry).
March 27, 2023
With a name like Ruby Fortune the protagonist’s path should have been laid out, but she’ll have to claim every step herself, in ways I’ve never read about before Hardland. A small beauty with copper hair, Ruby is as tough as the land—she cusses and shoots, rides horses, entertains and cooks, takes no guff from men, though she’s married to a mean one for whom she’ll need an answer, but not before real damage is done to her and her boys. It’s the remarkable cast of characters Ruby surrounds herself with that makes her story sing--Her father Big Burl, her chosen mother who’s a madame named Davina, the harmless, Shakespeare-quoting drunk Wink she puts up in her barn, the law man Sheldon, and the black miner with whom she falls deeply in love, too early for her time. Ruby’s is a thrilling ride across the hard land of Arizona in early 1900s as one woman takes on and tames the West. At least for now. Ashley Sweeney’s third novel is a courageous stunner.
January 7, 2024
Most books you read on the old west are written about men. When they represent women they are not true to life. Life in the desert and the mining camps was difficult and back breaking work. Especially for women. When you read a book that is thoroughly researched and written from the view point of a female, it becomes a treat to read it. This is life at its rawest. It doesn't picture a life as other than what it was. Raw. Wife beating condoned and wide spread. Few if any jobs for law bidding women were available. The law was iffy and did little to protect them. Well worth your time to read. I just spent the best part of the night reading to finish this story The characters will reach out and grab you and hold on. The story is hard to read because of the abuse, the hardship endured, the sadness of the life. Mama bears willing to do anything and everything to protect their children. Even break the law.
January 20, 2023
The Arizona Territory in 1899 is filled with hard men, many of whom are swindlers, cheats, drunks, and criminals, but none are a match for Ruby Fortune. Tough and resilient like the cacti that grow in the hot, dusty desert, Ruby is one of the most badass female characters I've ever encountered. Forced to put an end to her husband's abuse, she must raise her four boys alone while facing new threats from unsavory characters in the mining town of Jericho.
Ashley Sweeney has created such an incredibly complex character in Ruby. She's a compassionate and devoted mother with smarts, guts, and sharpshooting skills that would make any outlaw run in the opposite direction. She's the epitome of female empowerment, and I just love her! Hardland is bold, gritty, and full of unexpected twists and turns, but ultimately, it is a tale of a woman who will not be broken.
Ashley Sweeney has created such an incredibly complex character in Ruby. She's a compassionate and devoted mother with smarts, guts, and sharpshooting skills that would make any outlaw run in the opposite direction. She's the epitome of female empowerment, and I just love her! Hardland is bold, gritty, and full of unexpected twists and turns, but ultimately, it is a tale of a woman who will not be broken.
September 7, 2023
The vivid, tough, hard-earned integrity of character Ruby Fortune (what a name!) clenches the first words of this novel and never lets me go. The backdrop of harsh desert and a beaten down coal mining town in 19th century Arizona mirrors Ruby’s hellbent day-to-day survival instincts. After traveling the country as a star sharpshooter in her father’s cowboy circus, Ruby gets caught in a marriage gone bad after her father dies. The subsequent aftermath kicks off a fast-moving trajectory of suspense, doublecrossing, murder and misdeeds. Through it all Ruby’s gritty determination raises sons, runs a roadhouse, manipulates enemies and finds (of course) impossible love. I wanted to know her. I admire her. Author Sweeney has written a character who knows who she is and won’t let go—no matter the blood and dirt flung at her. Fantastic.
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