Lilly and Rosie, daughters of an empire coming of age in the roaring twenties, can have anything they want…except freedom.  Expected to marry well and to take the reins of the empire, they have their lives planned out for them. But, Lilly, Esme’s daughter longs to return home to Montana, to adventure outside the confines of New York City.  And Jinx’s daughter Rosie dreams of the bright lights of the newly emerging silver screen.  But following their dreams – from avant garde France, to Broadway, to the skies in the world of barnstormers and wing-walkers will take all their courage.  And if they find love, will they choose freedom or happily ever after?

 EXCERPT:

All Lilly had to do was hang on and ignore the echo of her arrogant words in her head. “I’m going to save your sorry hide.”

She clung to the cockpit edges of the biplane, the wind whistling in her ears, and rewound twelve hours, to the moment she’d found Truman in the bar.

A hole in the wall with a saggy wooden floor, the reek of whiskey embedded in the walls, and Truman saddled up to the counter, looking wrung out and testy as he considered another shot of whatever amber liquid he had in that glass.

“I think I understand now,” she’d said without greeting.

“You don’t understand anything,” Truman said, picking up his glass, studying the shiny liquid under the lights of the bar. A cigarette burned in the ashtray before him, a long char of untapped ash. He put down the glass without drinking and ran his thumb and forefinger through his eyes. “What could you possibly understand?”

“Why you don’t want me to wing walk.” She slid onto the bar stool and waved away the barkeep as if it might be completely natural for her to saunter into the seedy digs, as if she hadn’t spent nearly thirty minutes outside O’Paddy’s, willing herself the courage.

But, what did Marvel say as he drove out of town to Duluth? The show must go on.

Especially since they needed the money to pay for Moseby’s hospi­tal bills. Lilly touched Truman’s arm. “She’s going to live.”

“She may never walk again.” He looked at her hand on his arm. “I should’ve checked Eddie’s plane before she went up. It’s my respon­sibility to oversee all repairs.”

Repairs. Like the ones she’d done on the wing. “I’m so sorry, Truman.”

He closed his eyes. Drew in a breath. “I checked your work on Eddie’s plane after we returned from the hospital. It wasn’t your fault. The glue on your repair held. Moseby went through a different tear. The fabric was just weak, should have been replaced long ago. That’s on me.”

“Truman—you can’t protect everyone. Accidents happen, especially in flying.”

“Spoken by a person who doesn’t fly.”

“Then teach me.”

He gave a laugh, edged like a knife. “I don’t think so.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Of course you aren’t.”

“You need me. We already had to cancel the Detroit Lakes show. If you want Duluth to be a hit—if you want to pull out of the financial abyss we’re in, you need a wing walker. Me.”

A muscle pulled in his jaw. He took a drink then looked at her, his red eyes glassy. “Why do you want to throw away your life so much?”

She met his eyes then eased the glass from his hand. Set it on the counter.

“I don’t want to throw away my life, Truman. But you seem to want to.” Then she moved over to him, tucked her arm around his waist. “I’m taking you back to your plane. And in the morning, you’re going to take me flying so I can save our little show.”

******

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into my new upcoming book Baroness

Susie May