Prairie Song - A Review

Anna Goben and her family have joined the wagon train leaving St. Charles, Missouri. Anna's thrilled at the chance to start over away from the pain of her brother's death. The fact that several of her quilting circle friends are on the trip as well is a bonus for her. Caleb Reger has signed on as a trail hand for the wagon train. He doesn't have time to be distracted by the young beauty that is Anna or the secrets she holds. He has his own secrets. As the trip commences, the two form a tentative friendship. Anna's determined to help her mother overcome her addiction and to protect her at any cost. Yet when Caleb discovers her mother's addiction and knows he can relate, he knows that unless he can talk with Anna, then the fragile relationship they've built will be torn apart. Will their love blossom or break as they travel West?

This is the first in a new series, The Hearts Seeking Home Series. It picks up where the novella series ends. The good thing about this is that Caroline and Garrett's story is continued and has a sense of closure to it. I know I wasn't happy in not getting a sense of closure in the Ripples Toward the Shore novella. This book offers the closure. Some of the characters were endearing. Some had their characters deepen as we'd already met them in the novella series. I'll admit that this book took me a LONG time to really engage into the story. Once I finally did (around page 100 or so), I was enchanted with the story telling. Growing up, I'd always loved to play the computer game Oregon Trail. To actually read about the hardships the travelers faced just in getting out of Missouri and really on the road was very interesting.

Will this book make my to read again list? I doubt it. I thought it turned into a sweet story, but it's not a must own for me. But I will also look forward to the next two books in the series.

I received an advance readers copy of this book from Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of historical fiction, Mona Hodgson, Little House on the Prairie, Janette Oke, Mary Connealy, and gentle reads.

Rating - 3.5 stars, which will be rounded up to 4 stars on Amazon. This is mainly because I had closure for the story of Caroline and while it did take me a while to get into it, parts of the story redeemed it for me.

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