Backwards to Oregon

By: Jae

Narrated by: Hayden Bishop

Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

“Luke” Hamilton has always been sure she’d never marry. She accepted that she would spend her life alone when she chose to live her life disguised as a man.

After working in a brothel for three years, Nora Macauley has lost all illusions about love. She no longer hopes for a man who will sweep her off her feet and take her away to begin a new, respectable life.

But now, they find themselves married and on the way to Oregon in a covered wagon, with 2,000 miles ahead of them.

©2017 Jae (P)2019 Ylva Publishing

Backwards to Oregon

This is one of my favorite books I love a story told in the past for the LGBT community it's hard to find books that would take you into the past Sarah Waters does a good job of it but her books are not of the United States so it was nice to hear a story about the migration that my ancestors took and what it might have been like if someone like me was to have traveling that lonely road back then thank you for writing this book Jae you are a Great author. ps. Hayden Bishop was the perfect voice for this book ☺

Excellent!

WOW! I loved the audio edition of Backwards to Oregon. I had already read the book. The audio is a great compliment to the book and really adds to the story. Hayden Bishop does an excellent job with the narration.

ABSOLUTELY loved this book

I don't generally go for historical romance in the Lesfic world... we know history sucks for lgbt+ people. but this book, from page one to last it was phenomenal. loved the writing the narrators story telling ability. awwwwwweeeesssoommmeeeeee story. highly recommend

Fantastic

I loved this one. The story was great. The characters were funny and engaging. I never experienced many dull moments throughout this book, I was pretty much sucked in the whole time. You're just waiting for the secrets to come out! I loved Luke. Such a great character. I would totally read a series like this, each with their own "cowboy" twist lol.

Anyways, I would recommend. The narrator was good. The voices were different and consistent. The kids voices were great lol.
I think even if you're not into "historical" type romances, this one is still a great read. So try it!

Couldn't stop

From the first word spoken to the last I could not stop listening, I was hooked. I felt all of Luke's insecurities and her determination to do the honorable thing. Nora's determination to give her daughter the best life she could, doing whatever she had to do. The slow way the two of them move from acquaintances to married, friends to lovers. Learning about each other along the way. How much love there is between Luke and Amy, how much concern Luke has for the baby on the way. How the love grows between Luke and Nora. You just know that Luke loves this family that she has made for herself, and she is willing to do anything to protect her family. I really hope I don't have to wait forever for the sequel to this great book.

An absolutely terrific listen!

HOW did it take me this long to experience this book?!? I'm still making my way through Jae's published works and after 11 of them so far, I have to say that this is in my top 2 of hers (the other being Perfect Rhythm) and way up there on my all-time favorites list. The painstaking research that went into this was apparent and I was completely riveted by the story. The detail was so amazing that it felt like I was riding right along with their wagon train from Independence, Missouri to Oregon. It was fascinating, it was impressive, it was exciting, it was frightening and at times utterly beautiful. I am a die-hard romantic and Jae has written two of the most beautiful love scenes I've ever read. One in this book, and one in Perfect Rhythm. The consent, communication and tenderness in these scenes are what take them from merely sex to the most intimate of lovemaking. This one had me clutching my chest. I have not read the physical book yet, but the audio version was beautifully narrated by Hayden Bishop. She really brought the story to life - and it wasn't easy to do as there were three main characters (one of them being a three year old child) and a variety of secondary characters. Her tone was just perfect for this work. This is one of those books where you fall in love with the characters and story so much, you just don't want to let them go. I am so thankful there are short stories and a sequel to this, so I don't have to say goodbye just yet! I just couldn't be more impressed by what Jae did here. Incredible book. If I could give this more than five stars, I absolutely would.

Great book!

Loved it! I Loved the story and the characters. It was longer than I'm used to, but it kept me interested and waiting for what's going to happen from the beginning. The narrator did an amazing job.

P.S. I think the narrator's voice is kind of amazing.

Yippie Kai Yay!

I thought this book was the perfect amount of pioneer history and lesbian romance. A lot of fun facts about the Oregon Trail, too. I really enjoyed the diversion. It's so rare to find a book like this and it was really well written. I would definitely recommend it.

