About the Book The Courting of Miss Cady

Book: The Courting of Miss Cady (Aprons & Veils Book Five)

Author: Grace Hitchcock

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: October 24, 2025

He’s the man of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

New York socialite Jane Cady is the envy of the season and the supposed love of Graham Bank’s life, until news arrives that her father’s last merchant ship has sunk, costing them everything. To avoid scandal, the family disappears to manage a hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Determined to support her family, Jane sets aside her dream of marriage and joins her father in working for the Harvey House as a waitress.

But when her former fiancé strolls into the Castañeda Hotel, the weight of her sacrifice becomes all too real.

Rancher Wade Sterling is well acquainted with hard work, and that Miss Jane is one of the hardest-working Harvey Girls he’s ever met, besides his sister-in-law. When Jane faints on duty, Wade catches her, and upon her awakening in his arms, her passionate kiss nearly knocks him off his feet. She begs him to play along, and before he knows it, she tells some dandy that they are happily courting.

Jane later begs Wade’s forgiveness, explaining it was an emergency as the man was her former fiancé and their relationship ended poorly. But when the dandy stays in town, Wade finds himself in a fake courtship and in love with the woman of his dreams. He only needs to convince Jane that he is the man of hers.

The Courting of Miss Cady is a fake dating/forced proximity romance with all the sigh-worthy swoon, but no spice!

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on The Courting of Miss Cady

The Courting of Miss Cady is a wonderful historical fiction novel.  I’m a huge fan of the Harvey Girls and love reading novels about them.  This is also book five in a series.  You don’t have to read the series in order, but I highly recommend you do.  After all, everyone loves reading more books versus fewer books!

In this novel, we meet Cady.  She’s had a cushy life, really.  She’s had money and prestige and been a part of high society.  She’s engaged, and her life is good!  But then.  Isn’t that how it always goes?  Life is good, and then bam, out of nowhere.  Well, that’s how it is for Cady.  

Her father’s last shipment (merchant ship) is lost.  Money is gone.  So are their friends and connections.  To avoid scandal, they disappear to New Mexico.  Her father to manage a hotel and Cady to be a Harvey girl.  It’s all going well.  Cady is a hard worker and enjoys her job. 

But then!  Yep, another one of those.

Her ex-fiance shows up at her station.  She may pass out and wake up in a handsome rancher’s arms.  And a plan is formed!  She kisses him, begs him to play along that they’re an item, and so begins this relationship of convenience.  Only, is it all convenience?  Because Wade has feelings for her.

What will they do as the dandy stays around?

Loved the characters.  Loved the plot.  It’s a fast read, and I would definitely read it again.  

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of The Courting of Miss Cady

Grace Hitchcock is the award-winning author of multiple historical novels and novellas, including the American Royalty, Best Laid Plans, and Aprons & Veils series. She holds a Master’s in Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History. Grace lives in South Louisiana with her husband, Dakota, sons, and daughter in a farmhouse that is always filled with the sounds of sweet little footsteps running at full speed. When not writing, chasing her toddlers, or tending to her chickens and golden and Labrador retrievers, she’s baking something delightful and can usually be found with a book clutched in her fist.

More from Grace

Q&A with GRACE HITCHCOCK

Tell us about your new book, The Courting of Miss Cady, in the Aprons & Veils series.

Grace: Thank you so much for having me here today! Book five of my Aprons & Veils series, The Courting of Miss Cady, is a fake-dating insta love romance featuring a jilted knickerbocker turned Harvey Girl! The last thing my heroine, Jane Cady, expects is to fake court a rugged rancher to save face. But as sparks fly and secrets resurface, her love might not be pretend after all!

This book is dear to my heart. I first wrote The Courting of Miss Cady in 2016 after I signed with my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, when I was trying to break into the traditional publishing world and wrote it with only one POV. It wasn’t the novel that got me my first contract, and I eventually shelved it as I turned my attention to the series that did sell, but it has always been in the back of my mind as I wrote this Harvey Girls series, and I knew that this book would be perfect for Jane Cady.

I did a massive re-write on this story, given my style has changed over the past 9 years since I wrote it (deleting about 65% of the original work) and added the hero’s POV as well. When I got to know the hero, Wade, I knew it was true love at first sight for Jane. I’ve always wanted to write an Insta Love, and it fit perfectly with the characters.

Q: You mention tropes. What is your favourite trope to read? Which of your books has that trope?

