The year is 1860. Ally Hart is a strong woman, but overseeing a lonely ranch near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, isn't what she had in mind when she married. After her husband's death, it's all that's left. A rival rancher has malice in his heart. He means to do Ally harm. How far can a woman be pushed? Will she ever stand and fight? Can she win if she does? The answer falls squarely on Ally's shoulders until fate intervenes in the form of two men. The three have never met. If lives lasted forever, they never would. But lives don't last forever. Ally's story is told in an enduring style spilling over with realism, the grit of the old west, and a dash of good humor. The characters-all imperfect-face loss, fear, conflict. They seek independence, redemption, perhaps love, or simply their place in the world. HARD GOODBYES is the story of a young widow whose life depends on sober reason or delusion-pragmatism or idealism. It's not pretty. It may get ugly.