The Lilac Year — Janet Spaeth

Unlike thousands of homesteaders who arrived in the Dakota Territory full of hope for a new life, Mariah Rose has come in search of her nephew…and hoping to head back East as soon as she finds him. Now out of her element in the vast expanse of frontier, and with only a scrap of paper to guide her, she's not sure where to look next.

Ben Harris longs to know the story behind lovely Mariah Rose's arrival in the Dakota Territory. But he's not one to pry. She'll explain in her own time…. Until then he has his own worries to wrestle.

But as Mariah continues her search, she never guesses that Ben might hold the answer to her quest -- and might break her heart with the answer.