From Philadelphia salons to the untamed western frontier, a woman on the run must reinvent herself to survive…a page-turning Western from NYT bestselling author Patricia Rice In 1820, Alicia Stanford, a wealthy Philadelphia heiress, disappears from society after a devastating scandal. With no one to trust and nowhere to turn, she escapes east coast whispers and expectations by boarding a Mississippi keelboat bound for the raw and lawless frontier. Masquerading as a common traveler, Alicia must shed her aristocratic upbringing and face the stark realities of pioneer life. Navigating dangerous river routes, tangled alliances, and a world ruled by men, she is drawn into a volatile landscape of Native resistance, secret identities, and shifting loyalties. Among the keelboat’s rough crew is a man whose own past is shrouded in mystery—one who recognizes Alicia’s courage, but also the risks she takes by hiding her true self. Caught between the rules of her old world and the brutal freedom of the new, Alicia must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to forge a future on her own terms. A compelling tale of reinvention, survival, and a woman’s fight to define herself in a wilderness that has no use for polite society.
