Though she was only a child during the darkest days of Ireland’s Great Famine, Katie Macauley feels responsible for the loss of her family’s land and the death of her sister. Now a woman grown, Katie has left Ireland for America and the promise of earning money enough to return home again and plead for her family’s forgiveness. She arrives in Hope Springs, Wyoming Territory, a town sharply divided between the Americans who have settled there, with their deep hatred of the Irish, and the Irish immigrants who have come searching for a place to call home. Her arrival tips the precarious balance, and the feud erupts anew. Even in the midst of hatred and violence, however, Katie finds reason to hope. Two men, as different as they are intriguing, vie for her heart, turning her thoughts for the first time toward a future away from Ireland. Katie must now make the hardest decision of her life: stay and give her heart a chance at love, or return home and give her soul the possibility of peace.
About the Author:
Sarah M. Eden read her first Jane Austen novel in elementary school and has been an Austen addict ever since. Fascinated by the English Regency era, Eden became a regular in that section of the reference department at her local library, where she painstakingly researched this extraordinary chapter in history. Eden is an award-winning author of short stories and was a Whitney Award finalist for her novels Seeking Persephone and Courting Miss Lancaster. Visit her at www.sarahmeden.com.
My Review:
While reading this novel one can only realize what a wonderful job that Ms. Eden did developing characters, history, and the storyline. I enjoyed getting to know these characters in this novel, the descriptions were exactly what I would picture in my minds eye these characters to be. I could envision, the accents, the surroundings, and the wind in Wyoming, because I have traveled Wyoming for the last eight and a half years, the wind if brutal. I could picture Katie and Tavish, I could feel the hurt that they each had suffered.
This is a story of, Katie, a young lady who travels to Wyoming to earn the money to return to her family in Ireland. She has had hardship after hardship, yet she keeps trying so she can return home. Katie, is stubborn, she has scares on her heart. Yet, in this small town of Hope Springs, she finds a sense of belonging.
This novel is for all those who love a good, clean romance. This novel is one that those who read will not likely want to put down, I found that I was easily lost in the storyline. My heart broke for Katie, and all she had endured, but I also cheered at all her triumphs and cried with her during challenges.
I give this novel a full five stars, it was one of the best love story I have read in a very long time. I would recommend this novel for anyone young and old since this is such a good clean read.
Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing for the opportunity to review this novel. I was given a free reviewers copy of the novel for my honest review. I was not paid for this review. I can not wait to read the sequel in the Spring of 2014.
Sandie
