Longing For Home: Hope Springs by Sarah M. Eden

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 am in love with Hope Springs.  The whole of it.  I swear Sarah Eden weaves magic into her books.  This book is the second in the Longing for Home series.

The characters in this story are well developed.  They feel like real people and it makes me feel as if I know them personally.  I became emotionally invested and I love when my emotions become part of a book.  

Katie is still Katie.  It would seem she still feels as though she has something to prove and she continues to yearn for the validation and love from her parents she feels she has never received.  Ghosts of the past still haunt her as she struggles to overcome and move on.  Katie is full of goodness and sacrifice.  The sacrifices she makes in this book will leave you breathless.  It was an ending I didn't see coming.  Just wow.  

I'm glad we have resolution in the love triangle department.  By the end of the book, Katie finally decides.  Phew!  I love both Tavish and Joseph.  (Although Tavish wins in the name department.  I love the name Tavish!)

The division between the Irish and the Reds is so tragic.  Eden captures the feud so well.  It's so senseless how we as people throughout time have shunned and hurt other people because they are different, because we don't take the time to care and understand.  It really is awful.  I loved reading about the Irish in this book- their speech, their customs, their music.  :)  

I love reading anything by Sarah Eden and this series is one of my favorites.  I jumped on the review request right away!  My thanks to Shadow Mountain for allowing me to read and review books for them.  They are a great publisher.

You can buy Longing for Home:  Hope Springs at Amazon.