by Sarah M Eden
416 pages
Published March 4th 2014
Placement in the Pile: Middle of the Stack inching towards Reaching New Heights
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?
Review:
So, you may recall that I read and reviewed the first book in this series HERE. And so when I had the opportunity to find out what happens next in Hope Springs I took it!
HOPE SPRINGS picks up right where we left off, but was also kind of confusing to me. I felt like in the first book she had made her romantic choice, and the summary said her heart remains "divided". Huh. Okay.
I felt like much of HOPE SPRINGS was just rehashing plot that was already in the first book. The feud, Katie's determination to end it, Joseph's determination to stay out of it (even though he has the financial power to ruin the town if they can't get along, and in my opinion he should have used that power against the Red Road a long time ago...), the Irish road is poor, and sick, and hurt, and at risk of dying off in the winter because of the cruelty of the Red road (yet Joseph still won't do anything about that). And Katie is back to not knowing which man she loves even though she already "chose" Tavish.
Don't get me wrong. I actually liked this book better. I think the plotlines that pushed the story forward of Katie's relationship with the Johnsons, and Tavish's family's troubles etc. really were more interesting than the goings on in the first book. But in the end I felt like this was a better book and I loved how it turned out. But I feel like both books together could have been combined into one great novel, instead of two longer drawn out stories.
So if you like just a good story, a fluffier read. These two books are certainly for you. But they do deal with some hard things. Especially this one. I cried for a good portion of some of the later chapters. So know it isn't fluff in the way of it just being a happy book. But fluff in the way that it's just an easy read for a weekend or beach trip. They're especially great this month because of the Irish themes. :)
