Introduction

The 1920s are drawing to a close, and feisty Katie O'Connor is the epitome of the new woman--smart and sassy with goals for her future that include the perfect husband and a challenging career in law. Her boyfriend Jack fits all of her criteria for a husband--good-looking, well-connected, wealthy, and head-over-heels in love with her. But when she is forced to spend the summer of 1929 with Cluny McGee, the bane of her childhood existence, Katie comes face to face with a choice. Will she follow her well-laid plans to marry Jack? Or will she fall for the man she swore to despise forever?

A Hope Undaunted is the engrossing first book in the WINDS OF CHANGE series from popular author Julie Lessman. Readers will thrill at the highly charged romance in this passionate story.

“Lessman writes my favorite kind of book: the kind I can’t put down--a book that has a heroine with unforgettable spunk, a romance with undeniable sparks, and a family that will remain in your heart long after you turn the last page.”--Siri Mitchell, author of She Walks in Beauty

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

Boston, Massachusetts, May 1929

Now this is how love should be—nice and neat. Katie
O’Connor sucked the last of her Coca-Cola through
a straw and studied her steady beau Jack Worthington with
a secret smile. No, siree, no dime-novel notions of love for
her. Love requires a focused plan, she thought to herself with
certainty. Cool, calm, rational thinking, not a moment in
time where one lovesick glance seals your fate. With a loud,
hollow noise, she drained her soda and pushed the glass away,
assessing Jack through approving eyes. Her lips slanted. Love
at first sight, my foot.

She noted the dimple that deepened on his chiseled face
as he delivered a punch line with a boyish grin, and a satisfied
smile tilted the corners of her mouth. Falling in love
was for fools—blind fools, she reflected with all the mature
assurance of her eighteen years. Let other girls “fall” in love
with their eyes closed, but not her. No, she preferred to be
in control and walk—not fall, thank you very much—into
true love. And if she had her way—which she fully intended
to have—it would be with a man who was everything on her
carefully crafted list.

Laughter disrupted her thoughts, and she found herself
grinning along with the two couples sharing their booth
as they roared at the finish of Jack’s joke. As usual, Jack’s
buddies made a ruckus, whooping and pounding their fists
on the table in glee, and Katie couldn’t help but sigh with
contentment. Good sense of humor. She mentally checked a
box on her list and quickly scanned Robinson’s Diner with
its black-and-white-checked décor, grateful they had it to
themselves at this late hour. Jack and his friends tended to
get a bit rowdy, but they certainly knew how to have a good
time. She settled back against the red-leather, high-backed
booth and shot a glance at the marble counter where a lone
soda jerk polished chrome mixers to a gleam.

“For crying out loud, Katydid, you inhaled that soda! And
I bet I’ll have to buy you another, won’t I? I’m not made of
money, you know.” Jack draped a sturdy arm across her shoulder
and pulled her close to his handsome face. The glimmer
in his dark eyes matched that of his deep brown hair, stylishly
slicked back with Brilliantine. “Or maybe I am,” he teased.
Wealthy and attractive. Check, check. She drew in a deep
breath and gave him a patient smile. “Nobody likes a braggart,
Jack, but if you’re willing to put your money where your
mouth is, I believe I’d like a hamburger. I’m starved.”
“No, you can’t be!” Genevieve Townsend said with a moan.
“How can you possibly be hungry? We just had dinner before
the picture show.”

Katie shrugged her shoulders. “That was over two hours
ago, Gen.” She wrinkled her nose and teased with a ghost of
a smile. “Besides, Valentino makes me hungry.”

Jack leaned in to plant a kiss at the nape of her neck.
“Mmm . . . not only for food, I hope.” His wayward tone set
off another round of chortles from his friends.

“Save it for the car, Worthington,” Warren Sheffield said
with a smirk. “The woman’s hungry—feed her!”
Katie swatted at Jack and broiled his friends with a
mock glare. “I’ll take a hamburger and another Coke,
please.” She glanced at the large Nehi clock on the wall
and frowned—9:40 p.m. “You better hurry, though—they
close at ten.”

Genevieve groaned. “It’s just not fair. How do you stay
skinny as a rail?”

