The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper: A Novel [Paperback]

Kathleen Y'Barbo (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 2, 2009

This Wild West adventure just might be the life she was meant to live.

The future is clearly mapped out for New York socialite Eugenia “Gennie” Cooper, but she secretly longs to slip into the boots of her favorite dime-novel heroine and experience just one adventure before settling down. When the opportunity arises, Gennie jumps at the chance to experience the Wild West, but her plans go awry when she is drawn into the lives of silver baron Daniel Beck and his daughter and finds herself caring for them more than is prudent–especially as she’s supposed to go back to New York and marry another man.

As Gennie adapts to the rough-and-tumble world of 1880s Colorado, she must decide whether her future lies with the enigmatic Daniel Beck or back home with the life planned for her since birth. The question is whether Daniel’s past–and disgruntled miners bent on revenge–will take that choice away from her.

 “The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper is a fast-paced story full of fun, action, drama, and love.”
–Mary Connealy, author of Calico Canyon, Petticoat Ranch, and Gingham Mountain
            
“If you loved Cathy Marie Hake, give yourself a treat with The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper.”
–Lauraine Snelling, author of the Red River Series and One Perfect Day

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Kathleen Y’Barbo’s The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper is a fast-paced story full of fun, action, drama, and love.”
– Mary Connealy, author of Calico Canyon, Petticoat Ranch, and Gingham Mountain

“A fun read. Delightful, engaging, charming, and yes, funny. Humor in the characters, especially Miss Eugenia Cooper, humor in the events, as she dreams of and heads on an adventure in the west. I thoroughly enjoyed this romp of a read. If you loved Kathy Marie Hake, give yourself a treat with The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper.”
–Lauraine Snelling, author of the Red River Series, Daughters of Blessing series, and One Perfect Day

“Take one spirited young woman seeking adventure–with a dime novel heroine as her role model–and add a lonely man determined not to lose his heart again. Stir in the excitement of an Old West setting, and you have a recipe for success. The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper is an absolute delight! Kathleen Y’Barbo’s writing sparkles like the clear, blue Colorado skies.”
–Carol Cox, author of A Bride So Fair and A Test of Faith

“Eugenia Flora Cooper has her Mae Winslow, but Kathleen Y’Barbo is my Woman of the West. In The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper, Kathleen takes you by the hand on the first page and draws you into a chase every bit as merry as any Mae Winslow adventure story. Before you realize it’s happening, you find yourself in places you’re reluctant to leave, among characters so genuine they only lack flesh to be real.”
–Marcia Gruver, author of the Texas Fortunes series

“The gap between fiction and reality turn out to be much smaller than Eugenia Cooper realizes when she makes a last minute, ill-planned decision to hop a train to Denver in 1880. With excitement, romance, and humor, Kathleen Y’Barbo spins a tale that captures your mind. The author’s enthusiasm for writing spills out of every scene, creating, as it should, enthusiastic readers.”
–Stephen Bly, award-winning western author of over 100 books, including One Step Over the Border, Paperback Writer, and Wish I’d Known You Tears Ago

About the Author

Kathleen Y’Barbo is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than thirty novels, novellas, and young adult books, with more than 850,000 books in print. A graduate of Texas A&M University, she is currently a publicist with Books & Such literary agency. A mother of three grown sons and a teenage daughter, Kathleen makes her home in Houston, Texas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1 Original edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307444740
• ISBN-13: 978-0307444745
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bestselling author Kathleen Y'Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of forty-five novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A certified family law paralegal and former literary publicist, Kathleen has been nominated for a 2013 Career Achievement Award as well a Reader's Choice Award and several Top Picks by Romantic Times magazine.

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and a former member of the Texas Bar Association Paralegal Division, she is a proud military wife and an expatriate tenth-generation Texan cheering on her beloved Texas Aggies from north of the Red River.

To find out more about Kathleen or connect with her through social media, check out her website at www.kathleenybarbo.com.om.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable western romance June 7, 2009

By Harriet Klausner #1 HALL OF FAME

Format:Paperback

Her affluent father arranged almost at her birth for his socialite daughter Eugenia "Gennie" Cooper to marry banker Chandler Dodd. However, though she hides them from her family and fiancé, Gennie has doubts about marriage now. She would like to go on an adventure just like her heroine Mae Winslow in the Dime Novels she loves to read; one perilous adventure before settling down.

In 1880 an opportunity arises for Gennie to go to the Wild West when she allegedly is taking the train to Boston; she leaps at the opportunity by replacing temporally a servant Fiona who was to take care of silver baron Daniel Beck and his daughter Charlotte. After meeting the pair, she falls in love with both. However back home in New York waiting for her is Chandler while here in the Rocky Mountains there is danger from angry miners, his late wife's odious family the Becks, and a probable rejection by Daniel who conceals his nasty past from the easterner he loves.

