The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch

by Julia Brewer Daily

Overview

Emma Rosales is the heiress to the largest ranch in Texas-The Thorn. All of the responsibilities of managing a million acres now fall into her fifth-generation hands.

A task Emma could handle with her eyes closed... if The Thorn was any ordinary property.

The Thorn is home to many things. Clear, cloudless skies. Miles of desert scrub and craggy mountains. A quiet disrupted only by whispers of the wind. And an ancient web of secrets that won't let Emma out alive without a fight.

The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch is a family saga as large as the state of Texas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781955836111
Publisher:	Admission Press
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Julia Brewer Daily is a Texan with a southern accent. She holds a B.S. in English and a M.S. degree in Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has been a Communications Adjunct Professor at Belhaven University, Jackson, Mississippi, and Public Relations Director of the Mississippi Department of Education and Millsaps College, a liberal arts college in Jackson, MS. She was the founding director of the Greater Belhaven Market, a producers' only market in a historic neighborhood in Jackson, and even shadowed Martha Stewart. As the Executive Director of the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi (300 artisans from 19 states) which operates the Mississippi Craft Center, she wrote their stories to introduce them to the public. She is a member of the Writers' League of Texas, the Women's Fiction Writers' Association, The Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club, Writing the West, and the Women's National Book Association. Daily is the host of the popular podcast Authors Over 50 which celebrates debut authors after the age of 50. A lifelong southerner, she now resides on a ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas, with her husband Emmerson and Labrador retrievers, Memphis Belle and Texas Star.

Editorial Reviews

2022-10-23
An heir to a Texas ranch goes missing after stumbling upon a group of people living in caves on its grounds.

Twenty-two-year-old Emma Rosales is riding her horse Honey-Boy through the Thorn, her family’s Texas ranch, which is “a million acres and larger than the cities of Los Angeles and New York City combined.” She’s an only child and her family’s sole heir and, having just graduated from college, is ready to pick up the reins of ranch life. She’s saddened, however, that her classmate and crush Jeff Bower seems more interested in the ranch than her. During her outing, Honey-Boy falls and breaks his leg, forcing Emma to put him down. Now injured and struggling on foot, she crawls into a cave to sleep and soon discovers the People, who’ve long been “living life as if it were the sixteenth century.” Emma is held captive by the People for several months; the eldest leader, Chatpa, introduces her to grandson Kai, who wins the honor of being Emma’s husband. Emma and Kai are attracted to each other but remain chaste, instead bonding over their love of nature and healing methods. When illness and death invade the camp, the People blame Emma, who’s feverish herself. She begs Kai to help her return home to her despairing parents back at the Thorn. This novel is an adventure saga in which Emma comes to increasingly appreciate the People’s ways the longer she lives with them. The book also works as a winning wish-fulfillment romance, as sensitive, sexy Kai makes for an excellent alternative to loutish Jeff. The book’s alternations between the past and present, and the third-person perspectives of multiple characters, help to create some suspense before it arrives at its fairy tale–like conclusion. The novel’s most striking element, however, is its depiction of its Texas setting, encompassing awe-inspiring red sandstone cliffs and wild horses as well as the threats of rattlesnakes and raging thunderstorms.

A fantastical adventure/romance that most effectively celebrates the Lone Star State’s raw beauty.

Kirkus Reviews