“I’ll bet she starves herself at home and saves her appetite
for Jack.” Lilly wriggled her pencil-thin brows.

Katie smoothed a tapered hand down the straight lines of
her blue, long-waisted dress and carefully crossed her legs,
resting her palm on a powdered knee beneath her short hem.
“I’ll have you know, Lilly Hansen, that I watch what I eat,
just like you and Gen.”

Genevieve’s round face wrinkled into a frown, forcing her
cupid-bow lips to pucker into a pout. “Yeah, we watch what
you eat too, and sheer logic says you shouldn’t fit in this
booth.” Her sigh was heavy. “I’ll take what she’s having,”
she announced in defeat.

Jack chuckled and massaged Katie’s shoulder. “Hear that,
doll? You’re a bad influence—both on Gen’s figure and my
wallet. Anybody want anything? I’m buying.” His gaze flitted
to the soda jerk bent over the chrome and leather stools
with a rag in his hand. Jack put two fingers to his teeth and
let loose with a deafening whistle. “Hey, kid, shake a leg—
we have an order.”

The “kid’s” body tightened as he rose to his full height,
revealing both a broad, muscled back and the fact that he
was anything but a kid. He turned in slow, deliberate motion,
eyeing the clock before facing them dead-on. A nerve
flickered in his angular jaw while his blue eyes glittered like
sapphire. He forced a smile as tight as the short sleeves of his
white button-down shirt—which, Katie hadn’t noticed before,
strained with biceps as intimidating as the man’s penetrating
gaze. “Sure thing, but we close in ten minutes. Sorry, sodas
and ice cream only.” He strolled to their booth with a casual
gait as steady and slow as the drawl that coated his voice like
hillbilly honey. “What’ll you have?”

Katie felt the tension in Jack’s manner as he cradled an arm
around her shoulders and lounged back against the booth,
eyes locked on the soda jerk with deadly precision. “I know
it’s late, but the lady here says she’s hungry. She wants a
hamburger and another Coke.”

The man’s blue eyes flicked to Katie and held, his cool smile
braising her cheeks with a rare blush. He nodded a head of
white-blond thatch toward a large sign over the jukebox. “I
sure do apologize, miss, but as you can plainly see, we don’t
serve entrees after nine.”

Katie blinked. Excuse me? And the world would end if
he cooked a hamburger after nine? Her stomach rumbled,
and she straightened her shoulders with willful resolve. The
thought of a thick, juicy hamburger taunted her—just like the
annoyingly calm look on the soda jerk’s face. Tilting her chin
in a coy manner, she gave him the shuttered smile that always
worked wonders on Jack. For good measure, she propped her
chin in her hand and resorted to a slow sweep of lashes. Her
tone softened to a husky plea. “Aw, come on now, mister, you
can make one teeny-tiny exception, can’t you? Just for me?
We’ll make it worth your while, I promise.”

His gaze shifted to the clock and back, and then he disarmed
her with a smile that made her forget she was hungry
for food. “I really wish I could, ma’am, but a rule is a rule.
But if I say so myself, my true talent lies in making one of
the best chocolate shakes in all of Boston.”

She stared, open-mouthed, his polite refusal slacking her
jaw. Despite the faint smile on his lips, his eyes seemed to pierce
right through her. A second rush of heat invaded her cheeks.
The nerve! A soda jerk and a mule! Katie’s eyes narrowed. If
there was one thing on God’s green earth she despised more
than not getting her own way, it was pushy, stubborn men
who dictated what she could and could not do.

Out of pure instinct and more than a bit of irritation, she
jutted her chin in the air and matched his gaze with a searing
one of her own. “Yes, well, it’s nice to know you have some
talent, but no thank you. Not even if they’re the best on the
Eastern seaboard. Let’s go, Jack.”

Jack drew her close while his thumb glazed the side of her
arm. “Come on, Katydid, settle down. I know you’re hungry,
but this guy is obviously new and doesn’t realize who we
are.” He cocked his head and flashed a patronizing smile.
“We’re some of Mr. Robinson’s best customers, kid. So, tell
me, what’s your name?”

