A Love so Legendary With Special Introduction Edition: Harvey House Series, #1

By ELLEN ANDERSON and Katie Wyatt

 Authors Ellen Anderson and Katie Wyatt

Special Introduction Edition

When Fred Harvey decided to start a restaurant chain, determined to give railroad passengers better culinary experiences than he himself had had on his many train journeys, he didn't know that he would be doing far more than jumpstarting America's restaurant industry.

Harvey Houses (and eventually, hotels) became known for their outstanding quality, standardized from place to place so you always knew that if you ordered steak, for instance, it would be the exact same high quality, no matter the restaurant. However, the real appeal of Fred Harvey's industry, the reason so many people still remember his businesses today, is because of the Harvey Girls.

Far more than mere waitresses, the Harvey Girls were a group of courageous young women who ventured west to hire on with Mr. Harvey, not really knowing the scope of the challenges they would be facing. Ultimately, these women became the wives, mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, and grandmothers who helped populated the west.

Using the work experience they gained at Harvey Houses, they also became some of the country's first female archaeologists, architects, doctors, lawyers, etc. In truth, Harvey Houses were a springboard for the women who helped shape the western half of the United States, in more ways than one, and this introduction to the series unfolds that riveting story.

Then, Book 1 of the Harvey Girl series, A Love So Legendary, tells the story of the first New Mexico Harvey House, set in the rough and tumble, isolated little town of Raton. When Mary Jane Colter hires on as a Harvey Girl, she has dreams that few women of her day and age are allowed to fulfill.

Then she meets Tom Gable, the Raton Harvey House manager, and not only finds the love of a lifetime but a man who might just help her chase her wild dreams. Then a dangerous mystery puts their brand-new relationship to the test and risks their very lives.

Love and legend collide as Mary Jane and Tom walk right out of the pages of history and into a timeless romance that could only ever take place in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment.

HARVEY HOUSE SERIES

BOOK 1 A Love So Legendary

BOOK 2 A Love So Untamed

BOOK 3 A Love So Faithful

BOOK 4 A Love So Unstaged

BOOK 5 A Love So Miraculous

BOOK 6 A Love So Healing

BOOK 7 A Love So Bold

BOOK 8 A Love So True

BOOK 9 A Love So Devoted

BOOK 10 A Love So Eternal

BOOK 11 A Love So Courageous

BOOK 12 A Love So Enchanting

Historical western romance short story series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royce Cardiff Publishing House
• Release date: Dec 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386343424

Book preview

A LOVE SO LEGENDARY HARVEY HOUSE SERIES BOOK 1

A LOVE SO LEGENDARY HARVEY HOUSE SERIES BOOK 1

WITH SPECIAL INTRODUCTION EDITION HISTORICAL WESTERN ROMANCE

ELLEN ANDERSON

KATIE WYATT

Royce Cardiff Publishing House

Copyright © 2018 by Ellen Anderson

Copyright © 2018 by Katie Wyatt

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Dear Reader,

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It is our utmost pleasure and privilege to bring these wonderful stories to you. I am so very proud of our amazing team of writers and the delight they continually bring us all with their beautiful clean and wholesome tales of, faith, courage, and love.

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What is a book’s lone purpose if not to be read and enjoyed? Therefore, you, dear reader, are the key to fulfilling that purpose and unlocking the treasures that lie within the pages of this book.

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING A INSPIRATIONAL READS BY ROYCE CARDIFF PUBLISHING HOUSE.

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AS A THANK YOU WE WOULD LOVE TO GIVE YOU A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION OF BOOKS BY OUR MARVELOUS AUTHORS

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CLICK HERE TO PICK UP YOUR FREE INSPIRATIONAL READS

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Welcome and Enjoy!

Contents

A PERSONAL WORD FROM AUTHORS

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION EDITION

1. 1800’s America

2. Fred Harvey

3. Fred and the Railroad

4. The Idea

5. The Harvey Girls

6. Being a Harvey Girl

7. The Harvey Way

8. Harvey Hotels

9. Newsstands and Fine Dining on the Rails

10. Fred’s Legacy

11. Bibliography

A LOVE SO LEGENDARY

Prologue

1. Attitude Counts

2. The Harvey Way

3. Just Like the Others

4. Trouble’s Back in Town

5. First Service

6. Head in the Clouds

7. The Legend

8. Sworn to Secrecy

9. A Pleasant Surprise

10. Tragedy

11. A Solemn Promise

12. Dangerous Ground

13. Missing

14. The Map

15. New Possibilities

Epilogue

Separating Fact From Fiction

Bibliography

Next book sample

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

A PERSONAL WORD FROM AUTHORS

We want to thank you for all your continued support for all of our bestselling series. We wouldn’t be where we are now without all your help. We can’t thank you enough!

We had a lot of fun writing this series about adventures, hardships, hopes, loves, and perseverance. Writing this Historical Western Romance was a magical time.

We sure hope you enjoy reading it!

