Westward
April 5th, 2008 . by LisaWestward by Amanda MacLean is the first in a series of 4 books that start off with sisters Juliana and Callasandra (Callie). Early in the book, their father dies and they learn that because of bad investments, everything he has left the girls is really nothing after the creditors get their money. However, their Uncle Caleb tells Callie, who is 16 and is now his ward that he has plans for her to marry and Juliana, who is 22 that he has a job for her at one of his friends home.
The girls decide this is unacceptable and leave in the middle of the night, taking the riverboat to Missouri with plans to travel west to New Mexico, where Juliana has dreamed of seeing for years after her painting tutor told her about the beauty of the countryside. The girls meet Matthias Graves who becomes very helpful to them, but unbeknownst to them has plans of his own.
Juliana also meets Captain Parker James, the man in charge of the wagon train. He is enamored of Juliana, but also has plans of his own. Juliana and Callie are caught between these two men, set in the backdrop of the annexation of the US from Mexico.
This was a great book and while it was written in 1996, I still couldn’t put it down.
