Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and their five children make their home in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom and home-schools three of her children. She wrote Hot Chocolate and Shadows of the Past for Treble Heart Books. The first book in her Amish of Seymour series from Whitaker House, Patchwork Dreams, released in April 2011; the second book, A Harvest of Hearts in September 2011, and Promised to Another is coming in April 2012. Laura is a professional book reviewer for the Christian market, with over a thousand book reviews published at various online review sites, including Afictionado.Carol Award: Long Historical Romance: Winner: Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa
Title: Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa
Author: Melanie Dobson
Publisher: Summerside Press (Rachel Meisel and Connie Troyer, Editors)
ISBN: 9781935416661
Category: Long Historical Romance
Reviewed by: Jeanne Marie Leach
Jacob Hirsch worked as a banker in Chicago, but when the banks started being run by depositors demanding their money, Jacob lost his job. With nothing but $1.95 to his name and the Pullman cars under strike, Jacob is forced to hop onboard a freight train with his four year old daughter, Cassie, in hopes of finding a job out west.
Dobson did an excellent job creating these characters. I couldn’t help but fall in love with them.
Cassie is getting sick though, and a fellow hobo on the train booted Jacob and Cassie off the train in Homestead, Iowa to find a doctor. There they find beautiful Liesel, a member of the Amana Communities, who took them to the local doctor. When Cassie is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, the doctor puts Jacob, Cassie, and Liesel under quarantine.
But worries still plague Jacob. How will he pay the mounting doctor bills? What will become of him and Cassie? And where will he go from Homestead? Or could he, an outsider, possibly be welcomed there?
I like reading the Love Finds You series, and Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa is no different. I enjoyed reading about this real community, a religious group that worked together to survive.
Dobson did an excellent job creating these characters, who are perfect for this setting. Liesel is a kind, sweet heroine, though the world outside the communities frightens her. Jacob is desperate for a place to belong, both to work and live, so he can provide for his daughter. I couldn’t help but fall in love with these characters.
If you enjoy reading historical romances, then Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa is a book to consider. Included in the book are a couple pages about the Amana Communities.
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