The Lady's Maid (Prairie Dreams) [Paperback]

Susan Page Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2011 | Series: Prairie Dreams (Book 1)

Travel along with Elise Finster and her British mistress, Lady Anne Stone, as they search for the new but missing earl of Stoneford. Determined to follow David Stone’s somewhat cold trail leading to Oregon, greenhorns Elise and Anne secure livestock and supplies to join a wagon train. Will the ladies succeed in their quest or succumb to the malfeasance of the mysterious man dogging their heels? Scout Eb Bentley’s initial disgust with these ill-prepared women eventually turns into admiration for one lady in particular. Can he protect her long enough to win her over, or will prairie dreams turn into a Wild West nightmare?

(20110906)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Davis hits a grand slam with her new historical romance series, Prairie Dreams, which has romance and mystery, with some thrills thrown in.  The characters are well-rounded and the hero has grit and determination.

(Patsy Glans RT Book Reviews )

By mixing regency and western genres, Susan Page Davis has crafted a story that will satisfy the draw to both eras. As the story was set up, before the actual wagon train journey began, I found the story dragged a bit, but as soon as the train left Independence, the story moved right along. It was heart-warming to find two pampered ladies wanting to pull their own weight and not expecting that their rank and privilege would carry them. All the characters are well-rounded with lots of heart, with human-like qualities.

A surprise ending kind of took me aback for a moment but I trust that the next book in the Prairie Dreams series will pick up where The Lady’s Maid left off. Will Lady Anne’s story be the next one to be told? I look forward to the next Prairie Dreams tale.

(Trudy Smith Once Upon a Romance )

Book Description

Lady Anne Stone is determined to find the new Earl of Stoneford who disappeared into America’s Wild West. Her maid, Elise Finster, has resolved to be her chaperone, no matter where Lady Anne goes. Will these women succumb to the dangers of their quest or survive to find dreams fulfilled on the trail?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Books (October 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 161626439X
• ISBN-13: 978-1616264390
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Page Davis writes romantic suspense, historical romance, and mystery. She is a Maine native now living in Kentucky, and a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. Visit her website at www.susanpagedavis.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars English Ladies and Wagon Trains - A Delicate Match, October 3, 2011

By 

Holly Weiss "Crestmont" (NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Lady's Maid (Prairie Dreams) (Paperback)

If you're thinking, "Oh, no, not another wagon train story, " don't worry. Once you dip into the pages of The Lady's Maid by Susan Page Davis, you'll be glad you came along for the ride. Can two refined ladies in hooped, crinoline skirts travel from England, don calico dresses and survive culture shock along the Oregon Trail? Lady Anne Stone and her faithful maid, Elise experience a slow crawl across the American plains, but the reader is treated to a full-clipped story full of pioneer and wagon train details.

The tough male trailblazers doubt if these beautiful, finicky ladies can handle the trip. They break their rule of "no unaccompanied women on the trail" and agree to take them on. Soon Anne and Elise are making open fires, butchering chickens and surviving egg-sized hail.

Anne grows from a tender-skinned aristocrat to a woman determined to find her missing uncle. A glance at the book's title reveals that Elise may turn out to be the more interesting person. Her character is faithful, reliable and sympathetic. You will cheer her resourcefulness. A quotation from the book sums up her character well. "Her dainty fingers grasped his rough hand with a surprisingly strong grip."

Susan Page Davis, a resident of Maine, has researched and published books set from 1689 to the present. A versatile author, she writes Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense and Historical Fiction.

The author's style is to spin the story out largely through dialogue, but with the number of people interacting as they travel west, this technique works. A well-executed romantic tension between Elise and Eb Bentley weaves through the book. Tying up loose ends between Anne and her missing uncle, The Earl of Stoneford might have made the ending stronger.

