Custodian of the Spirits

I will be honest and say that I picked this book for the cover because it looked interesting and I love reading about the Westward movement. How exciting and terrifying those days must’ve been compared to now!
I also will be honest and say that I was doubtful about the title. But, as I read on the title began to make sense to me. I liked how Kier explained to Fiona and me what that meant. Thank you Kier.
The author chose this title well.
I loved every minute of this book except the steamy parts of course. I skipped over those. Oh and there was maybe but a couple of times in where God was mentioned for which I was disappointed but for the most part I thought the author done well with this book. .
I finished this in two days because I wanted to savor it. I didn’t want the story to end.
I was able to experience the trip through the characters and “felt” the fear and could “see” in my minds eye like it was a movie that held me spellbound. I love books like that!
Generally I love the two main characters but this time I went for the secondary ones. They were interesting especially Doc and his wife Libby. I felt that they were special people to have in the company.
I also got to enjoy “experiencing the Sioux camp.”
The author has done a wonderful job in showing us that Indians are people just like us. They were treated unfairly.
I didn’t like how they were treated by the government.
I’m giving this book 4 stars because as I’ve said before there was only a couple of times that God was mentioned. Otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.
My thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own!

I really enjoyed this book right up to the end. The ending was a real downer. Hopefully there will be a continuation in the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wild Rose Press Inc for approving me to read this hidden gem of a book! The author did an amazing job bringing life to her characters. Loved every one of the characters in the book. Fiona started out escaping an uncertain future in her homeland. When Fiona was faced once again with an uncertain future in Pennsylvania she decided to embark on a journey to the west with her two children and very few belongings.. She endures many hardships while on the trail but through it all she meets and falls in love with Kier who is leading the wagon train west.. The author was amazing (like the word amazing) job with describing the trail, the scenery, and so much more. The story gripped me from the very beginning. I was sad to see it end. It did end with a cliffhanger and I hope we don't have to wait too long to read the next book in this series.. Fiona and Kier are my new favorite fictional, historical couple... Hope to see more of them in the near future...

Fiona Lenihan is newly widowed she has two children Maggie and Caleb to support. Her abusive husband has just passed away, his family is not happy with his choice of wife, a poor Irish immigrant, and they make it very clear she’s no longer welcome and will receive no help from them. Wanting a new life, and wanting to get away from her in-laws, she joins a wagon train to California. This story portrays the hardships these pioneers went through...the long treks, discarded possessions and whatever it took to start anew. I enjoy reading about the pioneers and enjoyed this book about new beginnings. .

I give this book four out of five stars. The camaraderie (almost a family) of the people on the wagon train made me want to be traveling with them. I would have liked to have some of them as friends. The care and concern they had for each other was wonderful. I wanted to make the trip because of the description of the scenery as well. The author created a vivid picture in my mind’s eye. However, there were some inconsistencies in the two main characters. They seemed to be out of character in the last chapters of the book. Overall, a fun read.

This was an enjoyable book to read. I learned a lot about the hardships that the pioneers had to endure travelling to new places. There was a strong storyline and interesting characters kept me wanting to know if they would got to their new settlements. I was not disappointed and would recommend this book to be read.