Drawing in a deep breath, the “kid” shifted his stance and
exhaled. “The name is Luke.” He shot a glance at the clock,
then looked back. His gaze softened. “Look, I’m sorry, I really
am, but Pop Robinson sets the rules, not me. The grills take
forever to cool down, so we do them at nine. Hate to tell ya
this, but they’re already clean as a whistle and shut down for
the night. Now, I have to be somewhere at ten-thirty, but if
you give me your drink or ice cream orders, I’ll get them as
fast as I can.”

Katie started to rise, but Jack yanked her back down.

“That would be great, Luke, just great. Bring six of your
best chocolate shakes and six glasses of water, and we’ll be
on our way.”

“But I don’t want his stupid sha—”

“Hush, Katydid, I do, and if Luke here is nice enough to
make them for us, everything is jake.” He smiled again, all the
while fondling a golden tress of Katie’s smooth Dutch-Boy
bob that curved against her jaw. “Besides, you need something
in your stomach. I don’t want you cranky on the way
home.” As if to underscore his romantic hopes, his hand
absently caressed the long, pearl necklace that draped the
front of her dress. His fingers lingered along her collarbone
with a familiarity that deepened the already uncomfortable
blush on her cheeks.

“Sure thing,” Luke said, his eyes taking in the intimate
gesture with cool disregard. His gaze met and held hers for
several seconds, unnerving her with his apparent disapproval.
He turned away.

Her ire soared. “Extra whipped cream and sprinkles,” she
said in a clipped tone.

He turned and nodded, full lips pressed tight. “You bet.”
He started toward the counter.

“And don’t skimp on the cherries,” she called after him.
He kept walking, but the stiff muscles cording his neck
and back told her he’d more than heard. She forced a smile
to deflect her embarrassment and took a deep breath. “Well,
he’s a sunny individual, isn’t he? Night help must be hard
to come by.”

“At least he’s nice to look at,” Lilly said with a sigh.
“He’s a two-bit soda jerk, Lil, with more attitude than
brains.” Roger Hampton glanced at the soda counter with
disdain. “We oughta complain to Robinson.”

“Humph . . . he’s not that special,” Katie said. Her eyes
narrowed while she watched him scoop ice cream into the
mixer.

“Come on, Katie, you’re just miffed because you didn’t get
your hamburger. The man is a real sheik and you know it.”
Gen shot a look of longing across the room, then gloated
with a grin. “But it is nice to know all men don’t wrap around
your finger as easily as Jack.”

Jack honed in for a kiss. “Mmm . . . that’s not all I’d like
to be wrapped around,” he said in a husky tone.

Katie squirmed and pushed him away. “Behave, Jack, or
I’ll make your life miserable.”

He chuckled. “You already do, doll, but I love every minute.”

Ignoring Jack’s comment, Katie observed the soda jerk laboring
over six chocolate shakes and wrinkled her nose. “Get
your specs out, Gen,” she said, her temper still inflamed, “he’s
more of a hick than a sheik from where I’m sitting. I mean,
who has hair that color anyway? Blond straw, almost bleached
white. Old men and hicks, that’s who. And he doesn’t even
have the good sense or style to comb it back with Brilliantine,
for pity’s sake. I’ll bet under that shirt, he’s even got a
farmer’s tan. Let’s face it—the man’s a hayseed.”

Lilly and Gen sighed as they watched Luke work behind
the counter. “I believe I’d like a glimpse of that farmer’s tan,
wouldn’t you, Gen?” Lilly whispered with a giggle.

The frown stayed on Katie’s face until the soda jerk finally
returned, toting a tray of milkshakes. “Six Robinson’s specials.”
He deposited tall, frosty glasses to each at the table,
along with six glasses of water. He set Katie’s down last with
a considerable thud. One maraschino from the mountain of
cherries obscuring her milkshake rolled off, landing on the
table with a plop. “Enjoy,” he said with a stiff smile. “And
let me know if you need more. I wouldn’t want you to go
hungry.”

