In 1856 St. Louis, Basil Fitzpatrick has his pick of the ladies, but the one who captures his attention is Temperance Jones. But she's bound for Oregon, and he can't have her.
Basil Fitzpatrick was born into a life of privilege. In 1856, at 23 years of age, he is the owner of the St. Louis branch of the family banking business. He has his pick of the ladies and life by the horns. Temperance Jones and her family are far from privileged. Her father is a circuit-riding preacher from Pennsylvania. But the rumblings of a war between the North and the South force the preacher to move his family to Oregon rather than to take up arms against his fellow man. However, hardship and sickness have slowed their pace, and they are forced to spend the winter in St. Louis, waiting for the next wagon trains to leave in the spring.
Basil is drawn to the large family the moment they roll into town, partly because they remind him of his own big family in New York. But also because of the eldest daughter, Temperance. She is a tiny, no-nonsense spitfire who is bent on fulfilling her father’s wish to get the family safely to Oregon. Basil is only interested in finding a mistress, not a wife. He knows if he allows Temperance into his heart, he is accepting the obligation of her entire family and their quest to settle in Oregon. He wants Temperance like he has wanted no other, but the burden of her family may be too much for him. And he can’t have one without the other.
Excerpt
Temperance sputtered and fumed, breathing fire as the door to Basil’s apartment staircase closed behind him. That no-good, self-centered ass! How dare he say their friendship had been destroyed by her ambition! If they’d truly been friends, he would have stood by her and championed her clever attempts to get her family moved westward. But once he introduced her to Jake, it was as if he’d turned his back on her. She could take him turning his back on her as a woman, but not as a friend. She yanked open the door and ran up the stairs.
“How dare you!” She didn’t bother to knock at the top of the steps, she was so angry.
He turned to face her, but didn’t reply.
“Well? How dare you say that I’m the one who turned away from your friendship? You’ve become my best friend here in town, Basil, and I miss our good times. You never come to the restaurant anymore, and you barely talk to me at all here. Do you want me to quit? To leave?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“If you know what’s best for you, leave, right this minute.”
“Why? Because you’ll tell me something I don’t want to hear?”
Basil crossed the room to her in two strides. He placed his hands on either side of her face and growled, “Not because of what I’ll tell you, but because of what I’ll do.” He lowered his mouth to hers, crushing her tender lips beneath his own.
Professional Reviews
Banking On Temperance
I find I am at a loss when it comes to words to describe how much I adore Becky Lower’s historical novels. The Reluctant Debutante is one of my favorite books of all time, The Abolitionist’s Secret was fantastic, and Banking on Temperance is breathtakingly beautiful. How Ms. Lower arrives at her fabulously clever book titles and character names, I’ll never know, but her cleverness at creating a family named entirely after spices was topped in this book with a family named after the virtues. Since book one, I’ve been waiting for Basil—the devil-may-care playboy—to meet his match, and in my wildest dreams, I could not have envisioned the perfection that was Temperance—an astonishingly stubborn woman whose name is one of the greatest misnomers of all time. With a cast of secondary characters that is near-epic in its scope, Banking on Temperance delivered a captivating story on a grand scale that I could not have put down to save my life. The Cotillion Ball series is headed directly toward the Civil War, and I know I will be picking up all of Lower’s books to find out just what role these amazing characters will play in one of the most important historical eras of American history.
Author Becky Lower hits her stride in the pages of “Banking on Temperance,” the third installment of her wonderful Cotillion Ball series.
Ms. Lower whets our appetite on page one when she gives us Basil Fitzpatrick, the brother and playboy of the Fitzpatrick household whom we met in Ms. Lower’s first and second books, “The Reluctant Debutante” and “The Abolitionist’s Secret.” At last, we will get to know this scoundrel better.
The year is 1856 and yet, the minute we meet Temperance Jones, we realize she could easily step into the 21st century as a role model for women who work hard to achieve their goals. After her father dies, she shoulders the burden of her family’s survival, determined to fulfill a deathbed promise to move them West, despite any and all obstacles standing in her way. Much to his dismay, Basil finds himself involved in her struggle, a role that threatens his bachelorhood and his own determination to avoid commitment. The reader mentally rubs her hands together as the pages turn. Basil has surely met his match.
Ms. Lower sweetens the experience by bringing back Ginger and Joseph Lafontaine, that long-haired Indian who makes our stomachs flutter. Ginger is a champion of women’s rights and when she and Temperance become friends, they make a formidable pair.
We’re invested in Temperance and her challenges, the weariness of her toil seeping into our own bones, and irritated at Basil for denying his true emotions. Men can be pretty stupid in the face of true love and Basil, who worries about heartburn, is no exception. Our emotions ride the same roller coaster as Temperance and Basil, anxious to read the outcome.
If you are a fan of historical romances, or a Becky Lower fan, you want to be sure to add “Banking on Temperance” to your bookshelf. I could not put this book down.
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