Prairie Storm

A Town Called Hope #3

by Catherine Palmer

After a diphtheria epidemic takes the lives of both her husband and daughter, Lily Nolan continues her work in a traveling medicine show. When the troupe arrives in the small town of Hope, KS, in 1866, Lily encounters Elijah Book, a preacher caring for an orphaned baby, and agrees to look after the child. Although attracted to the kindly Elijah, Lily distrusts him because of the childhood abuse she suffered at the hands of her preacher father. Handling the plot line concerning Lily's father with intelligence and compassion, Palmer (Prairie Fire, LJ 11/1/98) accomplishes a fairly rare task for the genre here, providing both fully rounded characters and unpleasant portrayals of clergy. Her solid development of Lily puts this prairie romance a step above most others, making this a fine addition to the entertaining series.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance, Christian, Historical Fiction, Historical, Christian Romance, Westerns

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Catherine Palmer lives in Atlanta with her husband, Tim, where they serve as missionaries in a refugee community. They have two grown sons. Cathy is a graduate of Southwest Baptist University and holds a master's degree in English from Baylor University. Her first book was published in 1988. Since then she has published over 50 novels, many of them national best sellers. Catherine has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Christy Award, the highest honor in Christian fiction. In 2004, she was given the Career Achievement Award for Inspirational Romance by "Romantic Times" magazine. More than 2 million copies of Catherine's novels are currently in print. The Author's Work With her compelling characters and strong message of Christian faith, Catherine is known for writing fiction that "touches the hearts and souls of readers." Her many collections include A Town Called Hope, Treasures of the Heart, Finders Keepers, English Ivy, and the Miss Pickworth series. Catherine also recently coauthored the Four Seasons fiction series with Gary Chapman, the "New York Times" best-selling author of "The Five Love Languages."

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book had some real interesting premises, and spiritual depth that surprised me.
Elijah Book is a young cowhand who has given his life to Christ and feels called to preach. He assumes God wants to send him to China as a missionary, but on his way he comes across a covered wagon that has been set upon by Indians. The young couple inside is dying, but with her last breath, the woman hands Eli her baby and charges him to take care of the infant. Eli has no idea how to care for a baby, so he stows the youngun in his saddle bag and heads across the prairie to find a place to preach.

Lily is is a singer and fortune teller - part of a traveling sideshow. While the show was in Topeka, diphtheria struck down several members of the troupe, among them the owner of the show, Lily's ne'er-do-well husband, and her newborn baby. The wagons have pulled out of Topeka to regroup, and stopped temporarily in Hope, Kansas, where Lily hears the shrieks of a tiny baby. Drawn almost against her will to the baby's wails, she discovers a tiny infant in a saddlebag propped against a tree. The infant appears to be abandoned, so she cuddles it and nurses it, thinking it might be a replacement for her lost baby.

But while Eli is happy to have her help with the baby, he's not sure Lily is the one for the job.

This book tied the series together and was a wonderful finish.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entry in the series really started off with a bang. A grieving mother whose baby died three days earlier hears a baby crying and goes searching. She finds a baby and through a series of misunderstandings is taken for his mother and knowing he's hungry begins nursing him. Lily is angry at God for the death of her daughter and for the abuse she suffered as a child at the hand of her minister father. She wants nothing to do with God. The baby she is nursing belongs to a traveling preacher who found the baby a few days earlier along with his murdered parents. Incapable of feeing the newborn, Elijah hires Lily away from the traveling show to which she belongs to care for Samuel until he can eat solid food. The sparks fly as the highly educated Lily verbally assaults the fairly new believer turned preacher with her knowledge of scripture.

This book deals with questions on the death of the young and innocent, the biblical stance on sorcery/mediums, child abuse, and being unequally yoked. There are no easy answers and Prairie Storm does a good job of dealing with these issues in a realistic way. The only misstep is in the reaction of Lily's "friend" in the traveling show. I didn't find her reaction and reasoning as sound as it could have been.

