Love Finds You in Homestead Iowa by Melanie Dobson

This Love Finds You book finds you in Homestead, Iowa,which was part of the Amana colonies, a group of villages based on a Book of Acts way of life. At least as far as the communal life and sharing of work, property and worship is concerned.

Melanie Dobson ushers the reader into a place in time that seems so tranquil that you can almost hear Aaron Copeland's "Simple Gifts" playing softly as a soundtrack. But even though the setting is idyllic, there is a story here with human beings as real as you and me. There's Jacob, a young widower fleeing Chicago with his sick daughter, Cassie, after losing his job in the Panic of '93 and Leisel, who is unhappily betrothed to Emil Hirsch, a young man of whom her father approves. Young people have left the Amana way of life to study and work in the World, leaving their parents to wonder why.

Back in Chicago, the bank where Jacob had been employed is missing a lot of money and fingers are pointing to Jacob. Complications abound, but with every twist and turn of this tale I found myself growing more and more fond of the characters, drawing spiritual conclusions that related strangely to my own life. To me, that is what the best Christian fiction accomplishes. It affirms the love of God for us in spite of the hardships and heartaches that may come our way.

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa

Summerside Press (March 1, 2010)

by

Melanie Dobson





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melanie Beroth Dobson is the author of the inspirational novels Together for Good (2006), Going for Broke (2007), The Black Cloister (2008), Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana (2009), Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa (2010), Refuge on Crescent Hill (2010), and The Silent Order (2010) as well as the co-author of Latte for One and Loving It! A Single Woman's Guide to Living Life to Its Fullest (2000).



Prior to launching Dobson Media Group in 1999, Melanie was the corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family where she was responsible for the publicity of events, products, films, and TV specials. Melanie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Liberty University and her master's degree in communication from Regent University. She has worked in the fields of publicity and journalism for fifteen years including two years as a publicist for The Family Channel.



Melanie and her husband, Jon, met in Colorado Springs in 1997 at Vanguard Church. Jon works in the field of computer animation. Since they've been married, the Dobsons have relocated numerous times including stints in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Colorado, Berlin, and Southern California. These days they are enjoying their new home in the Pacific Northwest.



Jon and Melanie have adopted their two daughters —Karly (6) and Kinzel (5). When Melanie isn't writing or entertaining their girls, she enjoys exploring ghost towns and dusty back roads, traveling, hiking, line dancing, and reading inspirational fiction.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Times are hard in 1894. Desperate for work, former banker Jacob Hirsch rides the rails west from Chicago with his four-year-old daughter, Cassie. When a life-threatening illness strands the pair in Homestead, Iowa, the local Amana villagers welcome the father and daughter into their peaceful society. Liesel, a young Amana woman, nurses Cassie back to health, and the Homestead elders offer Jacob work. But Jacobs growing interest in Liesel complicates his position in the Amanas. Will he fight to stay in the only place that feels like home, even if it means giving up the woman he loves? Or will Liesel leave her beloved community to face the outside world with Jacob and Cassie at her side?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa, go HERE.