Prairie Song

Anna Goben has so much resting on her 18 year old shoulders! Since her brother died a year and a half ago, she has been supporting her family and comes so close to marrying for the wrong reasons. There is a wagon train going west and headed out from St. Charles, MO in a week and she must make certain she and her remaining family are on it. Otherwise, they may never have the fresh start they need to overcome the grief of her brother's death. The young man and friend she leaves standing at the alter is one of the trail hands leading that wagon train so the next five months could be a bit uncomfortable. However, Anna and her family are not the only ones on the journey hiding from their past.

Likewise, Caroline Milburn's life changed with the Civil War when her husband didn't come home. Escaping her most unpleasant brother-in-law and hoping for a life of her own leads her to pack what she has remaining and serve as a nanny along the way. Her hopes and dreams died with her husband but is it possible that she find joy again?

Prairie Song is the first in the Hearts Seeking Home series and Mona Hodgson has done an exceptional job depicting the time period and characters. You will love Anna as well as her friends traveling with her and find encouragement in how God works in their lives during the journey to California. Many trials and adventures enter into the story just like anyone who traveled across the country in the mid 18th century.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.

The Wishing Tree

Nothing seems to be going well in Ivy Marshall's world, in fact things seem to be totally out of her control.  Her father has just announced that her branch of the family business is closing.  Her sister has been proposed to on national television and appears to have everything Ivy didn't have.  And to top it off, the relationship with her husband is going downhill at a spiraling rate.  Putting aside her life, or perhaps to escape it, Ivy returns to the family's beach home to help plan her sister's wedding and perhaps rekindle an old relationship.  Is Ivy ready to throw away her past or is it possible for her to forgive her husband and renew the love they once had?

This the the second book I have read by Marybeth Whalen, the first being The Guest Book.  A beach escape is just what the doctor ordered for summer so, since I can't make the trip, Marybeth has taken me there through her writings about a beach area very similar to the one I went to growing up.  The Wishing Tree is a sweet story of forgiveness,  mending relationships and loving others in spite of past hurts and failures.  Put this one on your list of summer reads!

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.