DESERT PHOENIX

NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE BOOK AWARD WINNER!

"This is a mesmerizing story that has an irresistible appeal... Desert Phoenix—Inspired by a True Story features clever plotting, focused scenes, and superior storytelling." —The Book Commentary

"In the last two years I have read and reviewed over a hundred books. Bruggeman's book is easily in the top five, if not THE top!"— Host Thomas Riddell of The Writer's Lounge

A WOMAN WITH A PAST IS NOT A WOMAN WITHOUT A FUTURE. Amazon bestselling author, Suzette Bruggeman, delivers an engaging and evocative novel for fans of Yellowstone and 1883, and anyone whoprefers to "see the sparkle and smell the stench."

Nevada's mining district, 1901. At once a sweeping love story and a harrowing account of the harshness of the American Old West, this is the tale of a prostitute who gains an unlikely ally in her struggle for physical and emotional survival.

No longer young or fresh, Tempa is staring face to face with the whore's unholy trinity: alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide. While her best friend, Belle, has chosen laudanum, Tempa finds escape in literature, which she shares with the illiterate prostitutes in a book club-like setting at the cribs. Forced into prostitution as a girl after losing her family to yellow fever, Tempa also retains a sense of self-worth by using her knowledge of herbs to heal others.

When she nurses Henry—an idealistic, young German immigrant on the run from a man who has reason to want him dead—Tempa discovers a future she longs for but cannot allow herself to claim. So when the noose tightens around Henry's neck, she ransoms her life for his.

Based on local history and family stories passed down from Bruggeman's grandfather, Desert Phoenix interweaves Tempa's rise from the ashes of her old life with Henry's turbulent passage into manhood, and will satisfy lovers of happy endings.


*Contains mature themes, including non-graphic suicide and sexual assault.

"Full of both heart-wrenching and heart-warming moments, Desert