American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt by Stephanie Marie Thornton

Her mother died shortly after her birth.  Her father was a bit standoffish because she had her mother's same blue eyes and it made him sad.  She grew up without a lot of love to sustain her but she certainly grew up as her own woman...

Berkley sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can buy a copy now.

Alice smoked, drank, cussed, wore suggestive clothing and did things no lady would do.  She was as fearless as her father.  But more than anything, she has to be strong.  Her life is not an easy one.  She gets involved in politics and works with her father.  She has a good mind and she can see the issues he's facing.  They talk about solutions and ways to do things.  She admires and loves him but she wants to get married to be able to have her own life.  That's her downfall.

She marries.  He runs around on her.  She wants to divorce him but she can't.  It will undermine her father's career path.  So she stays and they keep some space between each other.  He's also in politics so he has his own campaign to run.  She tries to support him but his beliefs are different than the Roosevelt's, so she campaigns for her father's friends.  They separate even more.

While she's fighting political wars and supporting causes she believes in, she does outrageous things no woman should be allowed to do (in male and female opinion both).  Then she falls in love.  He's married, she's married, they have to hide their affection and any meetings they have.  From here it gets even more complicated...

Alice was outgoing, outspoken and stubborn.  She was admired by some and hated by others but she wasn't easy to ignore.  She was also more like her father than she realized.  This is the story of her life in fictional form.  It kept me reading...