Review: LONGING FOR HOME by Sarah M. Eden (Shadow Mountain, 2013)

From Shadow Mountain: Twenty-six-year-old Katie Macauley needs 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. When Joseph agrees to keep Katie as his housekeeper, the feud between the Irish immigrants and frontiersmen in the 1870 Wyoming Territory erupts anew, and Katie becomes the reluctant figurehead of hope 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 own heart.


Audience: Adult (Clean)
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 386 pgs.

Rating: ***** (A fantastic, fabulous book)

Review: LONGING FOR HOME has a very special place in my heart. If you read my reviews regularly, you know I'm a BIG Sarah Eden fan (and that might be an understatement). Imagine my joy when I got a tweet from her asking about my home state of Wyoming, particularly of northern Wyoming where I grew up. Emails followed, and I'd have to say, I count this interaction of the beginning of actual friendship with Sarah. Oh, so you want proof?

Yep. That's mine name there in the acknowledgments. Oh. You guys wanted to hear about the book?? Right.
I can describe it in three words. Beautiful. Wonderful. Heart-breaking. 

But you will love it.

I am so anxious about it's sequel coming out next year. I have my favorite picked out for Katie, and I'm sure if you know anything about me and the crushes I have on some of Sarah's characters, you know who I'm talking about.
There is a lot of feel in this book. Sarah does a fantastic job, just like always, of taking wonderful historical details and weaving them seamlessly into the narrative. The way she writes the Irish brogue is perfect. I could hear it so clearly in my mind. (But don't try reading out loud. It will ruin the effect.) Having learned a bit more about the Famine before reading this book, it broke my heart even more.

How do people not love the Irish? I don't get it! We're talking about really sexy accents here...

I digress. This is a great book. Her oh-so-accurate descriptions of Wyoming made me laugh and made my heart warm. When I knew that she knew Wyoming: "If there are shades of green here that aren't actually shades of brown, I'd be very much surprised." I laughed out loud. Loudly. 
Be prepared to cry. Know that the story continues, so don't freak out at the end.
But read it.

Content: Rated 1-5, 1 being minor instances, 5 being text is saturated
Violence: 0
Language: 0
Sex: 0-ish (There's one kiss?)

Source: Personal (& signed) copy. ;)

Check out all of Sarah M. Eden's books.