Laura Jean Libbey was one of the most popular and well-known authors of story paper melodramas. Her success was so great that publisher Street & Smith dedicated an entire series to her works, an honor that they bestowed on only a small handful of authors. Our latest Project Gutenberg release (produced by Distributed Proofreaders from scans in our Digital Library) is the second volume of the Laura Series: Betrothed for a Day; or, Queenie Trevalyn’s Love Test.

The novel tells the story of John Dinsmore, a poor young author who falls in love with the beautiful Queenie Trevalyn after saving her life in an elevator accident, but whose marriage proposal is rejected when his beloved learns of his poverty. Being a melodrama of its time, there are quite a few of the usual twists and turns from here: sudden turns of fortune, wills with unusual conditions attached, railroad disasters, duels, impersonations and murders. The author never strays too far from the usual formula.

You can see how it all ends in the free eBook, available online or downloadable in popular formats, at Project Gutenberg.