Longing for Home: A Proper Romance by Sarah M. Eden

Twenty-six-year-old Katie Macauley has placed all her hope in Hope Springs, a small town in the 1870 Wyoming Territory. But if she wants to return home to Ireland to make amends with her estranged family, she'll need to convince the influential Joseph Archer to hold true to his word and keep her on his payroll as his housekeeper despite her Irish roots. The town is caught in an ongoing feud between the Irish and the "Reds" the frontiersmen who would rather see all the Irish run out of town and the Irish immigrants who are fighting to make a home for themselves in the New World. When Joseph agrees to keep Katie on as his housekeeper, the feud erupts anew, and Katie becomes the reluctant figurehead for the Irish townsfolk. As the violence escalates throughout the town, Katie must choose between the two men who have been vying for her love though only one might be able to restore hope to her heart.

 About The Author
 

At the ripe old age of five, I wrote my first book. Entitled “The Sun,” this work of literary genius contained such awe-inspiring passages as, “The sun is yellow.” It was a ground-breaking success among the Kindergarten of Roadrunner Elementary. On the heels of this success, I went on to write absolutely nothing for many, many years.

One sweltering summer, my mother, in what can now be easily identified as a desperate ploy to keep her five children occupied for a few hours during the never-ending summer break, implemented a summer writing challenge. That summer's efforts produced the first ten pages of “The Mystery of the Broken Unicorn”--my first experience with a plot idea that simply didn't work.

Several years after earning a bachelors degree in social science research, marrying my wonderful, if rather tall, husband and the birth of our second child, I took up my pen once more. Mercifully, I did not revisit the unicorn story but ventured into the world of Historical Romance.

My first novel, The Ramshackle Knight, was published in May of 2007 and met with rave reviews from my mother and closest relatives. Spurred on by the unbiased acclaim, I wrote eight more Regency romances before being picked up by Covenant Communications.


Courting Miss Lancaster was released in 2010, followed by The Kiss of a Stranger (a re-publication of The Ramshackle Knight) in 2011. Seeking Persephone, a 2008 Whitney Award finalist for Best Romance, was rereleased in fall of 2011. Friends and Foes and An Unlikely Match followed in 2012.

With work and a good bit of luck, this will prove just the beginning.

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My Review: 

Katie Macaulay arrives in New Hope Springs, WY. She is late arriving to take a job as a housekeeper, and worst of all....she is Irish. This will not do, and her new employer tells her he cannot hire her. Joseph Archer, want no part of the feud in the town between the red road and the Irish.
The story is set in 1870 Wyoming, after the Civil War, but hatred abounds. I know that I have heard in the East Coast Cities, that the Irish were looked down on, and told not to apply for jobs, but didn't realize it was in the Western US also???
Katie is a twenty-six year old woman with a lot of baggage. She feels responsible for her sister's death. She was eight when it happened, and her father hasn't spoken to her since that day. I realize that was a different time, back during the famine that hit Ireland, but, I did have a problem with the guilt that was thrown on a child.
There are two men in the story who hope to win Katie's heart, will she be open enough to accept one? Or will she have to go back to Ireland, to help heal her wounds? I found myself routing for one of the fellows, and then the other.
Katie also has helped the Irish community in this story, but if she leaves will the Irish be driven out of the area, loosing all they have once again?
Such injustice, and the book ends with questions unanswered. I can't wait for the next book in this series, of course, we all want peace and harmony, but will that happen in the future?
Get ready for a great read, and you won't be disappointed!

I received this book through Net Galley, and was not required to give a positive review.