Return to the roots of romance legend Janet Dailey’s most beloved family—the Calders—in this first book in a brand new series set on the beautiful, unforgiving American West, where the only thing more vital than hard work is the love of an unforgettable woman. “A sprawling, emotional love story.” —Publishers Weekly The Calder family patriarch is known throughout Montana as a formidable … patriarch is known throughout Montana as a formidable adversary—a force no one in his right mind would cross. But sometimes love can make a man do crazy things . . .
Ambition drove Joe Dollarhide across the parched plains from Fort Sam Houston to Dodge City. One day, he was determined to have a spread every bit as vast and impressive as his employers’. But when a wild stampede separates him from the cattle drive, it is survival that keeps him going when most would have given up. Survival and a burning need to settle the score with Benteen Calder, the cattle boss he used to worship, the man who’d left him for dead…
Hope buoyed Sarah Foxworth when she had just five dollars to her name, traveling the dusty rails where Joe first rescued her from a violent attack, then won her heart as a cowboy in need of redemption. With dreams of becoming a doctor herself one day, she uses all her wits to save her uncle’s medical practice and his reputation. But it’s her own reputation that suffers when she gives birth to an illegitimate baby.
Years later, when Sarah walks into Joe’s world once more, he’s shaken to the core. Her dreams of becoming a doctor are dashed; her only hope is to find a better life for herself and her son—a child there’s no denying is his own. Now a prosperous rancher, Joe yearns to finally make a home with Sarah and their boy. Only Joe’s own road to riches has been strewn with obstacles, some looming even larger than the demons he still struggles against. But life has also shown Joe that nothing worth having ever comes easy. And that Sarah is a woman worth fighting for…
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Not all characters are well developed and the author explains in overly great detail of the plains, the valley, the fields. So much so that it is most of the story.
This was a sweeping story of romance, loss, survival, greed and finally happiness. It spanned many, many years but I was glad that there was a happy ending.
Joe is a young man who just wanted to be a cowboy and during his first cattle drive from Texas to Montana, he was caught in a bad situation and left for dead. When he finally escaped his circumstances, his savior’s weren’t necessarily good for him. Through his experiences, he gained wisdom and knowledge.
He met Sarah early on in the cattle drive and made plans to meet up with her at her final destination when he was coming through on the cattle drive. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond either of their control, that didn’t happen. Their lives continued to intersect with many years in between each meeting but their feelings for one another never really faded.
It was a bit of a long read which matched the saga of the story. It was a good story, although, I didn’t really feel as connected to the characters as I really wanted to be, for some reason. There was a bit of foul language and some coarse talk and one descriptive, while not too graphic, sexual encounter, and an attempted rape scene.
While I liked the story, I didn’t love the story. I was given an arc copy of this book through netgalley and I willingly offer my honest review.
This book is written by Janet Dailey.
It was published by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
This story is one of six in the New American series.
I really enjoyed this book and the settings that were described in it. It has cattle drives, ranches, cattle, horses, cowboys, & family.
Joe DollarHide has spent his life trying to build a ranching empire.
He starts out on one of the first cattle drives to Montana from Texas. He is trying to claim his piece of the American frontier. He hasn’t had time for much of anything else.
A woman from his past comes into town with a young son. Joe is blown away by how much she makes him re-evaluate his whole view of his world. He wonders if it is better to have power or the people you love most in your life.
This time period will have different focus which adds to this read. It becomes refreshing along with the characters and some of the challenges. Joe and Sarah take us on a journey where they become one but are separated due to circumstances. This though will give the two a second chance. Turn the pages and become filled up with this one.
Love the story and the way it intertwined with the original series. The characters were well written and I enjoyed every Minute.
If you read the Calder series, you will welcome the opportunity to return to setting and touch base with the original characters. Janet Daily still writes with an open heart.
Anything Janet Daily is great reading.
A worthy successor to the magnificent Calder Saga! FIVE GLOWING MONTANA STARS!
WHAT A SURPRISE! When I read the blurb for this book, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could Joe Dollarhide possibly be the hero? Didn’t he die on Benteen Calder’s first cattle drive to Montana, when cattle “trampled him into the ground” during a stampede? That’s what we were led to believe in This Calder Range. (A few spoilers ahead, but I won’t reveal the ending.)
It turns out that Benteen–more concerned about rounding up his cattle than searching for a 16-year-old wrangler–just assumed he was dead. So Joe was abandoned, lying half-buried under his dead horse and barely alive. But Joe miraculously survived, and the story of his next twelve years is filled with western adventure, danger, romance, and a burning quest for revenge against Benteen Calder–the wealthy Montana rancher who’d left him to die in a muddy wash on the Kansas prairie.
Joe is determined to reach Montana, but his goal is strewn with obstacles. He digs himself out of the wash, only to be captured by three outlaws who force him to learn “the family trade”–stock rustling. Two years later, Joe is badly wounded when the rustlers attempt to raid a cattle drive. Close to death, he’s taken to Ogallala, where his life is saved by Sarah Foxworth, a medically skilled young woman who hopes to become a doctor. (I loved Sarah, a strong, resilient woman who never gives up despite the grief, poverty, shame and disappointment in her life.)
Inevitably, Joe and Sarah fall in love, but she’s finally been accepted by a medical school in Chicago, and he’s determined to build a ranch of his own in Montana. After one glorious night of passion, Joe leaves Sarah and rides north in a quest for wealth and long-awaited vengeance against the man who betrayed him. Will Joe achieve his goals? Will he and Sarah ever get back together? I’m not saying.