Jae's best

This book made me a Jae fan. She said it was her first book and, in my opinion, it is also her best. The 15 hours didn't feel that long, and by the end of the story, I wanted still another chapter on the lives of these pioneering women. I hope Jae makes an audiobook of the sequel.

Lots of promise

This story has lots of promise and I was very excited to read it, but I really struggled to finish it. I understand characters having old-fashioned views of gender or race, but sometimes it felt the author had those views too.

(spoilers follow)

Luke reads very much as a trans man, to the point that the narrator remarks that "she thinks of herself as a man", essentially. I can understand characters feeling Luke is a woman, but if he feels like a man and is comfortable as a man, don't we know by now that he should be accepted and respected as a man, not made to feel "comfortable" with being a woman because of his body parts?

And encounters with Native Americans are often pretty stereotypical, with them bewitched by the love interest's red hair and trying to trade ponies for her at one point, for example. It didn't help that the narrator, while mostly good, kept referring to the "Show-shown" instead of Shoshone.

The pregnant sex scene was also a little upsetting! I'm not saying pregnant woman can't be attractive, but getting aroused by a "distended belly" made me uncomfortable.

These are just a few things I wish I'd known before I started reading!

The best surprise I've ever read/listened to

There were times I would just sit and stare off into the distance, forgetting about the world around me and get immersed into this world, I never wanted it to end and when it did i wanted to go right back to the beginning and start again.

It’s hard to get a better story

Luke and Nora’s story is a long slow burn romance. With everything a great western movie would have including the villains and the heroes. I own this in paperback, ebook and audio. Worth every penny.

Just superb!

This is one of my all time favourite books and for me, is an absolute classic story.
I love Luke and Nora and the story is so well written. I imagined myself on the trail with mountains and grasslands around me. The depth of descriptions and vocabulary used is simply stunning.
The narration is the best I’ve heard and absolutely adds massively to the story. The different accents used were simply brilliant and I am so glad to see it’s the same narrator for the sequel, which I am off right now to buy, I simply can’t wait.
I love Jae’s books but this story holds a special place.
Thanks Jae for a super, brilliant story.

loved it

Just loved this book narrator was fantastic can we have book 2 now and a massive beg and lots of groveling can we have the Hollywood series next.

Fantastic story and narration

enjoyed everything about his book including the narration. please please please record the sequal !!

Wonderful!

This is a compelling story which draws you into another world. I’m only sorry that I’ve finished it. Jae’s character development is always excellent and her longer novels show this even more. The narration does the story justice. Don’t miss out!

One of my favourite books.

I first got this book as Kindle and paperback versions.

I was thrilled to see it in the Audible catalogue.

It's well researched, well developed, and has you wanting the happy ever after both the main characters are hoping for, if for totally different reasons to start with.

I didn't mind the narrator, although I think she actually did a slightly better job on the sequel, 'Hidden Truths'.

Amazing

I loved this book when I read it and love it even more on audible. The narrator did a fantastic job, bringing more depth to the story. A must have for sure.

really enjoyed this

I really enjoyed this book with it's out of the norm main characters. I enjoyed the way the 2 were at odds with each other but steadily came to be a couple & the family.

Slow burn that is movie material

I used to enjoy watching Westerns in my teens and twenties; to a lesser extent now. Not much into reading a Western theme, this book is not my usual choice. In fact, I disregarded it many times when it popped up as a recommendation. I'm glad I finally gave it a chance after reading some reviews. Jae provides such a wonderful immersive experience that I felt transported back in time with Luke and Nora. Jae had clearly done a lot of research for this book. It would be lovely to see this story made into a movie.

This is a slow slow burn. The beauty of the story telling is the depiction of the challenges faced by women in general during this period let alone lesbian women. And the choices they had to make as a result. After devouring this book, thankfully there was the sequel to keep Luke and Nora with me for a little longer.

It is my first time listening to Hayden Bishop. I found she did a fabulous job with the narration and voices. Having many audiobooks with narration by Abby Craden, Lori Prince and Angela Dawe (my top 3 favourite narrators), for this series, Hayden Bishop was the perfect choice.