Hope's Daughter — Joani Ascher

In February 1941, Jane Baldwin has two goals -- one is to become a stock broker and have her own seat on the New York Stock Exchange, something women have never done. The other is to see her sister finish college and have a good life. Meeting a man who flatters her and entices her interest changes her outlook, and she plans for the day she will wed him. Meanwhile, she is a secretary for a young man who is secretly teaching her the business of stock trading.
War rages in Europe, and Prescott Weaver, Jane's boss, prepares to serve in the U.S. military as soon as possible. Anticipating his absence, he has Jane learn all she must know to run his office for him. Neither he nor Jane realizes how long their reliance on each other must wait before they can acknowledge the love built silently between them.
And when Jane's world suddenly crashes, she must find a way to survive.