Bound For Eden by Tess LeSue – Review, Q&A and Giveaway

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Description:
Alexandra Barratt has found the perfect man – it’s a shame he thinks she’s a boy.

Fleeing from the murderous Grady brothers with a stolen fortune hidden in her luggage and her younger brother and sister in tow, Alex disguises herself as a boy to join a wagon train headed West … a wagon train captained by the irresistible Luke Slater.

At first, Alex can’t believe the way every woman in town falls at Luke’s feet, including her suddenly flirtatious sister. But when she sees him naked in the bathtub, she finds herself swooning over him too. If only she could wash the muck of her face and show him who she really is…

As for Luke, he has no idea that the ragtag boy in his care is none other than the woman of his dreams. But when circumstances connive to throw Luke and Alex into each other’s arms, their relationship becomes very complicated indeed. In fact, with the brutal Silas Grady in pursuit, keeping their secret becomes a matter of life and death…

Review:

Bound for Eden by Tess LeSue is the first book in her new Frontiers of the Heart series. Bound for Eden is a western historical romance that was an enjoyable, fun story with some witty humor.   Alexandra Barratt, our heroine, is on the run with her two younger siblings; Victoria and Adam. Having survived the death of their parents, Alex has been pressured by the bad neighboring brothers, who are trying to force her to marry one of them; but they are evil, and bad to the bone.  Alex manages to steal some money from those Grady brothers, and escapes with her siblings to join a wagon train.   She knows the Grady brothers are looking for two girls and boy, so Alex disguises herself as a boy to throw them off.

Luke Slater, who is ready to go home, after a long trek to buy an Arab horse, he meets the boy (Alex) and willingly takes him under his wing, advising him to purchase a wagon and horse to move west.  Before they go, Alex gets to see more then she bargained for in Luke Slater, as it seems that every woman throws themselves at him, as he is a known womanizer.  Luke enjoys the attention, especially in the whore house he visits, where he meets the woman of his dreams (Alex after she cleans up, and calls herself another name), but she manages to run away before he can find out who she is.  Alex finds herself falling for the hot gorgeous Luke, but unfortunately, so does her sister, Victoria.   Alex must keep her disguise and secret, as Victoria throws herself at Luke.

When the Grady Brothers come close to finding them, Luke will step in and help them, thinking that it is Victoria who they want.  They all manage to escape and the wagon train moves west. 

What follows is a sweet adventure with some danger, excitement and the humorous banter between Alex and Luke.   The battle with the Gradys escalates, as they attack the wagon train.   When they are caught and arrested, Alex, Victoria, Adam and Luke feel safe, but the danger will rise again. 

I really liked them together, but this went on a bit too long & I found myself anxious for Luke to wake up and see what others could see; the woman who calls to his heart.  When his brothers find the pretty Alex very attractive, Luke’s anger keeps him at a distance from Alex, who truly does love him; but Luke was blinded by his anger.   The exciting climax, where both lives are in danger and hanging a thread, had me holding my breath to see if they would survive. 

It was a very intense finish, but satisfying finish.  Bound for Eden was a sweet fun historical western that was exciting, suspenseful and humorous, with a great couple and perfect blend of romance.  I suggest you read Bound for Eden, which was very well written by Tess LeSue.    I look forward to the next book by Tess LeSue.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

Hi Tess. Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions today.We are always looking forward to reading about the author behind the book. 

Tess: Thank you so much for inviting me along!

TRC:  Would you please tell us something about yourself? 

Tess: I’m a book-addict and working mum who lives in Adelaide, which is the capital of South Australia. I teach Creative Writing and Literature at Flinders University and I write fiction and non-fiction. For fun I like anything to do with food and wine. South Australia is magnificent wine country; we have wineries in the Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, the Barossa Valley, and the Adelaide Hills, and I can’t think of anything better to do on a day off than to go on a winery tour. I love swimming at the beach in summer and skiing in the Australian Snowy Mountains in winter, and I’m a total Zumba-tragic year-round.

TRC:  When and how did you first become interested in writing? 

Tess:  I’ve always written, even before I could technically write. The first book I ever ‘wrote’ was a re-telling of Cinderella. My mum wrote the words out for me, we stapled the pages together and I illustrated it. Even then, romance was my favorite genre. I wrote stories all through school, and then branched out into writing plays in high school and short film scripts at film school. When I was a teenager I wrote a serial story about a girl named TJ Walker, and my entire class passed it around. It was like a soap opera – it used to end on cliffhangers – and the girls in my class used to pressure me for new installments. I remember writing until I got a callous (this was in the pre-computer days). It was nice to have readers and it taught me early on that even if you’re not published, you can always find readers. Because I’ve always read widely (I used to read everything from Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Johanna Lindsey) I wrote widely too. I wrote fantasy and historical fiction, horror and romance. But always more romance than anything else. Writing is a lot like reading to me, only slower. I fall into a whole different world, and it’s just magical.

