Blossom on the Road of Dreams: A Blossom Trilogy Novella

By Christopher Lentz

Fleeing the ashes and their past lives in San Francisco in 1906, lovers take the ultimate road trip on a path of no return...

She’s longing for a new life:
Spirited and independent, Blossom Sun is a misfit fortune-cookie maker who yearns for a place to fit in. She’s determined not to settle for the predictability of Chinatown. Fate makes this possible by destroying most of San Francisco and releasing her to make choices she never could have imagined.

He’s reinventing himself:
Torn between duty and desire, Brock St. Clair has been bewitched by Blossom. And he’s ready to risk everything to stay that way. Before vows are exchanged, he escapes a marriage of convenience and commerce. He’s a gentleman who prefers to get his hands dirty at his out-of-town ranch. This silver-fortune heir is free to create a new identity and build a new life with Blossom at his side.

They share a journey like no other:
Blossom on the Road of Dreams picks up the couple’s tale as they head to Southern California in a horse-drawn wagon. From the damaged splendor of the Winchester Mystery House to the shoreline of Santa Cruz to the serenity of the Santa Barbara Mission, their journey down The King’s Highway—El Camino Real—is anything but regal, pampered or easy. Second chances rarely are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Lentz
• Release date: Aug 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370191468

Christopher Lentz

Christopher Lentz is the acclaimed author of My Friend Marilyn (historical fiction, 2018) and The Blossom Trilogy (historical romance). His books are about hope, second chances, and outcasts overcoming obstacles. At their core, Lentz’s stories are about how love changes everything. Lentz made his mark as a corporate-marketing executive before becoming a full-time author. He’s kissed the love of his life atop the Eiffel Tower, climbed the Great Wall of China, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, and earned a paycheck dressing up as Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland. He lives in a haunted Victorian house and firmly believes that hoarding is okay if your stuff’s cool. Lentz resides in Southern California with his wife and family. Follow him on Twitter @AuthorLentz or Facebook @christopher.lentz.author. For more information, visit christopherlentz.org.

Book preview

A BLOSSOM TRILOGY NOVELLA

Christopher Lentz

About The Blossom Trilogy

Discover how love changes everything in this rags-to-riches and riches-to-rags romance series

Set against the vistas of the Golden State, the Blossom Trilogy has everything: the juxtaposition of rich and poor; the constraints and rules of a bygone age; the timeless clash of generations and traditions; the arrogance of man and the wrath of Mother Nature.

The lessons to be learned are clear. Life is uncertain. Love can be unshakable. The future is unknowable. The unthinkable is always possible.

The story brings together the variety of people who call California home. From the gold fields of Northern California to the whorehouses of San Francisco, and from the mansions of Pasadena to the new-born movie studios of Hollywood, the series embraces three vibrant generations of Americans.

With the first book, every turn of a page is a countdown to a doomsday face-off with disaster and the explosive power of blooming love. Think Titanic on land…land that’s burning and shaking. Blossom offers a sweeping view of life at the turn of the 20th century in San Francisco and an intimate portrait of the lives of those who experienced both unimaginable endings and new beginnings.

The second and third books, plus several bridging novellas, continue the saga by capturing the highs and lows of love told through the experiences of Southern California’s hardworking folks and glittering elite.

A truly original American tale, the Blossom Trilogy takes you back to times before our time, when much was different and yet much was the same, especially what motivates people: ambition, passion and jealousy, but, most of all, love.

"It’s impossible to not be immersed in this story of passion and

tragedy!"

—Midwest Book Review of Blossom

Praise For The Blossom Trilogy

And Christopher Lentz

Top 10 ranking on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list, Blossom, April 2015

Earth-shattering…an admirable debut.

—Kirkus Reviews

"Lentz describes the novel as ‘Titanic on land.’ It, too, features star-crossed lovers from different social classes, as a humble fortune-cookie maker meets the heir to a silver fortune. And it also builds suspense by letting readers know of an impending disaster the characters don’t expect."

—The Orange County Register

As chapters count down to the earthquake, events assume a vivid immediacy as secrets are revealed, family connections questioned, romance rears, and the streets of Chinatown come alive.

—Midwest Book Review

I enjoyed this novel very much…I rooted for Blossom throughout, even while feeling sorry for Clarissa who lived in a dream world. It all came crashing down during the earthquake and subsequent firestorm and decisions have to be made. What happens at the end will, I think, surprise you.

—Night Owl Reviews

A compelling story of the power of love…Lentz writes an amazing story—first rate!

—Anne Cleeland, acclaimed author of Daughter of the God-King

‘It’s love,’ Lentz says. ‘Love changes everything.’ He knows it’s cliché. But when you see Lentz in the Victorian mansion of his dreams, with his high school sweetheart by his side and his debut novel in his hand, you begin to believe him.

—The Tustin Times

"DISNEY’S MAIN STREET SPARKS A PASSION…A DREAM BLOSSOMS."

—The Orange County Register

Reader Reactions

5-star reader reviews from Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads

Too good to put down.

A beautifully written romance—from another time and place.

Terrific first effort by a new author.

Buy it now for a great vacation getaway read!

A wonderful love story…

Felt like I was right there in it!

A well-rounded love story with lots of suspense!

"Blossom is truly a great read that immerses you into a whole new world!"

Excellent story, characters with depth…

Learned a lot of interesting historical facts—just an extra bonus along the way!

