2014, 416p, Clean Historical Romance
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received a copy from the publisher for an honest review
All is not well in Wyoming. Katie Macauley gave up her life-long dream of returning to Ireland in order to make a home for herself in Hope Springs, but her future has never been so uncertain. The town is more divided than ever, with both the Irish and the Reds stealing property, burning buildings, and endangering lives.
Katie’s heart remains sharply divided between her love for playful Tavish and steady Joseph, a decision she feels ill-prepared to make. In the midst of the growing unrest, temperatures drop quickly, too quickly, and Irish nightmares of famine and cold resurface as the little Wyoming town struggles to beat the harsh winter.
Katie makes one sacrifice after another to keep the peace and help see her loved ones through the difficult days ahead, but will it be enough? Can the town make amends before their hatred consumes them all? And will Katie find the love she has been searching for as well as a home to call her own?
I really enjoyed book one and you can learn more about and read my review on it here.
Katie Macauley has made the decision to stay in Hope Springs. Tensions in the town are worse than ever and both sides are contributing to the chaos. Katie learns a negotiating tactic from Joseph and is able to figure out a way to help the Irish make it through the winter. There's a real fear that something tragic will have to happen in order to wake people up and start to look for ways to get along.
Even though there are some difficulties, I love Hope Springs! The Irish pull together to help each other out and still find time to have fun and enjoy each other. I enjoyed learning more about the Irish and some of their customs and traditions. They are a fun group and the Reds missed out by not getting to know them better.
I also love the big part that music plays. Katie's music helps calm people down and brings joy in some otherwise tense situations. She feels some guilt for having stolen the fiddle from her father when she was younger and I was glad that she was able to get some closure for that in the end.
There is a love triangle and she made a decision at the end of book one. However, we quickly realize that she's still torn between the two so they are both still in the picture. I felt like around the middle of the story, one of them practically disappears and his scenes are really short when he does appear, so I would have to say that, based on that, I'm happy with her final decision.
This is a wonderful series that I highly recommend to anyone that enjoys reading clean historical romance! It will make you laugh, cry, scream, worry, smile and finally sigh when the final page is turned!
Sarah M. Eden is the author of multiple historical romances, including Whitney Award finalists Seeking Persephone (2008, Covenant Communications) and Courting Miss Lancaster (2010, Covenant Communications). Combining her obsession with history and affinity for tender love stories, Sarah loves crafting witty characters and heartfelt romances. She holds a Bachelor's degree in research and happily spends hours perusing the reference shelves of her local library. Sarah has twice served as the Master of Ceremonies for the LDStorymakers Writers Conference, acted as the Writer in Residence at the Northwest Writers Retreat and is one-third of the team at the AppendixPodcast.com. Sarah is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg at Foreword Literary Agency.
1 comments:
LOVE her. Go Sarah!
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