While I read and enjoyed an advance copy of Little Souls by Sandra Dallas awhile back, and was interested to start Tough Luck, the book was only a three-star read for me. The book starts in 1863 Illinois, where after the death of Haidie and Boots Richards’ mother, their brother Cheet having inherited the farm, sells it. He relegates Haidie, age 14, and the younger Boots to board art the Smoak, Illinois Good Shepherd Home for Foundlings and Orphans.
There they meet Teresa, a pretty nun who’d gotten “”in the family way” and eventually are taken on by a Jacob Crowfoot, freighter going to Omaha. The siblings (Haidie masquerading as a boy) hope to go on to Denver and Georgetown area where their father had gone to seek his fortune. They are sure he has made great success as a gold miner.

There are many perils along the way including Indians, thieves and so on. A lot of plot points to draw the reader in, in short. Eventually they are taken on by a scout for 14 Conestogas going on to Colorado. They meet the Misses Arvilla and Lizzie and become great friends.

This is in many ways a well-crafted book but it simply did not draw me in like others by the author.. my thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel. I love Sandra Dallas but this book wasn't my favorite. It was very juvenile with the main character being 14. The plot and twist of events was not realistic making it more immature. The characters all intertwined together to pull the story together. It just wasn't for me. I did enjoy the pioneer/western setting and there was definitely a variety of characters and obstacles along the journey to Colorado.

A powerful, atmospheric and engaging page turner with strong characters. I was hooked from the start and loved the ending. Will be looking for other Sandra Dallas books.

It's 1863 and Haidie Richards has just learned from her older 19 year old brother he has sold their farm. Believing that his father is dead and his mother just having died, it was his decision to sell the farm. Haidie argues believing their father is still alive out West panning for gold,, This leaves Haidiie and her younger brother Boots as orphans. They are both put in an orphanage as their older brother sets out to lead a life as a gambler with the money from the farm. But feisty 14 year old Haidie will have none of that and disguises herself as a boy., joining a wagon train as they set out West to Denver in search of their father. We find our protagonist is both strong, reliant and courageous able to take care of her brother Boots as they journey to Denver. This is a well written novel along with a sense of humor which makes the story enjoyable. For me this is one more favorite in a list of books written by Sandra Dallas. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC n exchange for an honest review.

I’ve enjoyed many of Sandra Dallas’ books and this one of the adventures of Haidie and Boots headed to Colorado was good. I enjoyed the descriptions of the trail and liked the characters. It came off as a little YA so I did not rate it as highly as some of her other works. Thank you Netgally for the ARC,

I was hesitant on the offer from St, Martins Press through NetGalley, but growing up watching Little house on the Prairie, along with many Cowboy/Indian movies and shows this book had my interest!

Pa left town a couple years back to go to Denver to strike it rich! Pa would write every once in a while, but it stopped. Ma has now passed away leaving Cheet, Haidie, and Boot orphaned. Cheet doesn't care, sells the ranch dirt cheap, and takes his siblings to an orphan to dump them.

Haidie and Boots escape the orphanage looking for a wagon train going to Denver. Knowing nobody is going to help a girl, Haidie gets a haircut and dresses as a boy. Not much luck being kids, but they finally get a start, with Jake Crawfoot. He gets them started and once he finds them a secure and trusting train, they are all in it. They do what needs to be done, no matter what the work is. Haidie has concerns about her dad, but has to keep everything on the positive for Boots. They have your typical adventures as you see in the movies, tough towns, drunks, thieves, Indians, that's what the Native Americans were called in the day, bad guys, but plenty of good people. Can only really think of a couple characters I wasn't fond of, but that was the point. But I loved the majority of them, they each their ways of life

I've not read many westerns (yet!) but really enjoyed this adventure across the prairie lands to Colorado. This story is reminiscent of Tom Sawyer but told from the perspective of a young girl whom, along with her little brother, are determined to find their father in a small mining town in Colorado and reunite their small family. This is a hopeful story that is easy to read and would be a good intro for anyone who would like to read more westerns or find an entry into this genre.

Thank you St Martins Press for the ARC opportunity!

I really enjoyed this Homage to True Grit. The setting, plot and characters were all very time period realistic and overall provided a very great story!

Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas

This is one of my new all-time favorite books! I absolutely loved the humor—finding out how old the "old maids" really were had me laughing out loud. Haidie’s storytelling had me laughing and kept me reading. The vivid period details, colorful cast of characters, and heartfelt themes of community and resilience truly brought the story to life. From card sharks to fierce dogs and clever get-even plots, Tough Luck kept me entertained from start to finish. It’s a perfect blend of adventure, grit, and charm that I can’t recommend enough. The characters cobbled together a makeshift family and I felt like I was there on the journey myself.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas, When the book starts, Hades, younger brother, Boots and older brother Cheat have just buried their mom, when Cheat tells Hades he sold the farm and that her and boots are going into the local orphanage. She doesn’t know what to say. what she does know is her and 10 year-old boots will not be in the orphanage for long. Soon she meets. teresa, who is there in training to be a non-due to her father, considering her incorrigible after having a baby outside of marriage. When she tells Hades the story, Hades device is a plan makes a deal and soon Teresa is married to Billy Stover in Hades in boots are out of the orphanage. She wants to go west to find her dad, despite everyone thinking him dead. Hades believes in him and won’t give up until she knows the truth. soon she is dressed like a boy has cut off her hair, and her, Boots and Teresa are on their way to Colorado. hades isn’t search of the only families she has left but before reaching Denver, she will learn the best kind of family or the ones you choose yourself. She will get caught up with gangsters highway robbers and some of the nicest kindest people in the old west one is lucky to have run into and they will all see just like the reader that Hades is a special special girl. just know if you have read News Of The World by Paulette Giles, and loved it, then you’ll absolutely love this book. in my experience, great books like this are few and far between these are my favorite type of books. There’s so many great characters to root for there’s no part of the story that drags. It’s just an all around out and out. Perfect read! #NetGalley, #SandraDallas, #ToughLuck,#Saint Martin’s press,

Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas.

