Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Gone to Dallas: The Storekeeper 1856 – 1861 by Laurie Moore-Moore (Review & Giveaway)


GONE TO DALLAS:
THE STOREKEEPER
1856 – 1861

by
LAURIE MOORE – MOORE
Genre: Historical Fiction / Texas Pioneers / Civil War
Publisher: Goat Mountain Press
Date of Publication: October 4, 2021
Number of Pages: 348 pages 
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Sara’s husband was a disappointment in life, but she had to admit he was a handsome corpse.
Climb aboard an 1856 Dallas-bound wagon train and join a plucky female protagonist for the journey of a lifetime in Laurie Moore-Moore’s richly entertaining new book, Gone to Dallas, The Storekeeper 1856-1861. Far from your average historical novel or western, Gone to Dallas is a compelling tale of migration, betrayal, death and dreams—peppered with real people, places, and events. With a cast of interesting characters and more bumps and hazards than a wagon trail, Gone to Dallas tells the unforgettable story of a formidable frontier woman in the context of true Texas history.
It had seemed so romantic when Morgan Darnell courted Sara in Tennessee, finally convincing her they should marry and join an 1856 “Gone to Texas” wagon train traveling along the “Trail of Tears,” through Indian territory, and across the Red River into Texas.
In a twist of fate, Sara arrives in Dallas a 19-year-old widow, armed with plenty of pluck, and determined to open a general store in the tiny settlement of log cabins on the Trinity River. Standing in her way as a young woman alone are a host of challenges. Can Sara (with the help of her friends) pull herself up by the bootstraps and overcome uncertainty, vandalism, threats, and even being shot?
Follow Sara as she strives to create her store while living Dallas’ true history — from the beginnings of La Réunion (the European colony across the Trinity) to a mud and muck circus, a grand ball and the mighty fire that burns Dallas to the ground. Dallas is a challenging place, especially with the Civil War looming.
Even with the friendship of a retired Texas Ranger and Dallas’ most important citizen — another woman — is Sara strong enough to meet the challenge? The risks are high. Failure means being destitute in Dallas!
In Gone to Dallas, The Storekeeper 1856-1861, author Laurie Moore-Moore spins a page-turner of a tale salted with historically accurate Texas events and populated with real characters. It’s Portis’ True Grit meets Texas history.
READER PRAISE FOR GONE TO DALLAS:
“Creative and captivating…five stars!”
“An unforgettable journey…superb writing.”
“I was hooked at the very first sentence.”
“Lovely work of historical fiction…can’t wait for the sequel.”
“Brilliant!”
CLICK TO PURCHASE!

“I’ve learned that life is unpredictable and full of unanswerable questions. We just have to go forward the best we can.”

Gone to Dallas by Laurie Moore-Moore is a delightful account of one woman’s journey from Tennessee to Texas in the mid-1800s. Sara Darnell and her husband, Morgan, set out on a grand adventure to be shopkeepers in the new town of Dallas, Texas, but their sojourn as part of a wagon train is fraught with troubles, calamities, and even death. Sara never expected to arrive in the hardscrabble Texas town as a widow with two options: travel back to Tennessee or stay in Dallas and realize her dream of becoming a shopkeeper.

The story is a simple one, but having a strong female protagonist who has more business and common sense than most people catapults this tale onto a more interesting level. Sara is frugal, smart as a whip, and completely likable, both as a new citizen in Dallas and as a book character. To make this story even more exciting, the author plumps it up with many other characters who are graced with distinctive personalities and quirkiness. The overall story is intriguing yet somewhat plodding, but when the author introduces a truly nefarious antagonist, Gone to Dallas becomes laden with a host of new challenges for Sara and many others in the budding town of Dallas.

Gone to Dallas does divert a few times into some mini history lessons, such as cotton factoring and dealing with different currencies across states, but rather than being tangents or distractions, they are blended into the plot with aplomb and add some spirited and interesting insight into life during this innovative time in US history.

Laurie Moore-Moore’s strong female main character almost seems too good to be true, but what saves Sara from being too perfect is her occasional thoughts that show her vulnerability and her doubt in ever trusting another man and finding love again. Everything does seem to work out for Sara as a shopkeeper, landlady, and landowner, but as we all know, the good is typically balanced with some bad, and Sara does experience some less than ideal moments. Watching her handle herself with dignity, especially for such a young woman who was sheltered by a loving family, is truly satisfying to behold. Hats off to Laurie Moore-Moore for hatching such an impressive plot that is patch worked with an eclectic variety of characters.

Prosaic daily life is mixed with plenty of exciting twists, making Gone to Dallas an excellent choice for readers looking for a bit of history, a strong female lead, a few evildoers, and a smattering of sweet romance. What’s more, Gone to Dallas is a fun glimpse into a fledgling cow town on the western frontier, complete with dirt roads and land grants for people willing to settle and build a life in the unforgiving and volatile North Texas landscape. It is almost impossible to imagine Dallas as anything but huge and modern, but Gone to Dallas gives us a truly captivating fictional peek into the past of this great metropolis through the eyes and the lives of a suburb cast of characters.

Enter the giveaway below on or before November 5, 2021, for a chance to win a signed copy of Gone to Dallas by Laurie Moore-Moore.


I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.


From the author: “My husband, Roger, and I have been blessed with many adventures in life—from trekking across India’s Thar desert on a camel (and sleeping in the sand on our camel blankets) to repeating marriage vows in a remote Maasi village in Kenya (my dowery was one cow and one goat). My favorite adventure? As a fifth generation Texan, it is discovering more and more Texas history and writing about it!
We live in Dallas, Texas but sneak away when possible, to a mountain-top cabin overlooking a lake in former Indian Territory (the Oklahoma Ozark Mountains) The cabin is unique—there is a nine foot chainsaw bear in our entry hall. The house was built around it. Never thought I’d own a piece of chainsaw art, much less a nine-foot bear. Life is full of surprises. . . just like a good historical novel.”
Laurie Moore-Moore is a retired entrepreneur who has built and sold multiple businesses and served on the Board of Directors of an international corporation.
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 Three autographed copies of
Gone to Dallas
(US only, ends midnight, CDT, 11/5/21)

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FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY, 
or visit the blogs directly:

10/26/21

Scrapbook Page

Hall Ways Blog

10/26/21

Review

Sydney Young, Stories

10/27/21

Review

Book Fidelity

10/27/21

BONUS Promo

LSBBT Blog

10/28/21

Excerpt

Chapter Break Book Blog

10/28/21

Review

Jennie Reads

10/29/21

Review

Missus Gonzo

10/30/21

Review

Julia Picks 1

10/31/21

Author Interview

The Page Unbound

11/1/21

Character Spotlight

Book Bustle

11/1/21

Review

Reading by Moonlight

11/2/21

Review

StoreyBook Reviews

11/3/21

Review

Forgotten Winds

11/3/21

Guest Post

All the Ups and Downs

11/4/21

Review

The Book’s Delight

11/4/21

Review

It’s Not All Gravy

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2 Replies to “Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Gone to Dallas: The Storekeeper 1856 – 1861 by Laurie Moore-Moore (Review & Giveaway)”

  1. Hi, Ruthie,
    Many thanks for taking time to read and review Gone to Dallas, The Storekeeper 1856-1861. I’m delighted that you liked the cast of characters and the historical look at early Dallas when it was a tiny log-cabin settlement. Life was certainly different back then, wasn’t it? But people were much the same. Thanks again for such a nice review!
    Laurie Moore-Moore