Ship of Dreams Paperback

Half a century before Titanic…

Another famous shipwreck captured the hearts and imagination of the world. In 1857, laden with gold and adventurers fresh from the California Gold Rush, the luxury sidewheel steamer SS Central America went down in a hurricane off the Carolina coast. Many were saved, many were lost, and lives were changed forever. Relive the experiences of her passengers, as told through the eyes of a fictitious couple who find love and danger on the high seas aboard this first “Ship of Dreams.”

On her own in wild, wicked, post-Gold Rush San Francisco, Della Gilliland has become a bit of a con artist, though a harmless one. Falsely accused of murder by a rival snake-oil salesman, she is forced to flee the lawless city’s vigilantes aboard an outbound steamer. Surely her quick wits—and tongue—can convince someone to help her until her pursuers are far behind.

Stuffy New York businessman Kent Bradford is shocked when a lovely redhead he’s never met suddenly introduces herself as his wife to an important business contact. Fearing a scene, he plays along . . . for the moment. But moments turn into weeks and growing attraction becomes something more. Then, only days out from New York, their ship encounters a hurricane that threatens not only their budding love, but their very lives.

Praise for Ship of Dreams:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Simply Superb! Hiatt is a superb storyteller and I soon found myself absorbed–both in the romance and life aboard the steamship. Della is a strong, unpretentious, unselfish heroine and Kent is a noble man whose love for the adventurous Della changes him into a better man. The emotion between Della and Kent is believable, the chemistry real and the love scenes appropriate…All in all, I think Hiatt did an incredible job of bringing both the Victorian period in America and this incident in history to life. I highly recommend it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A pleasure to read and a memorable story-clever and smart. It had a creative yet believable plot, well developed characters and “heroes” with admirable traits like character, humility and empathy…sort of like The Titanic – in book form.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ GREAT LOVE STORY Really enjoyed this love story but didn’t realise until the end that it was based on true events . Don’t usually read or enjoy love stories but this was a bit different with quite a bit of action. Give it a read, you won’t be disappointed.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ really good read-Loved this book, was not aware it was a true story (at least the part about the ship, not the romance obviously) but really loved it and have read several times.