It’s 1905 and the new century overflows with opportunities for the smart, the strong, the confident, and the determined. All words that describe Hope Birdwell to a T. Her first twenty years had their share of trouble and torment, but she’s certain the next twenty hold only promise.
Hope leaves a sordid past behind and heads for Wyoming to take up homesteading. Never mind that she’s alone in … alone in the world and has never known a real home in her whole life. Her name is Hope, after all, so what could possibly go wrong?
Well, maybe the long reach of perverted violence from a brute she would rather forget could get in the way of her dreams. Maybe the warmly distracting appeal of friends and community could compromise her independence. Maybe the loving attention of a handsome young man with the unnerving ability to change her opinions about true freedom could cause her to falter. Maybe.
Hope Birdwell knows she is poised at the edge of a bright future, if only she can protect herself and the people she’s grown to love from the dark and deadly menace of her past. Maybe that means she’ll have to risk everything she’s dreamed about and planned for and maybe she won’t succeed. Maybe she’s gone too long without the truth. Maybe.
Hope Birdwell will discover some surprising truths in the wilds of Wyoming. That there’s danger in deception, freedom in sacrifice, and a cost to love. Hard and painful lessons, every one of them, for a modern, single-minded girl. But she’s not one to give up on her dreams no matter what—and her name is Hope, after all.
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Really enjoyed this book, couldn’t put it down L
“Waiting for Hope” by Karen J. Hasley takes us to 1905 San Francisco and introduces us to Hope Birdwell who spends her first fourteen years living with her mother in The Sanctuary, a bordello catering to very affluent men. The piano player teaches her how to read and once she knows what is in books, she hungers for more and more Knowledge of what is outside the bordello. The piano player also teaches her how to do arithmetic and and how to write. Her mother, Bea Birdwell, is the most beautiful and sought after woman at The Sanctuary and owns part of it. She keeps Hope hidden upstairs, away from the men and the goings on in the floors below. Hope only comes down from her room early in the day, when no men are present. At fourteen, Hope has to make the choice of staying at the bordello or becoming a servant. Hope chooses to become a servant in a beautiful mansion, living with the Gallaghers. She spends some of the money she earns on books but saves the rest of it so that one day she will have enough money to buy a home of her own. She meets her mother at Golden Gate Park every other Sunday and gradually notices changes in her mother’s appearance. When Hope is 18, she does not realize that it is their very last meeting. Her mother gives her a deed to land in Laramie, Wyoming, a deed she said she was given years ago by a very kind man. She tells Hope to make something of herself and never tell anyone who her mother is. She also tells her to never trust men. When her mother does not come to the park for their next meeting, Hope goes to the bordello and learns that her mother is not longer living there because she had become addicted to drugs and since she could not longer take care of her appearance, men no longer wanted her. She finds that her mother is living in a bad part of town with an evil man named Ian Fletcher. She finds him and learns that her mother died in the street and that her body was probably found and thrown in the river. Fletcher tells Hope that her mother owed him money. She gives him whatever she has with her and runs away from him. She returns to her job at the Gallagher Nob Hill mansion and remains there for another two years, learning cooking, sewing, cleaning, spinning and weaving. When Hope is 20 years old, Ralph Gallagher dies and leaves each servant $100. She takes her $100 and the money she has saved in the bank, her 1877 land deed made out to Beatrice Birdwell, buys a train ticket to Laramie, leaves the Gallagher house and sets out to get a house of her own. She finds Laramie to be nothing like San Francisco. Her neighbors, the Davises, befriend her immediately and take her to her land. Her land is huge. It contains a run-down shack and is near a river. This will be her new home and her new life. I read the book twice because I enjoyed it so much. It is very easy reading and I am sure other readers will enjoy it as much as I did. They will want to know how a young woman from San Francisco settled in undeveloped Wyoming, made friends, used the small amount of money she had saved to buy whatever she needed and made a new life for herself. Readers will want to know if she ever trusted anyone enough to tell them about her life in San Francisco. I highly recommend this book.
I like pioneer stories about brave women. I admired the main character and how she overcame adversity.
Loved the heroine and what she went through in her adventures in Wyoming.
Quick read. Enjoyable. Ending predictable.
A lesson in striving to make goals for your life and working toward them. There were many lessons to learn along the way.
This is one of those stories that touches the heart and makes you want more.
Loved this book! What a breath of fresh air. Immediately purchased the next book in the series.
Hard for me to get involved in the story but grateful to have persevered. H strong, loyal and protective; h overcoming a difficult past that followed her to her new start. Inspiring to see her determination to start anew and her incorporation into a loving family at last.
I thoroughly enjoyed Waiting for Hope. I couldn’t wait to see what was waiting for her, so I read straight through.
The plot, from Hope living in a bordello to surviving in the Wild West…the setting, 1905 Laramie, Wyoming…the characters, good new friends and bad from her past kept the pages turning for a great goodread.
This book 2, was a great escape and I’m looking for more, book 1 in the Laramie Series is a must read for me next.
Author, Karen J Hasley’s hints of things to come in other books of the series, sounds like more great reads.
It is 1905, and Hope leaves a sordid past behind. She heads for Wyoming to take up homesteading. She is alone in the world, and she has never known a real home. Perverted violence rom a brute she would rather forget could get in her way. The warmth of friends and community could compromise her independence. The loving attention of a handsome young man with the unnerving ability to change her opinions could cause her to falter. Hope knows she is poised at the edge of a bright future. She only needs to protect herself and the people she has grown to love from the dark and deadly menace of her past. Hope learns painful lessons in the wilds of Wyoming: truths like the danger of deception, freedom of sacrifice, and the cost of love. She is not one to give up on her dreams. – Hope is stubborn, courageous, and kind. I admired and liked her. I felt many emotions while reading this excellent novel. The Davis family and Fergus were wonderful characters. This is well written and interesting from start to finish.
Just love this writer’s style and story-telling skills!
Very good
I enjoyed it. Stubborn as nails but strong as anything. Loved the camaraderie portrayed.
It was my first book written by this author. I think she did a splendid job. Wonderful characters inspiring theme and a great plot. I look forward to reading more of her books
It was hard to put it down.
Loved it. Did not want to put it down.
I enjoyed this book so much that I am reading the entire series.
great read.
This is the first book I have read by this author, but I enjoyed it so much, I hope to read others. It’s not an overtly Christian book, but a good clean romance, with some tough-to-read parts. It’s written in first person by a woman who was raised in a brothel, where her mother worked. She is determined to be stronger and goal oriented than her mother was, and is unsure of who she really is.