Ellen and Katie

HARVEY HOUSE SERIES

BOOK 1 A Love So Legendary

BOOK 2 A Love So Untamed

BOOK 3 A Love So Faithful

BOOK 4 A Love So Unstaged

BOOK 5 A Love So Miraculous

BOOK 6 A Love So Healing

BOOK 7 A Love So Bold

BOOK 8 A Love So True

BOOK 9 A Love So Devoted

BOOK 10 A Love So Eternal

BOOK 11 A Love So Courageous

BOOK 12 A Love So Enchanting

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION EDITION

1800’s America

If today’s world sometimes seems turbulent and far too fast-changing, spare a thought for what America in the 1800s looked like. Numbers aren’t nearly as interesting as historical legends romances, but they give you a framework for the people of the time.

In 1800, the U.S. had approximately five million people (as a general reference, total world population was one billion), spread throughout 16 states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The biggest cities, by population, were New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

In other words, we were still pretty small. Our population was minuscule, compared to today. But get this, because this number is astounding:

According to the official 1800 U.S. census, the population increased 35% from 1790 to 1800! By 1840, our population would be 17 million. And the country’s own territorial growth kept pace with this population explosion, partially made up of immigrants.

Here’s a brief summary of how we went from 16 states in 1800 to 45 by 1900:

In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase—828,000 square miles—doubled our land.

In 1819, Spain ceded us Florida.

In 1845, we annexed Texas.

In 1846, we took control of what was known as Oregon Country from Great Britain.

In 1848, after the Mexican-American War, we gained an additional 500,000 square miles, which became modern-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

In 1867, we bought Alaska.

In 1898, Hawaii was annexed.

Suffice to say, these were wildly exciting times—and dangerous ones, too! All this change involved four wars—The War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War—and countless seismic changes that were both cultural and geographical.

In 1800, there were no phones, no electricity (no street lights at all), no passenger trains, no cars, no airplanes, and just the very early stages of steamboats. There was no running water, no heating or air-conditioning (other than fires and windows), and no toilets (outhouses, yes. Lots of them!) Thomas Jefferson hadn’t been president yet, and Abraham Lincoln wasn’t even born.

If you looked around you, depending on your location, you’d see rolling prairies, still boasting a sizeable buffalo population; ancient, seemingly impenetrable forests; vast meadows; or deserts as far as the eye could see. You’d still see Native Americans living the way they did before people encroached on their territory, though they were increasingly being forced off their lands. You’d see stagecoaches, covered wagons, men on horseback, and probably some gunfights. You’d see plenty of slavery, since the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t happen until 1863.

Something else you’d likely see, again, depending on where you were, were very limited women’s rights. In 1800, women couldn’t vote. Typically, once a woman was married, any property she had was legally turned over to her husband. If a woman got divorced (rare), the man got custody of any children. If a woman had a job, her wages usually went to her husband, but jobs were very limited. A woman might teach, could possibly fight her way into a job as a journalist, or maybe a secretary. Jobs like medicine, for instance, remained officially closed until later in the 1800s, though that doesn’t mean some women didn’t bend the rules and get a headstart.

Essentially, a woman living in America at the turn of the century was expected to be a mother and a wife, first and foremost. Her job was to obey her husband and nurture her children. Beyond that sphere of home life, women found it very difficult to find societal acceptance.

Fred Harvey was one man who helped change all that, on his way to revolutionizing the United States dining and tourism industry.

If you've ever walked into a franchise restaurant—say McDonald’s—and ordered a burger, expecting it to be exactly the same quality as the one you had in a different city—you may want to thank Fred Harvey. (He has plenty of fans today, who call themselves Fredheads.) Comparing Fred Harvey’s establishments to modern day fast food is a little bit of a step-down, given the elegance Harvey strove for, but it’s an apt comparison, nevertheless. Before Ray Kroc’s Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value, there was the Harvey Way.

Fred Harvey

Fred Harvey was born in London in 1835, the son of a hard-working tailor who was very nearly bankrupt by the time Fred turned eight. The Harvey family struggled along, with Fred and his two younger sisters following their parents from one rented apartment to the next around London, depending on what they could afford. Eventually, Fred moved in with an aunt, and it’s generally agreed that he sailed to New York in 1853, at the age of 17. Coincidentally, New York was holding a giant world fair that drew masses of tourists. Fred had no way of knowing, at that early stage, that one day tourism would be synonymous with his name.

Like many immigrants both then and today, Fred was willing to take whatever job was available in order to pay his way. He started out as a dishwasher at a busy restaurant, Smith & McNell’s, and eventually graduated to a variety of positions including waiter cook. While Fred learned the ways of his new country, he also kept a close eye on the business establishment where he spent his days, learning the ins and outs of the restaurant trade.

By 1859, 23-year-old Fred became an American citizen and moved to Missouri, where he married, had his first son, and tried his hand at opening a restaurant of his own with a business partner, William Doyle. The business was relatively successful, until the Civil War started in 1861. Fred was strongly against slavery and argued with Doyle, who then stole their combined savings and joined the Confederate Army.

Fortunately, Fred had a way with people, and one particular person, a riverboat captain who had been a frequent customer at Fred’s restaurant, took him under his wing and taught him about the mail business—the mail business on the Missouri, that is. Again, Fred listened and learned about restaurants as he spent his days on boats, feeding passengers, monitoring scheduling, staffing, and the business’ complex daily logistics.

After an illness that nearly killed him, Fred continued in the mail business, this time riding America’s fledgling railways, delivering mail after the Pony Express was shuttered. Sadly,