As chapters count down to the earthquake, events assume a vivid immediacy as secrets are revealed, family connections questioned, romance rears, and the streets of Chinatown come alive.

Great, easy read.

"Blossom was a sumptuous story…easily a five-star book."

Also By Christopher Lentz

Blossom

Book One Of The Blossom Trilogy

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Blossom on the Road of Dreams

Published by Christopher Lentz at Smashwords

Copyright, © 2017 by Christopher Lentz

Cover and internal design by Bambi Crowell

This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book Blossom and Blaze by Christopher Lentz. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the author’s permission is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written approval must be obtained by contacting the author at www.christopherlentz.org.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of

the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial

purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own

copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my father, Richard Samuel Lentz, for taking the wheel in life—and navigating our family in a Buick on cross-country road trips each summer in the 1960s.

His love of the open road and taking risks, like packing up the Michigan house and heading west to Southern California in 1975 for a better life, is so much a part of who I am. It’s likely without his examples of stepping out and stepping up, I’d have never even dreamed of writing a novel.

This one’s for you, Dad. Thanks for loving me in your quiet, constant and unconditional way. And thanks for watching over me from heaven now.

"You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go."

—From Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss, 1990

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 — Departure

Chapter 2 — Heading South

Chapter 3 — Two Mares And A Spare

Chapter 4 — Breaking The Nightmare’s Grip

Chapter 5 — Stocking Up

Chapter 6 — The Mysteries Of Mrs. Winchester’s House

Chapter 7 — A Meal To Remember

Chapter 8 — King Neptune’s Casino

Chapter 9 — Ozzie’s Peep Shows

Chapter 10 — Storytelling

Chapter 11 — By The Fire’s Glow

Chapter 12 — Dining At Emily’s Emerald Café

Chapter 13 — The Queen Of California

Chapter 14 — Following The King’s Highway

Chapter 15 — A Broken Vow Of Silence

Chapter 16 — Swept Away

Chapter 17 — The Wheels Go Round And Round

Chapter 18 — Arrival

Thank You For Reading

Excerpt From Blossom And Blaze, Book Two Of The Blossom Trilogy

Reading Group Questions

A Conversation With Christopher Lentz

Acknowledgements

About Christopher Lentz

Chapter 1

Departure

Do you think we’ll get away with it? My voice wasn’t the least bit wobbly, though my stomach jerked with seismic shocks.

With what? Brock flicked the team’s reins.

Running away.

Nope.

I narrowed my eyes.

We’re not running away, he said. We’re running to.

Whew. You had me worried there for a second. I chose not to tell him I’d been worrying since we escaped the flaming, shaking remains of San Francisco a day ago.

He covered his mouth and cleared his throat. Road dust powdered my throat too, like the chalky flour of The Golden Palace bakery.

Hey neighbors. Where ya heading? Two men on horseback stepped out of a cluster of fog-veiled trees, blocking our way. They looked run-down. Seedy. Up to no good. Running away from something…in Frisco?

Brock nodded. Something like that. If you’ll move aside, we’ll be on our way.

They didn’t move. We’re heading to Frisco ourselves and haven’t had a meal in a long time. Anything you can spare? said the one with a tree-stump neck and a meaty face over-ripened by time.

He rode up on Brock’s side of the wagon. His arm shot out. He grabbed Brock by the neck of his shirt and jerked him to the ground.

You. Stay put. His words stabbed the moist air in front of me. His left shoulder rose sharply and his head cocked from what looked like an involuntary tick. Easy pickins. That’s what we got here, my friend, easy pickins.

The other man rode up beside me. Good. Nothing I like better than easy and pickins. He brayed like an excited mule. Glistening strands of spit bridged his ulcerated lips…lips that revealed a grimy grin. Through the grime, the grin looked like a too-used saw blade left out in the rain. He sucked back a load of phlegm with a wet and rumbling snort. Been far too long between meals and women for us, right Boss?

Why yes it has.

Brock’s groaning mixed with the sound of leather grinding on gravel. He must’ve been struggling to straighten up when Boss’s boot smashed Brock, slamming him against the side of the wagon. I squeezed my eyes shut just in time. Brock released a gut-deep growl that I shared with him.

I slid across the bench and reached down to help, but the other man pulled me back by the sleeve of my blouse. He climbed off his horse and onto the wagon’s bench. He wheezed and sneezed. With his snot-slick palm he forced my cheek to face him. Where do you think you’re going?

I wanted to shut my eyes again and block it all out. But I didn’t. I’d been through too much, seen too much, lost too much in the past week. Give in to panic? No. Puke? That was a real possibility.

As I fought the gnawing ache to shut my eyes, quick flashes of hair…too much hair…filled my eyes. Pouring out of the nostrils of his vulture-beak shaped nose. Hair climbing out of his ears.

His hot oniony breath seeped into my pores. I wanted to wash it off. No, scrub it off. He leered at me and breathed on me for ten thousand years. At least it seemed that way.

Boss dismounted and dragged Brock away from the wagon. He tied a rope around Brock’s chest, still heaving as he caught his breath. Shirt’s already bloody. Hmmmm, red, my favorite color.

He kicked Brock again. This time, he leaned against the wagon and got back on his feet while Boss climbed back on his horse, wrapped the rope around the horn of his saddle and dug in his spurs. Let’s go! He belched a laugh.

Before I could yell something, my captor yanked at me. I kept