Told through the eyes of 14 year old Haidie. This is a tale of a cross-country trek of Haidie and little brother Boots to find their missing father, thought to be a rich gold mine owner in the west.
Set in the wild west and all that goes with it, including bandits, "hoors", and other interesting characters, this story never gets boring. Plenty of wit to go around as well.
One would think things could get a bit hairy and less than tasteful in such a setting, but the story is told in a clean way, with plenty of unsaid truths for those that are looking.

At first I thought this was written a bit too....simple for me. But as I continued reading, I got to know the characters better and they sort of grew on me. I'm glad I kept on.

Hopefully Sandra Dallas will continue writing. I'd love to read more stories set in my home state of Colorado.

My thanks to the author and St. Martin's Press for the ebook advance reader through NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this romp through the Wild West. I think it was definitely closer to a YA book but maybe that's because of the Haidie's character. Either way, I was all in on Haidie and Boots's journey to find their father, traipsing across Indian territory and meeting up with some of the best darn characters you could hope for. While I found the story kind of flat and like I was being told it versus being immersed in it, I still loved this one and made time to sit and read whenever I could.

Keep an eye out for this historical fiction coming in April of 2025. Sandra Dallas writes another captivating story of the American frontier. After their brother puts them in an orphanage, Haidie and Boots escape to find their Pa out west. They join a couple wagon trains as they head to Colorado. ⁣
⁣
What I loved:⁣
• Sandra Dallas’s storytelling! Her writing had me completely hooked, quickly turning the pages. ⁣
• The adventurous journey out west along the wagon train. ⁣
• The quirky cast of characters. ⁣
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What I didn’t care for:⁣
• Even though I loved how the story all came together at the end, personally I didn’t care for the way lying and cheating were glorified.

Tough Luck, told from young Haidie’s voice, pulled me into the plight of the Richards siblings and their journey from Illinois to find their Pa, whose last known whereabouts was in Colorado gold mine country. The details along the trail west felt true and possible, but once the trail came to an end in Denver, and the mines and retribution took over, I began to lose interest in the story. Even though I knew I was reading fiction, the plot began to seem far-fetched with an unbelievable HEA reunion of found friends (and abandoned family) by the last page.

I’m so happy to have had the chance to read the Advanced Reader’s Edition e-copy of Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas; thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

I loved every minute of this historical fiction / western, and I was rooting for Haidie. This truly celebrated what it means to be a spunky young girl, and was a powerful read that will stick with me for some time.

A fun little adventure.

I enjoyed following the kids' trip west, and I liked some of the characters they met along the way, especially Jake and his dog, and the two "old ladies".

However, the "bad" characters are too bad and for no reason - this might have been okay for the main villain at the end, but along the way she meets characters that are greedy/selfish/disloyal etc. just for the sake of being so and they make decisions against their own interest, which leads to their (minor spoiler) horrific deaths. Aside from being a bit gruesome for what otherwise seems like a story for kids, it added nothing to the story and didn't make sense. Also, the ending started to get a bit goofy.

This powerful story, an homage to Charles Portis’ classic ‘True Grit’, took me on a grand adventure.

I saw so much of myself in the spunky 14-year-old heroine, Mary Haidie Richards, from Smoak, Illinois. I loved that she was tenacious, resourceful, and resolute. I cheered her on from the get-go.

I loved the setting, the descriptive writing, the author’s sense of humour (Book of George and the wedding ceremony in ‘Latin’), the pacing and the individual and realistically crafted characters.

When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about this story and the characters!

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

When their mother dies, Cheets, Haidie, and Boots are left on their own. Their father went west to Colorado four years earlier to discover a gold mine and make his fortune. Cheets, the oldest, places the other two in an orphanage and tries to succeed as a gambler. Eventually, Haidie (a girl) and Boots (a boy) decide to run away and find their father. Since most people at that time (even in this time) feel that a young girl would not be capable of anything, Haidie decides to dress as a boy.

After many adventures and meeting a variety of very interesting and realistic characters, the brother and sister reach Colorado. If they find their father, will he want to see them? Is there a gold mine? How will they survive? Read this exciting book to find the answers.

That was an adventure. I absolutely loved this story and what I loved even more was the main character. A definite recommend.

Thanks publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else.

A completely delightful and very often funny book. There are unsavory sections; they do not make the book sad. The main character is Haidie Richards, a hard scrabble and, by her account, great liar, fourteen year old. She and her younger brother are put in an orphanage by her older, money grubbing, gambling brother when their mother dies. Haidie believes that her father, who left them to work mines in Colorado, is alive and deeply missing them. Haidie concocts a plan to get herself and her brother free from the orphanage and their adventure across the plains begins. Haidie is a character and so very enjoyable to read. It is her telling the story that creates a memorable novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.