The Madam of Purgatory Reach

1870, Philadelphia, USA.

Martha Whitcomb, the wild child of Philadelphia society, is now a grown woman, independent in wealth and in personality. At twenty-three, still unmarried and childless, she is exposed to constant rumors and ridicule, crushed by the ever-increasing weight of the sneers and jibes of her peers, and haunted by the failed engagement to the one who got away. Her dreams of becoming a successful businesswoman are blocked at every turn by the men around her, who are determined to smother the voice of a young woman intruding in their world.

Realizing that she will never fit into the mold already set by society, Martha joins the droves of Americans heading west to the open frontier, a world that appears free from restraints, from convention, and from the expectations she has come to loathe. Upon her arrival to the growing town of Paradise Reach, she believes that she has indeed found her paradise. She soon realizes, however, why this town's inhabitants have dubbed it Purgatory Reach. She quickly learns that the west is free from the suffocating rules because it is a world more focused on immediate survival. It is a world where an insult could quickly escalate to a gunfight in the streets, a dangerous world crawling with outlaws, thieves, liars, and schemers.

One of these outlaws is Jack Gatling, a rancher-turned-gambler. Escaping both demons of his own and the law, Jack came to Paradise Reach in hopes of making his fortune only to find himself focused on staying alive until tomorrow. In Martha, he sees an opportunity of his own, a chance to earn the riches he has been chasing.

Martha knows she has two choices: return to Philadelphia with her tail between her legs and lock herself back in her gilded cage, or succeed in a world where women have few choices but to sell their bodies to make a living.

Can Purgatory Reach again become Paradise?

**Sequel to Dear Rhodora**