I liked this book. You really felt bad for Rose but it all turned out well.
Book two, FOREVER, ROSE in the Americana series is a sensitive story of love being found when one's head and heart felt otherwise.
Although each one of the four books in the series: 1. WHERE THE HEART IS 2. FOREVER, ROSE 3. REMEMBER WHEN 4. KISS ME, KATIE can stand alone, it's my recommendation you read the books in order. Many of Homestead, Idaho's secondary characters are first and thoroughly described in book one. Many stories of the town's original characters descendents continues on in REMEMBER WHEN and KISS ME, KATIE. Some becoming new main characters and of course, it's always a treat to revisit the ones we grew to love.
Rose Townsend is brave & feisty in the outside yet scared & lonely in the inside. Her ugly past have lots to do with her insecurities and fears yet this never sways her from being unselfish & loving. Her spirit and heart remains intact despite her ugly childhood. She's a fighter with warm heart in every way. This is what makes me admire her most but at the same time, i feel sorry for her sadness. Michael Rafferty's childhood was far better than Roses. He was more fortunate & privileged. Living in a mansion with butlers, cooks & maids. A father who cares and a stepmother who treats him fairly and with love... yet he was eaten with hatred towards his half brother. Money & his father's Palace Hotels was the only thing that really mattered to him until he met Rose. With all the comfort & the money he had, he never found and felt the true happiness & contentment of life. Rose showed him that money can't buy it all. They both deserve each other & the happiness they brought upon one another. Lark Rider's friendship with Rose and her love story with Yancy Jones also added a touch of uniqueness in this book. I've read this book twice & my response is even better than the first. This book & the series will be a great addition to your collection.
Homestead-1890. It was the kind of place wher men put down roots, where women gathered for quilting bees and lively gossip, where friends helped each other through good times and bad. But with a drunk foa a father, and a ne'er-do-well for a brother, Rose Townsend needed more than generous neighbors-she needed a knight in shining armor to rescue her from a life of drudgery. And the dangerously desirable stranger staying at her mother's boardinghouse seemed to fit the role. Rose couldn't have guessed that she'd be firced into a shotgun wedding with Michael Rafferty and that he would believe her a deceitful schemer who wanted his money. Trapped in a marriage neither of them wanted, Rose couldn't deny the irresistible attraction she felt for Michael-or her hope that one day they would forge a love as pure and passionate as the promise of her heart.