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

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“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.