Overall, a solid closing to this trilogy.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a four-star read until the last part of the book, where it kind of fell apart. [Spoilers ahead] Mainly, the glossed-over forgiveness of Lily's father was rather ridiculous and almost seemed like a nightmare when she was glad to see 'the grand gentleman' at her wedding, singing. This is someone who repeatedly beat her as a child, enough to break her ribs. And she's glad to see him and her complicit mother at her wedding? Also, both Lily and Elijah lose their minds near the end, being brainwashed by her father into thinking that she needs to go home and he doesn't have a calling after all. Then she thinks God is telling her to obey her father and go home? It's just a mess. Up until then, it was very good.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as book #2. This one had a woman telling fortunes and reading hands and stuff and it made me uncomfortable. However, it is not as if it was painted as something good in the book.

[Renee Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable book with a very realistic take on addiction/temptation, being tempted back into bad things.
Of course it had romance in there too.
I enjoyed reading more about the previous books main characters too.

[Elaine Mccaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

A slow start but very good. The best in the series. The characters were very well described. They were likeable.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books like this tend to follow a pattern, but as long as its done well I'm not complaining

[Penny Knutson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best parts were the Scriptures.

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good series and this third book introduces some fun new characters.

[KP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 3 did not flow like books 1 & 2 - it felt disconnected and not like a true sequel.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Love the time period, and the pure faith.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Prairie Storm" is a historical romance set in 1866 in Kansas. This book is the third in the series, but you can read it as a stand-alone. Reading this book before the other will spoil a few events in the previous novels, but not enough to spoil those books.

The characters were engaging, acted realistically, and had realistic struggles (even if some of the struggles weren't common ones). The setting and historical details were not highly detailed though they were enough to paint a mental picture. The suspense was created partly by relationship tensions (and not just romantic tensions--Lily and her old friend, Lily and her abusive father, etc.) and the search for answers about God.

The characters quoted a lot of Scripture and hymns, but it flowed naturally in the story (rather than feeling like it was primarily for the benefit of the reader). Lily knew Scripture well, but she initially used it in a critical way. Both main characters were searching for answers about God and, for the pastor, for God's will in his life. They looked to the Bible for answers since they realized they'd picked up wrong ideas from what religious people had told them. I liked how all of this was handled.

There were no sex scenes or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this charming novel.

[Larik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very touching a sweet end to the series. God uses children so much., he used his own to give us peace, he teaches us to be like children.. And in this story he uses a child to tie two perfect strangers who needed to find peace with their childhood. It was touching to see how they faced their inside storms individually and how they all came together to face the outdide storm. This book is about comunity, about hardships and survival, its about finding peace with your past and moving to the next chapter in your life, its about evil and good and how to conquer it.
It is funn and touching;-- enjoy

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed at the beginning of this book. I had just completed the first 2 books in the series and was hoping for more focus on Rosie and Caitran, but quickly discovered that wouldn't be the case. A good number of new characters were introduced, and I quickly became attached to several of them (Lily, Elijah, and the entire Hankses family).

Although much different than I expected, I still very much enjoyed the story.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this series!!

There are so many emotional situations for the people from Hope in this book. For me, I felt like I was pulled right into this storyline and I was part of the town. Elijah becomes the main character and takes over the church from Rolf. This is a very active story and leaves you wanting a fourth book.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, so I don't claim to remember which book came first, second, and last, but I read them all within the week or so. Liked them! Last one seemed like there should have been more going on, then wham! At the end everything happens at once. :) enjoy-

[Paula-O · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10/2010 I am reading this book now, did not realize that it was #3 in series, I will have to go back and read the second. I like this author and the type stories these are about. folks that have many handicaps succeed in a hard country-life.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just because a person knows scripture backwards and forwards, doesn't mean they believe. Pass out God's love in your life and everything you do.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in the 'Town called Hope' series about settlers in American prairies. A little predictable, with a strong Christian theme running throughout. Interesting light reading.

[Jaclynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 3 book series, starting with an orphan girl who goes to take care of one man’s children in Kansas and follows the town of Hope as it grows and faces many challenges and joys.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny! I can't say what exactly was the funniest part, but it was pretty funny when it was all over!

[Cws]

YA Pal

[Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 of 3

[Truitti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, a bit of western, little house on the prairie, and a bit of realism. Convinces me that I am not a pioneer, dispite my passion for space. LOL

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli the cowboy preacher meets Lily the traveler, Living with heartbreak and giving control over to God, Great!

[Nessy96 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how they talked about having faith. I love all 3 of these books

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed all of the books in this series. Best read in order.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. romantic fiction, inspirational