The story of Haidie as she travels West to find her father was full of adventure and kept my attention. The many experiences and adventures she has made me eager to keep turning the pages. At times the story seemed a little far fetched and situations and solutions seemed too convenient for a perilous journey across the country. I enjoyed the ending and loved all of the many characters she meets along her way, especially Corny and Jake.

A couple years ago I picked up one of Sandra Dallas’s books and since then I have read nearly everything she’s written. I love her ability to nearly immediately drop the reader in another historical time and place with cinematic verisimilitude. I love the way she brings the American West alive in the frontier era. And most especially I love the way she writes the inner lives and thoughts of feisty women.

In Tough Luck, the main character Haidie is no exception. She’s a clever teen girl navigating a world that underestimates her. While she lacks formal education, you can see she’s smart as a whip and she saves herself and her brother from a dreary life in an orphanage just by means of her wits and “being good at plans.”

Characterization through dialogue is a strength of Dallas’s and Haidie’s westbound travels by wagon give plenty of opportunity to meet a cast of new characters. As she and her younger brother go west in search of their father, lots of adventure, some misfortune, and plenty of hijinks ensue. The characters are lovable and wise.

I read this book in one day, and have already imagined who I’d cast in the movie. 🍿 It’s another great Sandra Dallas book, and I’m grateful to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance digital copy for review.

4 ⭐️

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley!

This book gave me the same vibes as the historical fiction books I loved to read as a kid. Haidie runs away from an orphanage with her younger brother to find their Pa, who moved out west to look for gold. She has to disguise herself as a boy to make it safely across the planes. Along the way they run into so many colorful characters and have to deal with a lot of mishaps. Quite entertaining and written in a way that makes you feel you’re right there with them.

"Tough Luck" by Sandra Dallas is a wonderful, attention-grabbing book about a young girl who, after being placed in an orphanage by her gambling older brother days after her mother's death, breaks out with her younger brother Boots and, pretending to be a boy, sets off across the Wild West in hopes of finding their long-lost father. With the help of some very helpful, very questionable characters, they find that they have more family than they originally thought. This book was the perfect mix of adventure and comfort, grit and cozy, and overall, a fantastic read. Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this beautiful book, and thank you Sandra Dallas for writing it!

Historical fiction at its finest, perhaps a little unbelievable and unrealistic, but I still enjoyed it and would recommend others to read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another wonderful novel from Dallas that transports the reader into the struggles and hardships of the Wild West. Amazing read!

Half of the story is the journey to Colorado, and the other half is in Colorado. The story takes a few surprising turns. There are misadventures and misunderstandings. The ending was fun and humorous. The whole story had moments like that. This is a great blend of historical fiction and western.

This western is very different from what I usually read. I found this to be a very interesting story that kept me coming back to read more. Really like the characters. Good job Sandra Dallas. I highly recommend this book.

This was a well done story following a pair of orphans as they travel across the country, hoping to fine their father. I was captivated and could not put this book down, from the beginning. The only part of the book I didn’t enjoy was the ending. I thought it was abrupt and I had questions that weren’t answered.

Disclosure: Thank you St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Publishers for making this book available for review through NetGalley. Opinions are my own.
Dallas' novel reads like a Civil War-era road novel. Full of action, adventure, and a vibrant cast of characters, the story follows a teenage girl, Haidie, and her brother, Boots, as they travel west to Colorado to find their father. Along the way, Haidie remains disguised as a boy to safely accompany wagon trains and offer her hardworking abilities. At times a novel of friendship, family, and courage, the novel is paced perfectly so as to prevent slow sections. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and the only critique I have is that the prose in certain sections could be cleaned up to prevent step-by-step descriptions, but these did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this book, namely those interested in the western genre, though I'd recommend it only to mature audiences due to brief cruel behavior. The one content warning I have is for an instance of suggested sexual violence. Ultimately, this is a gripping western which puts a unique spin on the western genre: In this novel, the women have the power!

Reading Westerns ranks low on my list of must-read books. If I do read them, I usually make sure that I either have read the author before (if nonromance) or it is a romance. If they don’t check either of those boxes, I don’t read and, in rare cases, review, which brings me to Tough Luck. I had read and reviewed several books by Sandra Dallas, and based on my experience with her books, I decided to read Tough Luck.

Tough Luck was an interesting book to read. It follows a girl, Haidie, who treks across the country with her younger brother to find her father. Because of the danger (a girl traveling alone had a high chance of being sexually assaulted/kidnapped), Haidie disguises herself as a boy. Her journey from the orphanage in Illinois to Colorado was danger-filled but exciting. Haidie and her brother meet various people who both help and hinder their journey. But the excitement doesn’t stop once they arrive in Colorado.

I liked Haidie and laughed at some of her observations about the people she met. She was a tough cookie, and she was very determined to find her father. Her detective skills were pretty good. She was able to not only find her father but help him in recovering something that was stolen from him.

The people Haidie met during her journey influenced and shaped her. It also helped that Haidie could lie with the best of them (or so she thought), and her habit of taking risks worked in her favor.

My favorite part of this book was the wagon train across the Great Plains to Colorado. It was as exciting as I thought it would be. It was also as dangerous.

The end of Tough Luck felt rushed but didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book. I couldn’t tell if there would be a book 2.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Sandra Dallas for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Tough Luck. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Full of wonderfully vivid characters and a strong female protagonist, this book makes me want to watch True Grit again.

Girls can be tough!

I loved following Haidie's adventure throughout this book and seeing how her character helped her through tough times!

Thank you Netgalley and St.Martins Press for an advanced copy to read and review

This book was wonderful! The setting was perfectly done and it felt like I watching a movie! I would highly recommend this book!

I thought this book was just okay. It seemed like it was going to have more action but really didn't. I also felt like a lot of the characters were super selfish. I didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would. It was still an interesting historical fiction novel. But this is not a book that I would go back and reread or suggest to others. I have just read other books set during this time period that are better.

Thank you Sandra Dallas, St. Martins Press, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Haidie is quite the character. I liked her spirit and tenacity. Didn't love that the whole book is based around liars and how they help her and her brother along the way. But it is an interesting story, with lots to keep your attention.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I really like Sandra Dallas as an author. This book does not disappoint in that it is very descriptive and has quite a few quirky characters that are sure to keep your attention. It is also a bit unbelievable that all these things would happen to these children on their trek to find their father. The ending seems a bit contrived and unrealistic as it attempts to make all things right in a rather unorthodox way. I wish I could say I loved the book, but it is probably one of my least favorites by Dallas. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

The author’s vivid period details and colorful cast of characters bring Haidie’s daring adventure to life. With a mix of grit and heart, Tough Luck captures the spirit of the American West and the enduring strength of its people.

Oh this book had ALL the yellowstone feels for me! Just sooooo good! I could not get enough of this story. It was phenomenal.

I have read many books by Sandra Dallas and enjoyed almost all of them. Tough luck was sent my way by NetGalley and the publisher to give my honest review and I will do so. I really enjoyed the story the first half of the book. Kept me interested and it read kinda more like a YA book, which I love that genre. The last half I wasn’t too caught up on. I pushed thru just to finish it and give a honest review. Too unbelievable and just not interesting. But I am glad it ended with a happy ending.

I like this one . I feel that the author is good a the history of the west and bringing it to life . I think in her own way she is a modern day Laura ingallas .
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book