Grace: To name a few, I love stories about marriage of convenience, fake dating, mail-order brides, runaway brides, alpha heroes, and enemies to lovers. In my books, I do have some of those tropes, but I adjust them to fit my story.

My Harvey Girl books by tropes:

Runaway Bride: The Finding of Miss Fairfield

Mail-Order Bride: The Pursuit of Miss Parish

Friends to Lovers/ Fake Dating: The Enchanting of Miss Elliot

Enemies-to-lovers/ Forced Proximity: The Vanishing of Miss Victoria

Insta Love/ Fake Dating: The Courting of Miss Cady

Q: Talk about your writing process, about how long does it take you, and do you do all the research before you start writing?

Grace: I usually write the first draft for 8-10 weeks and edit (drafts 2-6) for 12 weeks! The first draft is my favorite!! All the creativity is flowing, and it is so, so fun to see that word count go up! I try not to write on the weekends, but occasionally, when the deadline is getting too close, I will have to pull some long hours on the final weekends to get it completed.

With that said, I am writing away on a new super-secret series and have the first drafts of the first three books completed, which never happens in my writing process. I like to finish each book before moving on to the next, but this new series is going to take more weaving of storylines, so I needed to make sure I got to know the main characters across the series before editing book 1. A very different approach for me this time around, but it is working!

For the research part, I always start with research, highlight some wonderful “newly discovered” facts that sing to me, and use that as a pivotal part of my plot. Then, while I edit, I research as well to make sure that I don’t miss any historical details.

Q: In case the readers have not read your series yet, tell us who the Harvey Girls were.

Grace: Whenever I tell people I am writing about a Western Harvey Girl Romance, they usually assume the Harvey Girls are associated with an old-time saloon, but nothing could be further from the truth. In the 1890s, there were not many respectable jobs for women, so when Englishman Fred Harvey created his chain of fine dining restaurants along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads, single women without an education, or in need of earning their own way, were given a chance to earn an honest wage without the speculation that they offered anything else but food as a service.

With Mr Harvey’s strict rules about the waitress’s code of conduct, the women were given their independence while still maintaining their good name and place in society under the protective, fatherly arm of Fred Harvey. These extraordinary, brave women became known as the Harvey Girls, the ladies who tamed the Wild West with fine china, good pie, and exceptional service with complete propriety.

Harvey Houses were built to serve the needs of the passengers on the rail to encourage tourism in the West.

But the railroad workers and local townsmen also dined at the restaurant, usually at the lunch counter. At a time when men filled towns, and women were scarce, inevitably, a railroad worker or townsman would express interest in marrying a Harvey Girl. In order to marry, she would need to fulfil her work contract or risk paying a fine of a month’s salary. The fine was set in place to ensure that Fred Harvey would have enough workers and that he wouldn’t simply train a girl to have her shipped to a town of bachelors and leave him without a waitress.

As you can probably tell, such a set-up sends an author’s head spinning with all the romance that could come from a woman venturing out on her own in a land filled with cowboys, bandits, ranchers, and bounty hunters. The possibilities for romance are endless! There is so much more I could write about these fascinating ladies and their contributions to society, but I hope you enjoyed this taste of history on the Harvey Girls!

Q: Can you give us a sneak peek at the next book in the series, The Making of Miss Matthews, which is book 6 in the Aprons & Veils series?

Grace: The story follows a Harvey Girl that readers met in Book One! Dolly Matthews was originally a stinker, but I gave her a good character arc through the series, and readers have been asking for her story. This will certainly explain the extraordinary why behind Dolly’s choices in earlier novels in the series, and I am soooo excited to share her story that has a shocking twist that readers won’t see coming!

Blog Stops for The Courting of Miss Cady

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, June 3

Life on Chickadee Lane, June 3

Connie’s History Classroom , June 4

Devoted To Hope, June 5

Texas Book-aholic, June 6

Labor Not in Vain, June 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 8

For Him and My Family, June 9

Book Looks by Lisa, June 10

She Lives to Read, June 10

Melissa’s Bookshelf, June 11

Holly’s Book Corner, June 12

Vicky Sluiter, June 13

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 13

EmpowerMoms, June 14

Books You Can Feel Good About, June 15

Mary Hake, June 15

Sydney Schmied Books, June 16

Giveaway for The Courting of Miss Cady

To celebrate her tour, Grace is giving away the grand prize of a $75 (+ Free Shipping) shopping spree on Grace’s Indie Bookstore!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway!

Click the link below to enter.

https://gleam.io/T9RHS/the-courting-of-miss-cady-celebration-tour-giveaway