I am so thrilled to be a stop on the tour for Hope Springs with Shadow Mountain Publishing!
I absolutely LOVED this book!! You can see my full review below and you can see a recent
interview with the author, Sarah M. Eden, here.
Hope Springs
(Longing for Home #2)
A Proper Romance
by Sarah M. Eden
A Proper Romance
by Sarah M. Eden
Historical Romance
Paperback, 416 Pages
February 2014 by Shadow Mountain
Paperback, 416 Pages
February 2014 by Shadow Mountain
Summary
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?
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?
My Review
I enjoyed the first book in this series, Longing for Home. (You can see my review here.) I had heard that the second book was fabulous and I love all of Sarah's books, so I was definitely committed to reading it. It was definitely worth it!
I'm still trying to put my thoughts in order after finishing this book. Let me just share with you what it is full of. It has love, desperation, heartbreak, hatred, kindness, sacrifice, friendship, sadness, turmoil, music, romance, and hope. Oh, always hope. It made me laugh, sigh, and even cry (thanks, Sarah). I couldn't put it down! I loved this bittersweet story! Loved it!!! I loved the ending! So, so good!
Hope Springs is a tough little town to live in. There is the Irish Road and the Red Road and no space to overlap. Katie caused quite a bit of conflict when she first arrived and it seems she still does. It was great to see more of the Irish culture and read more about the O'Connor family. I still adore Ivy and Emma, Joseph Archer's little girls. They add so much to the story. Joseph lives on neutral ground and is not Irish. He has great influence because he is wealthy and owns most of the land that the farmers live and work on. Of course I loved Joseph, Kate, and Tavish and all of the other side-characters.
I don't normally like love-triangles, but this one was so well done. I knew who I thought was a better fit for Katie, just from his initial actions alone, but it takes her some time for her to figure it out. It also takes time for Joseph and Tavish to figure it out and the author did so well with how she handled it all.
The author lets her characters struggle. This was not an easy and light read, but there was a perfect balance between the hardship and struggles to the happy times, the laughter and the love. It's what made it such a great book and why I connected to it so well. Life is rarely perfect, but we can find happiness even through the hard times.
Just overall it was so well done. It is definitely one of my favorites by the author. I'm hoping it won't be the last I will see of these characters. I would love to know what happens with Emma and Finbarr and some others as well. I would highly recommend Hope Springs to anyone who enjoys reading Historical Romance, Romance, or just is looking for a good book. It is definitely worth the read!
Content: Clean (There are some instances of discrimination and violence, but mild and necessary to the story, but I would consider this very clean.)
Source: From the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.
I'm still trying to put my thoughts in order after finishing this book. Let me just share with you what it is full of. It has love, desperation, heartbreak, hatred, kindness, sacrifice, friendship, sadness, turmoil, music, romance, and hope. Oh, always hope. It made me laugh, sigh, and even cry (thanks, Sarah). I couldn't put it down! I loved this bittersweet story! Loved it!!! I loved the ending! So, so good!
Hope Springs is a tough little town to live in. There is the Irish Road and the Red Road and no space to overlap. Katie caused quite a bit of conflict when she first arrived and it seems she still does. It was great to see more of the Irish culture and read more about the O'Connor family. I still adore Ivy and Emma, Joseph Archer's little girls. They add so much to the story. Joseph lives on neutral ground and is not Irish. He has great influence because he is wealthy and owns most of the land that the farmers live and work on. Of course I loved Joseph, Kate, and Tavish and all of the other side-characters.
I don't normally like love-triangles, but this one was so well done. I knew who I thought was a better fit for Katie, just from his initial actions alone, but it takes her some time for her to figure it out. It also takes time for Joseph and Tavish to figure it out and the author did so well with how she handled it all.
The author lets her characters struggle. This was not an easy and light read, but there was a perfect balance between the hardship and struggles to the happy times, the laughter and the love. It's what made it such a great book and why I connected to it so well. Life is rarely perfect, but we can find happiness even through the hard times.
Just overall it was so well done. It is definitely one of my favorites by the author. I'm hoping it won't be the last I will see of these characters. I would love to know what happens with Emma and Finbarr and some others as well. I would highly recommend Hope Springs to anyone who enjoys reading Historical Romance, Romance, or just is looking for a good book. It is definitely worth the read!
Content: Clean (There are some instances of discrimination and violence, but mild and necessary to the story, but I would consider this very clean.)
Source: From the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.
Video Interview with the Author
About the Author
Sarah M. Eden is the author of multiple historical romances, including Whitney Award finalistsSeeking 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.
Giveaway
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