Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cowboy For Hire | 2001 | Alice Duncan | Buy |
| 2 | Beauty and the Brain | 2001 | Alice Duncan | Buy |
| 3 | Her Leading Man | 2001 | Alice Duncan | Buy |
| 4 | The Miner’s Daughter | 2001 | Alice Duncan | Buy |
The Dream Maker series consists of four historical romance novels, all published in 2001 through Leisure Books. Cowboy For Hire, Beauty and the Brain, Her Leading Man, and The Miner’s Daughter are self-contained romances sharing a general Western American setting and the light, good-natured tone that characterizes Duncan’s romance output from this period.
Each book follows a different romantic pairing, so the series functions more as a themed collection than a continuous narrative. The titles signal the character types involved – the cowboy, the intellectual, the aspiring actress, the mining daughter – and the books deliver the emotional arc and satisfying resolutions typical of the sub-genre.
The series was published at a productive period in Duncan’s romance career and sits alongside other multi-book series she was producing simultaneously for the same publisher. Readers who enjoy 1990s-2000s Western historical romance will find this series consistent with the conventions and pleasures of the form.