On Tour 09/08/22-10/08/22 “Hardland” by Ashley E. Sweeney

Release Date: September 13, 2022

About The Book:

Ruby Fortune, once the “Girl Wonder” on the Wild West circuit, finds faces an untenable choice: murder her abusive husband or continue to live with visible and invisible scars. Now a single mother of four boys in her hometown of Jericho, a rough and tumble mining town north of Tucson, Ruby opens a roadside inn to make ends meet.

An affair with a Black miner puts Ruby’s life and livelihood at risk, but it isn’t until his life is threatened—and hers as well—that she considers letting him go and sets in motion a plan to save herself, her inn, and her sons.

Shaped by Sweeney’s thorough research and vivid prose, Hardland delivers a tough, fast talking, shoot-from-the-hip heroine to goes to any length to survive in one of the harshest towns in the American West.

About The Author:

Award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney received the 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for her second novel, Answer Creek, in addition to five more accolades. Her debut novel, Eliza Waite, won the 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award. Both novels placed in the WILLA Literary Award. A native New Yorker, Sweeney spent her early career as a journalist and educator. She lives in Tucson and the Pacific Northwest. Hardland is her third novel and she at work on a fourth. https://ashleysweeneyauthor.com/

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleysweeneyauthor/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ashleysweeneyauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashleysweeney57

Book Blurbs:

“Smart, savage, and bold as brass, Ruby Fortune’s strength and sense of survival explode from the pages of this portrait painted by master storyteller, Ashley E. Sweeney, using the harsh, historical Arizona Territory as her palette. Through captivating and unsettling events, Ruby’s independent spirit, ingenuity, and sheer guts held me hostage from the first vivid page to the last.”—Laurie Buchanan, award-winning author of the Sean McPherson novels

“Ashley E. Sweeney minces few words as she unravels Ruby Fortune’s fate on the early Arizona frontier. Wild west performer, drug addict, ardent lover, mother, and murderer, Ruby’s story is gritty and unabashedly raw. She quickly learns she is sometimes no match for the trials that come her way, but she survives as only she knows how— with her strength, her wit, and her gun. Spellbinding from beginning to end.” — Jan Cleere, Arizona-New Mexico Book Award winner of Military Wives of Arizona

“Ruby is a difficult woman, in the best way possible. She shoots, she kills, she enjoys lustful sex. She survives. She protects her children and the people she loves. Literature is filled with men like this. But there are very few Rubies. Reading her story, I reveled in her life-force. She is a newly described American archetype.”—Shelley Blanton-Stroud, award-winning author of Copy Boy

“Ruby Fortune doesn’t harden her heart or break apart at the cruel hands of domestic abuse, but gains compassion and strength in her ultimate journey to wholeness by fighting for dignity and self-worth, loving fiercely those close and deserving, and by welcoming all to her table and more. A bright and resilient gem of a woman in an unforgiving land.”—Debra Thomas, award-winning author of Luz

“Gritty, honest, and real. Sure to be on everyone’s TBR list.”—Nancy E. Turner, award-winning author of Light Changes Everything

“Ruby Fortune defines grit and grace—she is the heroine we need in these times. Riveting and beautifully told.”—Susan Tweit, award-winning author of Bless the Birds

Bloggers On Tour:

Sept. 8th- Robyn Reads1 https://instagram.com/robyn_reads1

Sept. 9th- She Just Loves Books https://instagram.com/shejustlovesbooks

Sept. 10th- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx

Sept. 12th- David L Morgan https://instagram.com/david_l_morgan

Sept. 13th- Love My Books 2020 https://instagram.com/lovemybooks2020

Sept. 13th-Rozier Reads and Wine https://instagram.com/rozierreadsandwine

Sept. 14th- Novels and Latte Book Club –https://www.facebook.com/groups/357651988042629

Sept. 14th- Reading With Remy https://instagram.com/readingwithremy

Sept. 15th- Sho Biz Reads https://instagram.com/shobizreads

Sept. 16th- Reading With Mere-https://instagram.com/readingwithmere

Sept. 16th-The Page Ladies https://instagram.com/jacleomik33