Barbour Books through Net Galley graciously supplied the advance review copy for my unbiased opinion.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great wagon train story, December 20, 2011

By 

Courtney - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lady's Maid (Prairie Dreams) (Paperback)

When Lady Anne finds herself without parents and no one to take over the family earldom she is suddenly faced with two options; one is to move out of her home and in with her lady maid Elise or the other is to find her father's brother David in America so he can rightfully claim the earldom and help her out! Anne decides she wants to adventure to America along with her lady maid Elise in search of her uncle! No sooner than arriving in America does she learn that Uncle David went west to Oregon. Against everyone's wishes they decide to join the Wagon Train and head to Oregon.

There are many obstacles Lady Anne and Elise face on their journey west including somebody out to beat them to her uncle and learning to cook over an open fire. One of the bet obstacles of the trip is learning to get along with stubborn Eb, one of the train guides. I loved Eb and found his character just charming! He is stubborn, and manly yet very attentive and sweet to Miss Elise.

This was a really sweet historical book that captured my heart from the beginning. I loved the friendship between Lady Anne and Elise. Now that they are in America, no one can know Elise is Lady Anne's servant so they have to pretend to just be close friends. Soon their friendship is strong and close and they value each other more like sisters. The romance was very mellow throughout the story but it was very sweet!

We are left at the end of the book with lots of questions about the fate of Lady Anne and finding her Uncle David. Plus with the added questions of what will now happen to Elise. There is definitely a second book and I can't wait to continue the story!

4.0 out of 5 stars Wished I could rate it a 4.5 star, February 15, 2012

By 

Susan K. Edwards "SusieKE" (Vancouver, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lady's Maid (Prairie Dreams) (Paperback)

Sometimes I get a bit frustrated as I feel that I would like to rate a book MORE than a 4 star (I liked it) and less than a 5 star (I LOVED it) ... sometimes when that happens I go up to a 5 star if I feel it leans more than way and others I have to go down even though I feel it is a disservice to both the book and the author but then I feel that a 5 star would over rate it for the readers that are considering purchase it ... difficult decision ... I really, really enjoyed this book ... but I didn't LOVE it!

It was a fun book ... both in the way it was written, the storyline and honestly, I felt I also got an interesting history lesson which I truly enjoyed. It started out in my opinion a bit slow ... where Lady Anne and her personal maid, Elise made the decision to go and try to find Lady Anne's uncle who was to inherit the title from Lady's Anne's now deceased father, the former Earl. No one knew where he was but last they heard he was in America ... they started out their trip in St. Louis where 5 years ago he was last ... and then tried to follow his trail East. These two very refined lady's that had not done manual labor were all of a sudden put into a position of having to fend for themselves. The wagon trail leader, Rob was much more willing to take on these two young women if they could find a man to help them handle their wagon and other tasks he felt they couldn't handle, whereas his scout, Eb was totally 100% opposed to the idea.

It was interesting knowing these lady's of quality felt that they or at least Lady Anne had to wear a corset on the trail ... I can't imagine how uncomfortable that would have been as well as some of the fabulous gowns. Their everyday gowns were fancier than most of the other women would have ever worn in their whole lives. This of course, cause some discord with some of the other women, not to mention that they couldn't cook over an open fire and didn't know a thing about living on the open trail.

Add into all of this the fact, that someone else was trying to get to Uncle David first as well as romance ... made it an interesting read. I try not to get into too much detail in my reviews even though I know others do ... I appreciate them doing that ... however, I want you, the reader to be able to at least decide if you might like to read the book and like it or not, but not give away the whole book at the same time. Sometimes that is more difficult than others.

I will mention that I am looking very much forward to the next book in the series as Susan Page Davis is so famous for ...she did once again ... the book actually continues in the 2nd book in the series, which I believe is due out in either April or June (I just can't remember ... you can check Amazon.com and preorder as I have done). Then the 3rd book is due out in fall I believe unless I have this mixed up with another series ...hmmm maybe I read too many Christian books! Hope you enjoy this one!