A Land to Call Her Own by Julie Pollitt

On what was supposed to be her wedding day Tess Porter left town for Colorado City to live with her estranged father. The man she was to marry was a good man but she really was not in love with him. She arrived in Colorado City by way of the stage coach and her sister and her family was to be her a few days later. As soon as she arrived one bad thing after another happened to her. She did meet Ian Birwell who offered her help and friendship but she did not trust him despite the fact that he was a Christian man. She did not trust him because he used to work for a man that was her father's enemy. I had a hard time liking her a lot of the time because she was so unforgiving, distrustful of everyone and slightly sanctimonious. By the end of the book she did come around after learning some secrets about her past.

I liked the storyline. It kept me engaged wondering if certain people would survive or not. The author did exceptionally well in describing the characters. Tess would come upon unsavory characters and the person would reek of body odor or have yellow or missing teeth. A lady of the night was scantily clad.

I enjoyed some of the background characters and would love to see a sequel with them included. Would love to see some of Tess Porter's family members have their own story or even some of the colorful characters in the town.