Long Way Home — Wendy Corsi Staub

When it comes to matters of the heart, you can always trust your friends...

When Cira Valentino was turned away at Ellis Island and forced to return to Europe without her family, she never thought she'd ever set foot on American soil. But fate had a different plan ... With her best friend, Lucia, she embarks on another long voyage to America--a voyage that she hopes will end in the arms of a dashing young American...

Handsome Thatcher Montgomery is unlike anyone Cira has ever known, and the world he comes from is as far away from her little village as the sun from the moon. Despite Lucia's misgivings, Cira falls in love. But when obstacles to their love seem impossible to overcome, Cira is determined to survive without Thatcher, and to honor a promise she made to Lucia by building a new life in America. When Thatcher comes to her once again, hoping to rekindle the passion he can no longer deny, Cira is torn--between her loyalty to her true friend and her true love...