Three Sisters

Bend, Oregon 1909. The Dashwood sisters find themselves homeless and in poverty after their half-brother cheats them out of their inheritance. Relatives soon rescue the small family and move them to Sisters, which is in the middle of a railroad war between Edward Harriman's Union Pacific and James Hill's Northern Pacific. Soon the girls are settled with jobs fulfilling their interests and education, while Hope gets her dream job as a reporter covering the railroad war. If Jane Austin and Zane Grey could have collaborated on a book, this might have been it.

Cheated out of an inheritance by her brother Anthony, Hope works for William McCarty in his Dry goods store, where she can apply her organizing and writing skills. A few months after her mother's death, Hope is taking a break from work and walks to her gravesite. Stepping off a boardwalk, Hope twists her ankle and is prevented from falling into the street by a handsome and charming young man, Jonathan Willard, who happens to work for the Union Pacific railroad. He helps Hope back to the store where she soon realizes that Bill and Jonathan are enemies and hate each other. Yet Hope is smitten by Willard, even though she doesn't know him or that he isn't what he seems to be. Days later at a party, Hope is introduced to George Putnam, the editor of the Bend Bulletin. Hope manages to convince Putnam to allow her to head out with him into the wilderness to cover the railroad war as a reporter. Now, she can see if she has the talent and the tenacity to become a reporter and help restore her family to normal life. But first Hope will have to negotiate romance, gunplay, and constant work in a dangerous, rough environment, along with the distractions caused by romantic entanglements. Cheated out of an inheritance by their brother Anthony, Hope works for William McCarty in his Dry goods store, where she can apply her organizing and writing skills. A few months after her mother's death, Hope takes a break from work and walks to her gravesite. Stepping off a boardwalk, Hope twists her ankle and is prevented from falling into the street by a handsome and charming young man, Jonathan Willard, who happens to work for the Union Pacific railroad. He helps Hope back to the store where she soon realizes that Bill and Jonathan are enemies and hate each other. Yet Hope is smitten by Willard, though she doesn't know him or that he isn't what he seems. Days later at a party, Hope is introduced to George Putnam, the editor of the Bend Bulletin. Hope manages to convince Putnam to allow her to head out with him into the wilderness to cover the railroad war as a reporter. Now, she can see if she has the talent and the tenacity to become a reporter and help restore her family to normal life. But first Hope will have to negotiate romance, gunplay, and constant work in a dangerous, rough environment, along with the distractions caused by romantic entanglements. If Jane Austin and Zane Grey could have collaborated on a book, this might have been it.

Robert Sablotny is a former railroad engineer, public television producer/director, college professor, and national park ranger. He lives with his wife in central Illinois and is the author of two other novels; Long Way Home and Roman House.