As a big fan of the old Calder Saga, I enjoyed returning to some of the familiar places and characters in that beloved series. But this new book has a gripping plot and memorable characters of its own, and it’s all wrapped up in the descriptive prose, immersive scenery, and realistic dialogue that make Janet Dailey’s books so special. I loved Joe Dollarhide’s rags-to-riches saga, with its second chance romance, secret baby, and a heartwarming conclusion with an astonishing twist I never saw coming! I can’t wait for the next book in this exciting new series. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Calder Brand by Janet Dailey is a historic, cowboy love story, but it is so much more. It is about the American dream. And the dream came true. Joe Dollarhide is on a cattle drive. It’s his first as he is only 16, but he has big dreams. He has gone into town with another drover to pickup merchandise ordered by their boss. With time to kill, he and his friend head to a whorehouse. To be fair, Joe didn’t know where they were going. Before they made it, Joe spied a couple of men attaching a young woman. He ran to her defense and saved her from what would have been an unpleasant situation. She bought him lunch and they made plans to meet up on Oglala, which was her destination, and a stop off for the drive. There was a storm and the cattle got all riled up. Joe got knocked off his horse and landed under him. Joe could not moved at all and reconcile himself to death. Then he heard Jess and Benteen talking. He tried to cry out but they couldn’t hear him. Jesse wanted to come down and check out the area, but Benteen made them move along. If he lived, Joe swore, he would make Benteen pay. As it turns out, Joe lived, but never made it to Oglala to see Sarah. He ended up with a band of rustlers for a while and then with an elderly horse breaker, who treated him like a son. Life moved on.
This is a cross between a regular Western and a romance. Joe went through a lot to end up with his dreams. So did Sarah, although her dreams had to change. They both made good friends. Sarah was resilient, stubborn, smart, and beautiful. Joe was a hard worker and a good man who did his best in every situation. He still hated Benteen but was determined to get him legally. The plot was good. It covered a span of years with both good and bad happening to both Sarah and Joe. From a distance, good things just fell into their laps, the author having left out most of the hard work. There was romance and friendship as well as love of the land and of the animals. It was a heady mix of romance and Old West. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free ARC of Calder Brand by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own and freely given. #netgalley #calderbrand
I was a bit confused at first with this book. Using the Calder name in the title of this book made me think this was a book about the Calder family that we know and love. It was a bit about the Calder family, but not very much. Once I read more, I understood this was a book about an employee of the Calder family who had an unfortunate incident happen to him and he felt he was left behind.
Joe Dollarhide is young and ambitious. He wants what the Calder’s have, a spread of land and a ranch. When he is injured during a stampede on the first cattle drive he was part of at age 16, he is angry. His survival is dependent on the outlaws that found him, and he has to join them. Things were different back then!
He meets and falls in love with Sarah Foxworth, who is on her way to her Uncle, a doctor, since she wants to follow in his footsteps in the medical profession. She nurses him back to health after another incident and they are together and Joe promises Sarah to meet her when he goes through the town where she will meet her uncle.
Time passes, as time does, and Joe is grown and married with a son. Sarah is not able to be a doctor and becomes an outcast. She is asked to come to Montana to be a school teacher.
Anything more will come in the form of spoilers so I don’t want to say more.
The book is very predictable and is a nice way to take an afternoon to yourself if you’re a fan of Western romantic fiction or Janet Dailey. Because I’ve read the first in this series, I’ll probably read the next as well, but I don’t expect it to be profound…more of a nice afternoon read. I enjoyed this book, but it won’t be one I can’t wait to read again!
Calder Brand is a spin-off of the Calder Saga, a wonderful historical romance series! The plot is well-paced and engaging, and the characters are dynamically developed. The story follows Joe Dollarhide from age sixteen to twenty-eight, so you really get to understand him and his motivations. Believing that he was left for dead during a cattle drive, Joe’s need for revenge consumes him. However, he also wants to own his own farm and have a family. He has to reconcile his need for revenge with his goals for a steady future.
Sarah is intelligent and resilient, and she is as determined as Joe. I love that both Joe and Sarah are strong in their desire to achieve their goals, even though so many obstacles stand in their way. Sarah’s life is not easy, and it’s interesting to see how she handles prejudice and the social stigma that comes with being an unwed mother during this time period.
Themes of resilience, revenge, love, and hope are woven throughout the novel, as are messages about courage and fighting for what you love. This is a strong start to what promises to be a wonderful new series, and, though Calder Brand is a spin-off of the Calder Saga, it can totally be read as a standalone. Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
This is a western story about a young cowhand Joe Dollarhide and getting revenge for being left behind gravely wounded from a thunderstorm stampede. He manages to safe himself, but is put in another dangerous situation, The story is about how Joe matures and the choices in life he makes. He falls in love with Sarah at a very young age and knows he is to young, but the paths cross again and again. It was be in the stars. This is a sweet story about basically growing up and learning what is really important in life. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story.
I have read all the books in the original Calder Series by Janet Dailey and was hoping this revival of the series would be as good as the original. I was not disappointed. Left to die by Benteen Calder, Joe Dollarhide is determined to get even. After several years of a dishonest lifestyle Joe comes to the conclusion the only way to settle the score is through legal means. There is plenty of suspense and drama as well as romance. Janet Dailey has a talent for creating a story that transports you to another era. Excellent!
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.