A Wish to Build A Dream On

by Vivian Vaughan

“Vivian Vaughan is a superb writer who does Western Americana with flair and humor.”  —RT BOOK REVIEWS

Reese Catlin is determined to get his herd from Texas to Kansas ahead of the rush. An excellent chuck wagon cook is essential to the cattle drive, and after tasting the delectable lemon pies at the café in town, he knows he’s found the perfect man for the job in 'Andy' Dushane.

Only as it turns out, Andie Dushane is actually a woman, and he knows the rest of the cowboys won’t stand for it. But after she proves her culinary skills can’t be matched—or resisted—she joins the camp on the trail to Kansas.

Before long, Andie’s delicious cuisine wins over the stomachs of the cowboys, but it’s the warmth of her passionate embrace that wins over the heart of Reese.

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Short Stories, Historical

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Vivian Vaughan is the granddaughter of Texas ranchers and Texas Rangers. She grew up on the western edge of the Edwards Plateau, where there has always been a scarcity of water and grass – and an abundance of self-reliance, a place where people don’t take themselves too seriously and laughter comes naturally. Vaughan’s books reflect her love of the land, the people and their stories. Vivian lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband of fifty-four years, a retired NASA engineer. Their two sons, two lovely daughters-in-law (one from England; the other Mexico) and five of their 6 grandchildren live nearby.

Reviews

[Dorine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review courtesy of TheZestQuest.com, my personal journey toward a more zestful life.

This is a cute short story that’s a good example of Vivian Vaughan’s talent. I received this book for free at Amazon a few months ago and I remembered it when I saw the cover on my Kindle because I really like it. Covers are a huge reason I’m attracted to books and that was the reason I downloaded this freebie. Actually, quite a view of this author’s reissues have beautiful covers.

I enjoy reading short stories or novellas to get to know an author’s style before purchasing full size novels. I especially like them when they’re free and collect them in order to find new-to-me-authors. This time, that habit was a success. Not only did I find a new-to-me-author, but one that writes western historicals that I crave, which are also very reasonably priced.

A WISH TO BUILD A DREAM ON takes place during a cattle drive. I love these kinds of stories because they give the author a chance to elaborate on male camaraderie. In this particular story the cowboys are expected to act respectable around a lady, which could be a problem when they’re used to having their male bonding time without women present.

Andie Dushane gets mistaken as a man by her name alone, which gives her a chance to take a job as the chuck wagon cook for a cattle drive. Reese Catlin is on a tight schedule, otherwise he would have thrown her off the drive once he realized he was hoodwinked by Angie’s young son and her uncle. Innocently enough, the young boy and Andie’s uncle are hoping to get Andie a husband, especially if it’s Reese Catlin.

This little story has a lot of personality. I laughed out-loud at the cowboys’ antics once they think Reese is sweet on Andie. For a short story, the characters were well fleshed out. Of course, this could easily have been a longer story, making it into a novel, or possibly foreshadowing for future stories about each of the cowboys. I haven’t investigated further to see if that’s going to happen. If this was a longer story then I might have missed this little gem. I picked it out to read in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. Short was its advantage in catching my attention. Short with a beautiful cover made me pick it over the hundreds of others I could have read instead.

The only quibble I had with the story is that I think it would have been better without the sex scene at the end. It wasn’t explicit and there was only one, but the story didn’t need it. It just didn’t set right with me the way it played out. I would have been just as happy to have been left in the dark. Maybe some believe that sex has to be in a story to make it a romance. In my opinion, there are gems that really don’t need it and this is one of those books.

Originally published in 1997 as part of the anthology CHERISHED LOVE , you’ll recognize this story as the type of western romance that many of us still crave. This story is a great throwback to an era of romance novels I miss and has easily stood the test of time, making it fun for anyone to read today.

If you love western historicals, then I suggest that you mosey on over to your favorite digital provider and download a Vivian Vaughan story to try for yourself. I’m excited about all the choices, so let me know which ones you love so I can get them too.

