Anna Coben left her home in St. Charles, Missouri to travel west with her mother and grandfather in the hopes that the change will rid her family of their crippling grief and depression. Caleb Reger is traveling with the wagon train as a hired hand and he has secrets in his past that he hopes to put behind him during the next five months of the trip. Prairie Song Mona Hodgson WaterBrook Press August 2013 Prairie Song by Mona Hodgson is a very well written Christian, historical romance and most of the story takes place as a wagon train travels west. Anna Coben lost her brother in the Civil War and the loss has pushed her mother and grandfather into a state of depression and grief and Anna feels that a change will help them. Because of this, she decides to leave all her friends in the St. Charles, Missouri quilting circle and travel by wagon train to California. Caleb Reger has secrets from his past and he hopes that doing his job on the wagon train will help him forget. Above all he wants to avoid Anna for he feels that not only is she beautiful but that she is trouble. The wagon train is made up of a very diverse group of people but during the five months of traveling, they begin to work together for the good of the entire group. There are many problems along the way such as petty thefts, damage to wagons, sickness, and even death. The thefts are never solved and hopefully they will be in the second book of the series.   The author did an excellent job in the development of every element in this story. She grabbed my attention on the first page and held it until the last page. The characters were so realistic that I felt as if they were close friends. In my mind's eye, I could see myself walking along beside one of the wagons for the author made everything in the wagon train come alive. I could even feel the aches and pains of the people walking beside the wagons or riding on them. Descriptions of the scenery seen along the trail were so realistic that in my mind I could see wagons and people, hear the noises made by the animals and even smell the food when it was cooking. There was some suspense in the story and the plot line had a few twists and turns that added to my enjoyment of the book. The way that the author portrayed the problems of Caleb's past and Anna's sorrow were well written and showed the forgiving and comforting love of God. I greatly enjoyed every word of the story and liked the ending. I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series so that I can continue the journey with all the characters. The following links to resources related to this book are included here for any reader that is interested. For interesting inside information about the author's way of writing you can check out her website. This site will provide more information about the book and the publisher. To learn more about the author, read her bio. I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes a Christian, historical romance that takes place in the nineteenth century during the westward expansion of America.