*Originial post - Loved this book. Can't wait to talk to Jae about it. Really enjoyed having The whole Hamilton family involved in the story. So well done.

I wasn't sure about how I would respond to a story focused on Amy but the way Jae wrote it, and included Luke and Nora, I don't think it could have been done any better. *

****Reread it and still loved it.****

**I read the new, revised version and enjoyed it more than the last time. The new scenes are really seamless.**

**1/29/16 - finished a reread of Backwards to Oregon yesterday and immediately started a reread of this one. How could I not?** ( )

Set seventeen years later, Luke and Nora live on a horse ranch with their two daughters, Amy and Nattie, in Oregon. Their ranch foreman, Phineas (Phin - who was introduced in one of the short stories in the series), sends away for a mail order bride - but the woman who shows up, Rika, isn't who Phin expects. Rika's presence on the ranch ultimately threatens the idyllic life Nora and Luke have built for themselves and their children.

I could see where the author was going with this a mile away, with Nattie and Phin secretly being in love with one another, and of course Amy and Rika ending up together, but I didn't really care. I enjoyed the story contained in the book - Amy's struggle with her feelings and coming to terms with them (something I can identify with very intensely, except without the supportive family), Luke's attempt to keep her family together, and Rika striving for her own happiness.

Amy and Rika's relationship is a slow burn/build, but it was worth it. I am not a huge fan of insta-love stories, especially those that are set in other time periods, and I liked how the author made the characters kind of bumble around and rather stumble onto love. And I'm always a huge fan of angst, so Amy's was great. ;)

It's really interesting to see how Amy and Rika's relationship is both similar to and quite different from Nora and Luke's relationship. There weren't a lot of options if you were a woman who loved women not so long ago, and to see how Amy and Rika (and Tess and Frankie) had to hide their relationships is sad but understandable.

Also, I'd really recommend reading the Beyond the Trail short story collection before reading this book, because every one of those stories was referenced in some way in this book. ( )