Longing for Home: A Proper Romance

I don't even know where to start. This book is so good. I love the characters, the setting, the story line, everything! I hope that I don't spoil anything for anyone in my review.First the characters....There are so many great characters in this book. I will say just a few things about the ones I love the most.Katie Macauley - She is such a beautiful creature. She is such a good person, but cannot see herself as one. She is humble, and funny..but so obviously broken about her past. She is plagued with the disappointment her horrible father put on her as a child. (Needless to say her dad is not one of my favorite people! I am glad he isn't in the book too much because regardless of circumstances a child should never feel as though they are a burden)! She is such a loving, kind, hard working and best of all kind of snarky. She is fabulous. I love her quick whit. I love her willingness to stand up to adversity and prejudice.Tavish O'Connor - My heart melts at just the mention of his name. Eden does a fantastic job of making him such a lovable character. He is funny, kind, hard working, and (in my head) extremely handsome. He is such a gentleman. Makes me wish more men were like him. Why can't men be like they were in the old days...hehehe! Of course everything is better in a book. I love the banter between Tavish and Katie. It is so fantastic, and so funny. I love how he never gives up on Katie, and does all he can to make her feel welcome in their little town.Joseph Archer - I don't quite know what to say other than he is an amazing man. I almost didn't like him at the beginning, but boy did he redeem himself. He was quick to judge Katie at first because she was Irish, but soon found out how wonderful she was. I love that he gives up the "corporate" life for farming. He does what he loves. He is a kind, patient, and a peace keeping man. He does all he can in a town that is divided to be as neutral as possible. He is a great father, and just an all around good guy.Ian & Biddy O'Connor - I love this couple. They are so funny. So sweet. Biddy is such a funny character, and I love the relationship she has with Ian. I love the friendship she shows to Katie, and willingness to help her whenever she can.There are more, but I could go on and on and on. Eden is such an amazing writer. My heart aches for Katie as she struggles to make up for what she think she did when she was just a child. I couldn't imagine being sent away and not thought of again. In the beginning I was really rooting for Joseph and Katie, but in all honesty I cannot imagine her being with anyone but Tavish now. He so obviously loves, and adores her. Is obvious that Joseph does as well. I just wish he would have been strong enough to tell her how he felt in the beginning.The hatred that is in this book between the Irish and the "Reds" is so sad. I do not understand prejudice. I cannot understand how people can hate each other because of race, or ANYTHING...It's just so not the way it should be. Even though I cannot grasp the idea of such prejudice Eden does an amazing job of writing about it. I could "feel" the tension in this book. It made me feel tense. Even when it wasn't about the feud I could feel the underline tension everyone in the town had. I love it when a book causes me to feel such emotions.I cannot even tell you how fabulous Katie is when she goes to church and puts the preacher in his place. I smiled from ear to ear. She doesn't take anything from anyone. I just love her.I am quite anxious for the second book. I don't know if I am a little biased towards this book because I had the amazing opportunity to meet Sarah M. Eden at a book signing a while back, and she is such a genuine person. You could tell she loved what she does, and that she is kind. I think her passion for writing comes through in her books.I loved everything about this book. It was sweet, funny, full of such emotion. Love, tension, humor. Just an all around good read.

Far from home, Katie comes to Hope Springs in hopes to save money and return to Ireland. But, when she arrives at her new job as a housekeeper, there is a misunderstanding between her and her new employer and she risks being put out on the streets. After coming to an agreement with him, Katie finds that the town is more of a handful than she bargained for and gets swept in the heart of the conflict for better or for worse.Longing for Home is the first out of six in the Longing for Home series. It is a clean, western, historical romance full of rich characters and sweet romance. I was recommended this book by a friend as I do prefer my romances to be mostly clean and I was not disappointed.Katie is a strong, three dimensional character who has both wit and a tragic backstory. I sympathized with her and understood her actions even if I disagreed with some of them. I think the mark of a good character is when I still feel for them despite the choices they make. Both Joseph and Tavish were equally great as characters and they both had depth that I was satisfied with.The conflict in the story was interesting as it focused on bigotry and prejudice against the Irish and I had never read a story like that before. Yet, it was an interesting and insightful read that I enjoyed.However, be warned, this is a love-triangle story. I did not know this when I went into it but I am not super opposed to reading love-triangles if they are executed well and I believe this story did just that. I found myself heavily leaning toward one character than the other even though both are equally great. It was one of those books where I was frustrated in a good way and could not wait to see who she ended up picking. If love triangles are not your thing, then this is not the book for you.Otherwise, I really enjoyed the story and even shed a tear at the end. I really felt for Katie and was happy with the outcome. I would recommend this to anyone who loves:*historical romances, specifically westerns*Irish characters*love-triangles*Drama*Clean romance

Enjoyed this book. Have enjoyed all of Sarah Eden's books. My daughter enjoys reading them too when I am finished with them .