Thanks to the publisher and author for this freebie to convince me to try more. It worked.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of The Zest Quest. Book received Free from Amazon as a promotion by the author or publisher.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet historical romance



Andie Dushane has been widowed two years and she's struggling, it's just her and her nine year old son Jordan trying to manage their ranch and it's too much, she gets a job cooking in town but then next thing she knows Uncle Kip has got her a job as a chuck wagon cook on a cattle drive. It's an early drive and the work will be hard but the pay is excellent enough to tide them over for a while so Andie takes the job.
The trail boss Reese Catlin is less than pleased to discover Andy is actually Andie a woman and not the man he expected but since he's in a hurry and her cooking is outstanding they decide to see how it goes.
Between Uncle Kip's meddling and Jordan wanting to find his mum a new husband Reese gets the impression that Andie is husband hunting and he makes it clear he's not in the market for a wife.
This an enjoyable if predictable read, it's short with some nice characters only problem I had, and I know it's fitting with the time was Reese's handlebar moustache, it may have worked then but I had trouble picturing a handsome man with one.

[Sherron · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Elizabeth Bennet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was a beautiful and tender story. Andie Dushane and her 9 year old son Jordan join a cattle run for some much needed money. Since the death of her husband Samuel two years prior times have been tough on their ranch. Andie agrees to be the cook on the run. It is actually her Uncle Kipp and Jordan who make the arrangements.

Reese Catlin is a tough boss and he has plans of working his drovers hard so the prospects of a good cook is just what he needs. You can see by the look of the h name that Reese is under the impression that Andie is a man. The sweetness from the story comes from Jordan's scheme that is revealed and his fight for his mama. He is such a little protector. The story is short but the author does a fantastic job at creating the love between the H/h. There are no villains or plotting schemes. There is only one lie but it is sweet. Just a sweet and gentle story about a man afraid to love and a woman holding on to ghosts and past memories.

A love scene is all you get with this one. The other thing I want to point out and it is the only thing that felt wrong. The story takes place in 1876 and Reese is falling in love with Andie and makes the statement that follows. " It's an awesome task, making another man's wife happy." Now I really don't know when the word awesome came into effect but it didn't feel right for the period and gave a modern feel for the story IMO.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very sweet and enjoyable. A refreshing change from some of the other western romances I have read recently, with predictable plot lines and a thin veneer of the world of cowboys etc. The characters were beautifully depicted, the research (as far as I could see) impeccable and yet the reader was not swamped with useless information. I felt very 'comfortable' reading this story, not just because the writing flowed but because there was a sense that it was all 'right' - that there would be no jarring inaccuracies.

A couple of niggles - The title is a bit of an unwieldy mouthful, and there was a lack of any serious conflict in the story - something to make me break out in a sweat and wonder how the story would end, but otherwise this was a delightful read and I felt I was there, with Andie for much of the story.

I liked the story - and that would normally mean a rating of 3 stars, but the research and the tiny details in the story push this up to a strong 4 stars.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author brings us back to the times of the old west when a young mother who is widowed and in need of money, joins a cattle drive as a cook. Odd as it seemed she was accepted by the men and in return made them delicious meals. Unknowingly her uncle and son had arranged for her to meet and perhaps even marry the cattle boss.
A short tale that is an easy read. Not too much plot as the reader can more or less guess the outcome.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept of the old west in the 1800's. The only reason it has a 4 star rating is, it only took me about an hour to read it. There is a lot packed into this short story. The life of a cattleman and cowboy. Throw in a Woman on a cattle drive and you can imagine where this might go. I enjoyed the story, just wished it were a little longer. :)

[Marlo Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wish To Build A Dream On by Vivian Vaughan

Excellent ebook and I would recommend this ebook to one and all. I give this ebook a 5 star rating.

[Rachel Barnard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andie joins a cattle drive as a cook so she can earn enough money to keep the ranch her late husband left her. With her 9-year old son, Jordan, in tow they join the cattle drive headed to Kansas. But the trail master didn’t realize he’d hired a woman. Women aren’t usually the cooks on a drive. Will she be able to keep her job and the men in line? Will self-proclaimed bachelor and trail master, Mr. Catlin, fall in love with cookie?

I held onto all the details of life in the late 1800’s and wish there were more details. This story was too simple to be truly engaging. I wanted to see more of the interactions between the men and herself to really show the life of a chuck wagon cook and life on a cattle drive. Each little detail was interesting, but there weren’t enough of them!

This story was too repetitive. We hear over and over again that Reese doesn’t need a wife and won’t be cornered into it and that Andie thinks he’s attractive. If this story was longer and had time to become fully developed and fully immersed in the little details, I would have been much more interested. If you’re looking for quick historical romance read and don’t mind the repetition, you may enjoy this fast-paced read.