TRC:   How did you come up with the idea of writing a Western Historical Romance, and your Frontiers of the Heart series.

Tess:  Historical Romance is my drug of choice. I adore it. And it’s my favorite thing to write in the entire world. When I first started writing, I tried out lots of different time periods – including Regencies, obviously, because they’re so popular (and I love them as much as anyone). But it wasn’t until I started writing Bound for Eden that I really fell in love. The heroine, Alex, just popped into my head one day, and she was so sassy and feisty that I was dying to tell her story. And what I loved about Westerns when I started writing them was that they’re so rough and ready and the characters could be so quirky. These are people who don’t fit (for one reason or another) and so strike out for new places, to build new lives. Best of all, the heroines can do everything the heroes do! There are fewer social constraints. There are no ballrooms and fancy gowns and fine manners. The women on the frontier had to be physically able and mentally strong. They were brave and bold and they got down in the muck with the boys. Which can be so sexy. And I love the wide open spaces and the grand sense of adventure.

TRC:  With Bound for Eden released yesterday, can you please give us a brief description of this book?

Tess:  Alexandra Barratt is responsible for her foster brother and sister and when they find themselves targeted by the Grady brothers,  she takes them West, where she assumes they’ll be safe. Unfortunately the Gradys follow. That’s where the fun really begins as, to hide, Alex disguises herself as a boy and signs her family up on a wagon train to Oregon, captained by the irresistible Luke Slater. Luke is tall, dark and too flirtatious for his own good, in Alex’s opinion. As they travel across the country, Alex is the first woman to get to know the man behind the flirt – only because Luke doesn’t know she is a woman. Bound for Eden is a rollicking adventure of mistaken identities and raunchy good fun.

TRC:  You also write as Amy T. Matthews.  What genre do you write under this name?

Tess:  I write historical fiction under Amy T Matthews too, but it’s darker and grittier and more confronting. My novel End of the Night Girl is about a woman who is haunted by the ghost of a murdered Polish Jew. It shifts back in time between the present and the Holocaust, in the 1940s. I also write non-fiction and scholarly articles under the name Amy T Matthews.

TRC:  Can you please tell us what you are working on now, and what you have upcoming in 2018/2019?

Tess: The rest of 2018 is all about the Slater brothers. Bound for Sin is out in September and is about Luke’s not-so-little brother Matt and how he gets tangled up with a widow looking for a mail order groom. And in December 2018 Bound for Temptation will be released, which features the middle Slater brother, Tom, and his adventures with a nun (who might just be a whore in disguise). In 2019 I’m hoping you’ll get to meet the mysterious Deathrider again, and the woman who makes his life an unholy misery (before she gives him a happily ever after!).

TRC:  What is your writing process?  Do you like to outline your story before you start? Do you have a specific place you like to write?  Is there a special time of day that works best for you? 

Tess: My writing process is a mix of utter drudgery and moments of joy. When I’m working on a book I try to write every day; I force myself to sit in the chair until something happens. Generally, I do a bit of pre-writing planning but I’m mostly an organic writer. I know the characters’ names and a bit of backstory when I start and generally I’ll have an idea of one or two big plot points, but otherwise I just follow along behind the characters, watching what they do. I don’t have a set place to write, I move around. I like to sit at the kitchen table if I’m writing during the day, as we have big windows to the garden and it’s nice to sit in the sun, but I also have a study (which is cosy and dim and nice when I’m writing an intense scene) and sometimes I also write in bed (usually when things aren’t going well!). I work full time and have kids so my routine is pretty busy; it’s hard to section off regular times to write. I tend to just write when I can. Right after the kids go to school in the morning is a productive time if I can do it, but generally I get the most done at night, when everyone is in bed and the house is quiet.  

TRC:  When you are not writing, what other interests or hobbies do you have?

Tess: I don’t get much free time, to be honest. If I’m not working, I’m writing. Aside from food, wine, and Zumba, I read a lot and I love film. My second degree was in film (my first – surprise, surprise – was in history and literature). I find it hard to sit still, so I’m usually doing something while I watch. I make patchwork quilts by hand (that sounds crazy, I know, doing the whole thing by hand, but I find it’s a Zen experience). I just finished a quilt for my daughter, made from tiny squares in shades of blue and green, and it took me eleven years from start to finish (Zen…). Now I’m starting one for my partner in Matisse colors. This all makes it sound like I’m indoors all the time… but I love nature and love my garden and try to get out in the world as much as I can to watch the sunsets and enjoy the seasons.

TRC:   Would you like to add anything else? 

Tess: Just that it’s been an absolute pleasure – thank you so much for having me along!
TRC:  Thank you, Tess for answering our questions. We wish you the best of luck with Bound for Eden.

Tess:  Thank YOU!

Tess’s publisher is offering a paper copy of BOUND FOR EDEN to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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8. Giveaway runs from May 3-7, 2018