This is an enjoyable western romance starring an urbanite who proves worthy of her heroine when she goes west. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action though the plot has terrific humorous, poignant and romantic moments. Fans will relish Gennie's excellent adventure as she struggles with choices exponentially made difficult by the obstinate man she loves and her even more stubborn father whom she also loves.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I Loved This Book! October 6, 2011

By Melanie

Format:Paperback

I'm going to be reading 'The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck' soon, so I decided to read 'The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper' by Kathleen Y'Barbo first and then I plan to read 'Anna Finch and the Hired Gun' by Kathleen Y'Barbo.

This is the first book that I've read by Kathleen Y'Barbo, but it reminded me of 'A Lady Like Sarah' by Margaret Brownley which I've recently read. Both books have a historical/western theme.

'The Confidential Life of Eugenia "Gennie" Cooper' is a historical romance book set around 1880. Gennie enjoys reading Mae Winslow, 'Woman of the West' dime novels, but she has to read them under her bed covers for fear that her parents will find out.

'Someday, if Gennie ever had the nerve, she'd just head west down Fifth Avenue and keep walking until she reached South Dakota or Wyoming. Colorado maybe, where she could pan for gold or dig for silver. Maybe save some hapless child or even a whole town from whatever evil preyed upon it. Gennie smiled. Wouldn't that be an adventure?' - Page 3

Finally that day has come.

When Gennie's new chambermaid, Fiona McTaggart, tells Gennie about how Fiona's sister has to leave the man she loves before they can wed - to be the governess of Miss Charlotte Beck - Gennie gets an idea.

Since Gennie will be leaving New York for a month to go visit relatives in Boston, while Gennie's family is on a ship for their silver anniversary; why can't Gennie instead of going to Boston go to Denver, Colorado to be the Charlotte Beck's Governess and get the adventure she's dreamed of. Then once Fiona's sister is married and arrives in Denver, go back home to New York with her need for adventure filled....

The beginning of every chapter begins with a portion of a Mae Winslow 'Woman of the West' story. I found this interesting, because it was like reading two books in one. Mae Winslow story as well as Gennie's story.

Upon arriving in Denver, Gennie realizes that Charlotte Beck is not the sweet child she thought she would be. Instead she's a trouble-maker and thief. Gennie soon realizes this "job" won't be as easy as she first thought.

I found the entire story very charming, humorous, and captivating. Gennie and Daniel Beck's relationship had such depth and layers that I didn't want to stop reading 'The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper'.

I loved how the story unfolded and had many twists that I didn't expect. I am very much looking forward to reading 'Anna Finch and the Hired Gun'. I highly recommend 'The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper'. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful novel~ July 18, 2011

By Susan Snodgrass

Format:Paperback

I read the third book in this series first because I didn't know it was a series,which by the way, was just absolutely wonderful. I knew I had to read another book by this author, so I started at the beginning, even though I thought it wouldn't be great by reading backwards. Was I wrong! This book was absolutely delightful in every respect. Y'Barbo has the unique ability to place her readers slap down right in the middle of her story and make them feel as if they are a fly on the wall during everything that goes on in the book! Daniel Beck is so handsome and exudes such charm and magnetism and Gennie is irrepresible and full of adventure. The romantic scenes will make your heart puddle, too, and there's not one ounce of vulgarity in them. The reader nearly swoons herself when reading them. The spirituality of the books is a big plus to me also. And the little afterword, which I'll keep a secret for this review, was just so sweet!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A flirty Anne of Green Gables-like character--catastrophe lies in her wake October 14, 2009

By Novel Teen

Format:Paperback

In 1880 America, socialite Eugenia Cooper's life is all mapped out, including a marriage to rich banker Chandler Dodd. But this lover or western dime novels longs for an adventure of her own. When the opportunity arises, she jumps a train to Denver, Colorado to pose as a governess for ten-year-old Charlotte Beck. What she discovers in Denver, however, can hardly be called a girl. The grubby thing not only wears britches and refuses to bathe, she stole Eugenia's pocketbook before Eugenia even left the train station.

Then she meets a handsome man at the local store and wonders if this western adventure won't have a little romance. What she didn't expect was that she would be thrust into a scandal that would not only ruin her good name, but that of Charlotte's father, Daniel Beck. What's a girl to do?

Eugenia reminds me of a flirty Anne of Green Gables. She never intends to get herself into such mischief, but time after time, catastrophe lay in her wake. I couldn't help but like her naiveté and root that everything would work out perfectly for her in the end. I didn't much enjoy the excerpts from the Mae Winslow dime novels that started each chapter and stopped reading them about halfway through. I was just so caught up in Eugenia's story that I didn't care a bit about ol' Mae Winslow and her horse Lucky. Still, this is wild west romance fun, so if you like that sort of novel, you must read this one. Fun, fun, fun.