On Saturday my husband and I met this man who wrote a book about his great grandfather. Listening to his story was so inspiring and had me thinking about this book all weekend. I really wanted to share his story and the links to buy his book. It is a beautiful told writing inspired by his family!! I hope you all read this and buy!!!

Meet John Babb:

 In 1849, my great-grandfather ran away from his home and an abusive step-mother at the age of 8 in an attempt to find his father, who was headed to the California gold-fields. Young B.F. Windes trekked from Indiana, across the great American desert, to the aptly named Hangtown. After spending ten years in California, he found himself in the Gulf of Mexico with his own ship, running the Union blockade of southern ports during the Civil War.
His travels led him to meet quite a few reprobates, scoundrels, and thieves – among them Jim Bridger, Three-Fingered Jack, Joaquin Murietta, Lola Montez, Bloody Bill Anderson, and Tuck Smith. After the war, he purchased land and a mercantile store in the Missouri Ozarks in an attempt to settle down with a beautiful young woman, and lead a peaceful life. But the bushwackers had other plans.
Although labeled historical fiction, much of “Orphan Hero – A Novel of the Civil War” is related as it was told to me by my grandmother, my aunt, and my father. Additionally, B.F. Windes kept a journal of his adventures, which I was able to read many years ago. So the thread of the story is true – at least according to my family’s oral history – but all of the gaps are filled with what I imagine might have occurred.
Great pains have been taken to assure the historical accuracy of this book, including my visiting almost every location mentioned in the story, as well as related museums, libraries, and battlefields. I have also incorporated my background as an Assistant Surgeon General in the U.S. Public Health Service with a number of anecdotes related to folk medicine, old wives, tales, and the profession of medicine as practiced in the middle of the 19th century.
When my last duty station placed me in Kansas City, Missouri, I pointed out to my wife that our new home was less than a quarter mile from the old Oregon/California/Santa Fe Trail, which B.F. Windes had traveled on his way west. She gave me one of those blue-eyed stares and said, “So now is your chance to write his story.” And I always do what my wife says.

About the Book
From a former US Assistant Surgeon General comes the epic tale of a young man’s struggle to survive a journey across America during the Civil War. Told by his stepmother that he alone had been responsible for the death of his mother, abandoned by the earlier departure of his father for the California 1849 goldfields, and threatened with being locked in a cage with his stepmother’s psychotic brother, eight-year-old Benjamin Franklin B.F. Windes decides to abandon home and trail his father’s path. Thus begins a trip of constant struggle with disease, severe weather, hardship, Indian attack, and death on his lone journey across much of what is now the United States. B.F. spends the next eleven years in gold rush towns in California–first as a barber, then as a physician’s assistant–before departing for the Caribbean at age nineteen, where he becomes a blockade-runner during the American Civil War. At war’s end, he discovers that the men he had been dealing with were nothing more than common murderers and thieves–Bushwhackers. He travels to the Missouri Ozarks where he meets the girl of his dreams. But their romance is threatened when he finds himself battling a man from his past in order to safeguard his family and his future. Orphan Hero, based on the life of the author’s great-grandfather in the mid-nineteenth century, is a tale of courage and perseverance in the face of incredible hardship.

BUY LINKS:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Hero-Novel-Civil-War-ebook/dp/B011H518Z2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Hardcover: http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Hero-Novel-Civil-War/dp/1631580493/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Audible:  http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Hero-Novel-Civil-War/dp/B013V9Y8T0/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Synopsis:

Cole Masten. Abandoned by his superstar wife, Hollywood’s Perfect Husband is now Hollywood’s Sexiest Bachelor: partying hard and screwing even harder. Move over Colin Farrell, there’s a new bad boy ruling Los Angeles.
Summer Jenkins. That’s me, a small town girl stuck in Quincy, Georgia. I cook some mean chicken and dumplins, can bluff a grown man out of his savings in poker, and was voted Most Friendly my senior year. Other than that… I don’t have too much going on.

We were from different worlds. Our lives shouldn’t have collided. But when Cole Masten’s jet landed in our country airport, we all sat up in our rocking chairs and watched. And when an opportunity crossed my path, I jumped at the chance.

But I didn’t expect what ended up happening. I didn’t expect Cole Masten to be an ass, or to pursue me, or for everything to get tangled up around set riggings, camera cords, bra straps and heartstrings.

Sometimes, opposites just aren’t meant to attract.

▼ GOOD READS ▼

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25802884-hollywood-dirt?from_search=true&search_version=service_impr

▼ PRE-ORDER ▼

Preorder at a 40% savings!

nook: http://googl/I4zClF

iBooks: https://goo.gl/XRi5tG

kobo: https://goo.gl/NqLnFX

Amazon: Preorder will go live on September 3rd

Author Info:
Alessandra Torre is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of ten novels. Her books focus on romance and suspense, all with a strong undercurrent of sexuality. Torre has been featured in such publications as Elle and Elle UK, co-hosted Dirty Sexy Funny with Jenny McCarthy, as well as guest blogged for the Huffington Post and RT Book Reviews. She is also the Bedroom Blogger for Cosmopolitan.com.

You can learn more about Alessandra on her website at http://www.alessandratorre.com, or you can find her on Twitter (@ReadAlessandra) or Facebook.

Connect With The Author:

Website: http://www.alessandratorre.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlessandraTorre0
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReadAlessandra
Goodreads Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6452845.Alessandra_Torre?from_search=true
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Alessandra-Torre/e/B0095WFMGQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1414686834&sr=8-2-ent
TSU: https://www.tsu.co/alessandratorre
You Tube Chanel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoc0NYWzikybgJs8GgX_AA
Newsletter: http://www.nextnovel.com

*Super Enticing Giveaway from Aimee Shaye and Kindra Sowder*

With PROOF of purchase of Kindra Sowder’s Follow the Ashes and Follow the Screams (Books one and two of The Executioner Series), AIMEE is giving away e-book copies of her adult Dark-Fantasy Novel, Destroyed, and e-book copies of her erotica, Forbidden Lust. Links are below!
****APPLIES TO EVERYONE WHO BUYS THE EXECUTIONER BOOKS BETWEEN AUGUST 4 AND AUGUST
10******

Ease Read!! This is Awesome

★★★★ NEW AUDIOBOOK RELEASE ★★★★
Experience the vivid storytelling of the Reader’s Favorite “5 Star Review” recipient in a way you never have before. Narrated by the talented Kristin James, the book comes to life! Hear the tears, the laughter, the emotion… and be ready to fall in love again with The Falling of Love.

You will never forget your first date, your first kiss, or your first love. You’ll also never forget how it felt when it was torn apart.

Seventeen-year old Grace Hathaway does not give much thought to falling in love, until the day that Ian Taylor, rebel and misfit walks into her math class. From their first conversation, Grace is mesmerized by Ian’s charisma and rock star façade.

Ian Taylor, a seventeen-year old kid from the wrong side of the tracks tries to ignore the feelings he has for Grace, but is captured by her caring, non-judgmental personality from the moment they meet. Grace becomes Ian’s everything and there is nothing he will not do for her. Hurting her was never part of his plan.

***Recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content, drug use, and strong language.***
The Falling series
The Falling of Love – Falling 1
The Falling of Grace – Falling 2 (Coming soon)
The Falling of Hope – Falling 3 (Final book in the series – Coming soon)
Michelle’s book – A Falling series spinoff (coming soon)

Available on Audible and coming in the next few days to iTunes and Amazon.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/The-Falling-of-Love-Audiobook/B012XZIRXQ