Iron Horse King (American Royalty #2)

He is the Iron Horse King. Jacob Ramsey is arrogant, determined and brash. His task is of epic proportions…Lincoln wants the transcontinental railroad to help win the Civil War…but everyone wants and needs this railroad to get across the country. Ramsey must build the transcontinental railroad to connect the East to the West and he can only accomplish this feat through sheer will, bold actions and hard work. Ramsey makes a devil’s deal with the government. If he and his partners can not lay the tracks within a certain amount of time, they will lose everything, including all of their personal money. But if they win the race…Jacob Ramsey will become a very wealthy man.

Ramsey might have started out selling oranges and newspapers on a street corner in Troy at the age of nine, but he plans to rule the world. It is an impossible task for a man who has no experience or education for this seemingly unattainable endeavor. With his hearty laugh and will of iron, Jacob takes on one of the greatest construction projects in U.S. History. He has no intention of losing this race despite the impossible odds.

When a young woman tries to force her way on this his train, Ramsey sends her packing. He has no time for a nagging difficult woman who wants to ride out to the railhead to find her brother who has most likely abandoned track-laying to chase gold.

Mary Rose is a suffragette who wants to build her own dress designing business and live in Paris. She is not in the least bit impressed by the bull of a man they call the Iron Horse King. As far as she is concerned Ramsey is an overbearing bafoon. She prefers educated docile men … her intellectual equals. Of course, Mary Rose has no use for men anyway because she has bigger plans for herself. Besides, she has been following the women’s movement in Paris, and men are not part of that plan.

Ramsey is the epitome of what Mary Rose hates about men. However, she needs a ride on his train to the railhead to find her brother who left to help in the grand construction. Unfortunately, nothing can persuade the Iron-headed-bully to take her onto his train. So Mary Rose decides to dress as a young man and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Ramsey reluctantly agrees to allow the “boy” named “Martin” to come along and help with laying the track. Time spent working at the railhead was just the thing for the lad to build muscle and character…too bad Martin cannot even lift a spike-hammer! Worse, he is a sissy…drinks tea and reads girl books!

This epic journey of love and adventure is a romantic interpretation based on the facts surrounding the building of the transcontinental railroad in the U.S. This book is inspired by Charles Crocker, the real Iron Horse King and his amazing story. American Royalty is a special kind of self-made royalty, earned by hard work and determination and he was just that kind of royalty. Only in America could a young man who sold newspapers at the age of 12 to support his family, with no formal education, rise up and become an Iron Horse King and change the entire face of the United States. This is the second book in the American Royalty series dedicated to the royalty through capitalism that made America great.