GO WEST FOR LUCK, GO WEST FOR LOVE

By Mardie Schroeder

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

September 1, 2024 (San Diego) -- Mardie Schroeder, resident of North Park in San Diego, wrote Go West for Luck, Go West for Love, a wonderful story that depicts the adventures of a family’s members over four generations.

Schroeder starts her story back in the old west. Benjamin Harrison Johnson leaves a town where he has been sheriff. Wherever he goes, he rescues and befriends people. A slick poker player, he wins a ramshackle homestead, the Six Bar Ranch and the owner’s son—Joseph, whom he adopts.

Discovering oil, having his house burned to the ground by outlaws, and inviting Indians to corral and train wild horses on his land start this fast-paced saga. Benjamin Harrison Johnson believes the ranch belongs to Joseph and gives it to his adopted son. We get to know Joseph and see him marry and make the ranch his own.

Here is an excerpt:

When Benjamin Harrison Johnson rode out of town, he left behind his partner and best friend, his badge, a salary, and a woman who told him no one had treated her with such a tender heart and respect.

One thing he knew for sure—he would not be back. He easily left behind the badge, the salary and the woman. His partner, Virgil, was another matter.

How one man could change so drastically was something he would have plenty of time to ponder.

Years of working with a man every day, of riding together all day, sitting around a campfire, and sharing a bottle or two, you’d think you could predict what he would do from one minute to the next. Seems like you never really know what’s deep within a man’s heart.

Joseph’s son, Joe, Jr., dies tragically at the ranch while training a wild horse. His wife, Olivia, a famous horse trainer, retreats to a convent in Rome. Friends persuade her to train an Arabian horse for the Olympics. She finds herself, with the horse, on a boat that catches fire. She and the horse leap from the sinking boat and find themselves on an island in the Bahamas. There she meets and has a romance with a mysterious man — John — who refuses to tell her his past. That’s when things get interesting and more than a little mysterious. Benjamin Harrison Johnson could never have imagined the tragedies and misadventures that his descendants would face. But in the end, it is the Six Bar Ranch that helps them heal and thrive.

This book is hard to put down. I highly recommend Schroeder’s debut novel and hope that she produces more delightful novels. Order a copy on www.mardieschroeder.com or http://www.amazon.com/Go-West-Luck-Love/dp/1517116570.

The author calls on her many years as an avid horse person, from participating in wilderness horse adventures, to learning a holistic method of training and treating injured horses. She lived and worked a number of years in London and Rome.

She currently lives in San Diego and is a member of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild.