Kismet

"Rarely does a debut author deliver such profound emotional depth, vivid historical storytelling, and character journeys that feel as lived-in and true as J. James Wheeling's beautifully intertwined novels-Gantlet and Kismetleft me breathless." -Candace Sinclair, Editor and Book Strategist

Kismet is a story about a young woman's journey toward self-discovery at a time when women didn't have many opportunities beyond marriage and childbearing. What if a woman wanted more? Risk-taking men found freedom and opportunity by rushing to the California goldfields. Why not women? Only those women with courage, foresight and someone to believe in them stood a chance at seeing California's golden light.

Dearest Dot... Learned illicit family business... Must flee Boston... For your family's safety say nothing to my father... Meet me in San Francisco...Please...Love Dash.

Why didn't Donovan O'Creigh just ask her to go with him? Unsure if she's more exasperated by being left at the alter or abandoned to certain spinsterhood in Boston's rigid society, Lillia Soilleux has to decide if she buckles under or breaks free. Regardless, nothing steels her determination more than being underestimated. When her adventurer uncle arrives for the wedding, he unknowingly provides her with the opportunity she needs to test her conviction to Donovan. They sail around Cape Horn on a ship filled with a cargo that allows only one stop along the way. Thrown together with strangers for five straight months is a confined space makes for boredom and tension between passengers. It is here that Lillia discovers her true essence and is confronted by surprising, and dangerous, choices.