Golden History by Cynthia Woolf

Please join us in welcoming our guest Cynthia Woolf! She’s sharing about her latest book with us today. Thank you, Cynthia, for stopping in to chat!

My latest book is a novella titled A Husband for Victoria. It is a mail-order bride book, since that is what I write and what I’m known for.

I set the book in Golden City, Colorado Territory. It’s just called Golden now and is the home of the Colorado School of Mines, first opened in 1870, and Coors Brewing Company, opened in 1873.

The reason I set it there is because that’s where I grew up. Yup. I’m a Colorado native.

When I was sixteen, I worked for the Pioneer Museum in Golden. It was a fascinating place and I fell in love with the history of my town.

I’ve set several of my books in Golden, all historical Western romance. Golden was once the capital of the Colorado Territory but lost out to Denver when the town snagged the capital title when Colorado became a state in 1876.

I like Golden. It was a gold rush town though the gold found there was not nearly the amount found in Central City which is about twenty miles up in the mountains from Golden.

Today there is still ranching and farming going on. Some of these ranches have been in the same family since the town was founded in 1859. These ranchers may have been miners that didn’t make their fortune in gold mining and took up ranching as a way to make a living.

There are many buildings in Golden that have been there for more than one hundred years. The Astor House was built in 1867. It was a boarding and rooming house. At one time, they charged twenty-five cents for a bath and it was said they made more off the baths than they did the rooming house!

Here is a scene from A Husband for Victoria after which, I’ll tell you about my giveaway.

The stagecoach driver helped her down from the coach and handed her the two carpetbags that held everything she owned.

“Thank you, Mr. Jones.”

He tipped his hat. “You’re welcome, Mrs. Coleman. You take care.”

“Thank you, I will.”

She looked around and walked up the steps to the boardwalk in front of the Golden West Hotel. The location gave her a slightly higher vantage point from which to survey the surrounding town and look for Mr. Mayfield. Surveying the town up and down the street, she was too busy to pay attention to those behind her.

The air was cold and her breath was visible. The buildings kept her from seeing much and to be honest, the scenery didn’t interest her as much as finding her prospective husband.

“Mrs. Coleman?”

She screeched and jumped. “Good grief. You startled me, sir. Are you Mr. Andrew Mayfield?” She raised her gaze to the face of the tall man next to her. He was taller than her by a good six inches, even in her boots, and though she couldn’t see his eyes, she saw his chiseled jaw and the firm set of his mouth. His lips were not too full and not too thin, though right now, they weren’t very welcoming either.

“I am. Are these all your bags?” He picked up her two carpetbags.

“Yes. That’s it.”

“Follow me.” He turned and started walking.

At the end of the boardwalk, in the alley next to the Golden City Mercantile, stood a wagon. As they got closer she saw that it was filled with large bags and boxes of canned goods and smaller bags. She looked up and saw the bench was just a plain wooden plank and stifled a groan. Great, another ride on a board with no padding. Her poor bottom was already hurting.

He helped her into the wagon before going around the back and climbing in next to her. Then he released the brake and slapped the reins on the animals’ bottoms.

She did her best to stay on her side of the bench but it was narrow and her skirts rode against his leg. His very muscular leg. She’d noticed when he walked the way the muscles moved. The man definitely worked for a living.

“Are we going to your ranch now?”

He shook his head. “Not until we visit the preacher. He knows we’re coming. I won’t have my wife’s reputation besmirched.”

Now for my giveaway, I’ll give away 3 copies of A Husband for Victoria in ebook and one $5 Amazon Gift Card. That’s four chances to win!

AUTHOR BIO:

Cynthia Woolf is the award winning and best-selling author of more than forty-four historical western romance books and two short stories with more books on the way. She also has six scifi romance novels. She also has three boxed sets of her books available
Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance Tame A Wild Heart, was inspired by the story her mother told her of meeting Cynthia’s father on a ranch in Creede, Colorado. Although Tame A Wild Heart takes place in Creede that is the only similarity between the stories. Her father was a cowboy not a bounty hunter and her mother was a nursemaid (called a nanny now) not the ranch owner.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and her great critique partners for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
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54 thoughts on “Golden History by Cynthia Woolf”

  1. Welcome, Cynthia! Thank you for sharing Golden’s history. And I love mail-order bride stories. I am looking forward to reading all of your books.

  2. Wow, that’s amazing you’re from Golden, CO. I love the mountains. I have been to Golden twice in my life. Beautiful, beautiful. Thanks for sharing such great history about Golden.

  3. Good morning. You grew up in a beautiful place and what a great job to have at 16! This sounds like a great book already, I’d love to see where it goes. I’ve never read one of your books and would love the opportunity. HWR is my favorite type of romance novel. A giveaway is an awesome way to find a new author to add to my go author list. Best of luck with your new book and series!

  4. I love the history you shared about Golden really enjoyed the post. Also mail order bride stories are some of my favorite reads. I can’t wait to read this book.

  5. We visited the Coors Brewery in 1987. What a fun and educational tour! Golden is such a beautiful place. I love your books!

  6. Welcome. What a lovely cover. She looks so full of life and happiness. Ohh what an enticing blurp. A very generous give a way. Thank you.

  7. Your book looks fantastic–I love mail order bride stories. I had to smile at your historic work. My first job was at the automotive museum in my hometown. It was the original 1930s art deco building and beautiful. It was a lot of fun years later to have our wedding reception there. When it came time for the garter toss, all my husband’s friends had disappeared to drool over the amazing cars.

  8. I love that cover! The excerpt sounds intriguing–and I know the book will be as good as your others. Thanks for the history of Golden. I love Colorado and set my current WIP there. Congratulations on your new release.

  9. I loved reading the information about Golden. I would love to visit there someday. I love visiting historical sites. I want to read your book, too. It sounds really fun. I do enjoy a good mail order bride story.

  10. Thank you for sharing this info, it is very interesting. Your book sounds Great and the cover is Beautiful.

  11. Golden sounds like it would be a nice place to live. I love ranches and farms, and country life. Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.

  12. My first read of yours was the mail order bride novel, Nellie, and had since become a perennial favorite of mine. I’m a huge fan of your western historicals and look forward to reading the new series. The excerpt has made me hungry for more!?

  13. I love the Rocky Mountains. There are so many unique towns scattered throughout. We visited Golden many years ago. We toured the Coors Brewery, walked around town a bit, and had lunch at a lovely outdoor cafe.
    It is all to easy to forget that mail order bride marriages often started off as business relationships. The weddings were little more than formalities, no more romantic than paying a traffic ticket.
    The cover for A HUSBAND FOR VICTORIA is lovely. I hope the release is a big success and the start of a good series.

  14. This book sounds like one I would enjoy.
    I grew up in Colorado. I am familiar with Golden, Co. and have visited it several times. it was known as “The beer town”

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