She swallowed hard, completely unsettled by his direct
gaze. “I will. Thank you.” He laid the ticket in front of Jack,
then returned to the back to finish cleaning up. She stared
at her shake and sighed, her appetite suddenly gone flat.
With another frown puckering her brow, she pretended to
sip, all the while watching Farm Boy wipe down the counter
out of the corner of her eye. Okay, all right—she’d give him
“good-looking,” but she’d bet he was dumb as a post. Her
eyes thinned as she took a token sip of her shake. And she
would lay money on the table that good looks was the only
box that character would fill on anyone’s checklist.

Her mood darkened. He was probably just the type of man
who was poison to women—strong, handsome, cocky . . .
controlling. How many times had she seen it? A man like that,
sweeping a woman off her feet only to pin her beneath his
thumb for the rest of her life. Katie tore her gaze from the soda
jerk to stare out the window, her jaw suddenly tight. A man
like her father, whose iron rule dictated her every move.
Katie blinked to dispel her sudden onslaught of guilt. Not
that she didn’t love her father. No, Patrick O’Connor was
the one man who Katie truly did respect and love, the one
man whose approval she longed to win with every fiber of
her being. A knot of hurt shifted in her throat. But it seemed
her father’s approval was something she’d never been able to
achieve, no matter how she’d excelled in school. Total submission
seemed to be all Patrick O’Connor wanted and the one
thing Katie couldn’t give, at least willingly. She sighed, his
words haunting her as she stared out the window. “You’re a
handful, Katie Rose, and God knows if I don’t keep you in
line now, some poor man will shoot me later.”

A handful. That’s all she had ever been while her older
sisters had always been “his girls.” A distinction that had
neatly separated her, not only from her father’s approval, but
from sisters almost seven to fourteen years older than she,
sisters she’d never related to. Women who had sought—and
found—a relationship like her parents—deep, loving, passionate.
And controlling. Resolve furrowed her brow. Well,
she loved her family, she did, but she wanted more than blind
submission to a man. She wanted a career and independence.
A chance to pry the thumb of male dominance off the heads
of a generation of women who were finally coming into their
own. Women who had won the right to vote, to have a career
and enjoy equal standing in a world where, up until now,
they’d only been second-class citizens.

“Hey, Katydid, wake up! You haven’t even touched your
shake.”

She jolted back. The others were staring and half done.
She gave him a feeble smile. “Sorry, Jack. Guess I’m not as
hungry as I thought.”
... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the Publisher:

1. Katie experienced ridicule and rejection from classmates as a young child, which colored her perception of herself and shaped her goals for her future. Have you ever experienced anything like this, and if so, how did it change you and your goals?

2. Luke and Parker had a deep friendship where they accepted each other for just who they were, just as God accepts us, which in the end manifested itself in giving of themselves to the other. Have you ever had a relationship like this where you laid your needs and desires aside for the needs and desires of the other person?

3. Luke’s friendship with Betty had an element of guilt in it, which affected his decision to marry her when he was actually in love with Katie. Have you ever made decisions based on guilt and if so, did they turn out well or did you regret them?

4. Marcy tells Katie that her grandmother told her to “always marry a man who loves you a little bit more than you love him.” Why do you think Marcy’s grandmother’s said this?

5. As the youngest child in a family with older sisters, Katie feels removed from her family, especially her father whose discipline she sees as controlling. Are there things or situations in your family that make you feel left out or removed and how do you think you can correct them?

6. Katie loved and respected her father and yet butted heads with him most of her life. Have you ever had conflict with a parent and if so, how were you able to remedy it or not?

7. Throughout the course of the book, Katie eventually draws close to her sisters, each of whom are separate and unique characters. Which of the O’Connor daughters do you relate to the most and why?

8. The shock of Patrick O’Connor’s near heart attack jolts the entire family, shifting their perspective as to what’s really important in life. Has this ever happened to you?

9. Katie has a clear-cut list of what she wants in a husband, but in Luke McGee, God obviously had someone else in mind. Did you or do you have a list of what you would like in a mate and why are those things important to you? What were/are the non-negotiables?

10. Luke and Katie are both strong-willed individuals bent on getting their own way. Do you think this kind of marriage can succeed, and if so, how?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Author Julie Lessman's web site

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