When the world begins to crumble, love becomes the only refuge. In the soot-choked cities of Victorian America, black lung claims rich and poor alike. Lizzy West flees Baltimore’s dying streets with her family, seeking sanctuary in the untamed Arizona Territory, only to discover that survival demands sacrifices she never imagined. Marshal Brandon Cunningham protects the frontier town of Sagebrush, carrying the weight of his father’s legacy and haunted by scars from his past. But when a train arrives carrying refugees from the industrial apocalypse, one woman’s quiet strength threatens to crack the walls he’s built around his heart. As storms ravage the earth and society collapses, Lizzy and Brandon find solace in each other amid the chaos. But in a world where death stalks every doorway, their hard-won happiness may be the most fragile thing of all. This gritty, soul-stirring tale reveals the origins of the Forgotten Lands—where hope blooms in the harshest soil and love endures against impossible odds. Suggested Reading Order: Dust and Shadow Earth and Ember Tide and Tempest Borne of Sand and Scorn (prequel) Keywords: alternative history, post-apocalyptic western, Victorian adventure, young adult romance, coming of age historical fantasy, for fans of Amy Harmon (Where the Lost Wander) and Adrienne Young (Sky in the Deep), western romance, cowboys, native American, Indigenous, horseback riding, Arizona climate change, steampunk, Casey L. Bond, survival, desert, sweet romance, coming of age, prequel novella, American history, British history, dystopian adventure romance, science fiction,
