You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Hannah, who is looking for an older Western romance:
This HABO is a long shot because I remember so little about it and the details I remember may not even be accurate, but here goes! It’s the first romance novel I ever read, 16 years ago when I was 12.
– It was a historical Western.
– Based on what I remember of the cover art/style, it appears to have been published in the 80s but also could have been a 90s publish.
– I believe the name Jade was in it somehow, either as the name of the main character or as the name of a gambling establishment or brothel that the main character may have worked at. Or maybe even literal jade, like the mineral.
– I seem to remember there being some incorporation of “Chinese culture” (also where Jade comes in)… maybe dragon imagery or a dragon tattoo or something like that, related to the gambling den or brothel?
– This may be the vaguest detail of all: at some point the hero and heroine are traveling together and sleep outside on the ground… like in 98% of all Western romance novels. Not helpful.
Welp, it’s not much at all but maybe, just maybe, there’s a reader out there who read it, too.
Ring any bells for the Bitchery?
Jade
by Ruth Ryan Langan
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Jade by Ruth Langan?
Going out on a limb here. China Star a Harlequin historical by Karen Keast, whom I loved back in the day. I think it might still be in the under the bed archive.
@DonnaMarie – I LOVED that book! I have only held on to about six Harlequin Historicals and that’s one of them.
Irresistible by Catherine Hart had a main character named Jade who works in a brothel near the beginning of the book. It doesn’t sound exactly like the book you are wanting, I think this Jade originally hails from Ireland but there is traveling and sleeping on the ground.
Jade Star by Catherine Coulter?
Norah Hess wrote a western titled Jade, but I’m not sure about any dragon imagery. Published in 1997.
Could this be one of the Jewels of Texas series by Ruth Langan? The series is about a number of half-sisters named for gemstones (the others were Pearl, Diamond, and Ruby) and I believe the books are named for each heroine.
I believe Jade’s mother worked in a brothel and Jade wanted to use her inheritance from her father (the parent shared by all the sisters) to renovate or rebuild the brothel. They were set in 1800s Texas so the setting is right, and I read Jade’s book around or before 2004.
Chiming in on this being Jade by Ruth Langan.
OK, I have no idea what Hannah’s book is, but I’m about to seek out a copy of China Star. Please tell me it’s worth it!
I think it’s Jade by Ruth Langan, too. She wants to open a brothel called, I think, the golden dragon. There are 4 more books, Diamond, Ruby, Pearl, and Malachite. I remember loving that series back in the day.