I've always loved historical fiction, but this was unbearably slow. The premise sounds intriguing, but there is so little about Leah actually using her special ability to find gold. It's just another "crossing the plains" story, and unfortunately, not a very good one. Every worn-out pioneer predicament and cliche you can think of is in this book. The author should have sped up the westward journey and actually had the characters spend some time in California instead of dragging this out for a sequel.