Customer Reviews

Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky (Love Finds You, Book 1)

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Review of Love Finds You in Miracle Kentucky
By Andrea Boeshaar

Andrea Boeshaar is one of the new Summerside Press's launch authors of the Love Finds You series of romances set in regional communities with unique names. She chose Miracle, Kentucky, a rural crossroads area of Lincoln County, not too far from Lexington.

Meg Jorgenson comes back to her roots, a place that was only a whisper in her memory, when her grandmother invites her to seek a job opportunity and offers her a place to live. God's timing is everything, as Meg, whose divorced mother carried on with different men in different living arrangements all over the county, was in an unhappy relationship herself in a big city that had nothing to offer by way of a home.

Meg's life changes in more ways than she expects when she moves in with Grams. Everybody should have a person like Loretta in her life, praying without ceasing, not judging, loving you until you get so filled that it spills over. Meg is immediately drawn into the community as the new third grade teacher at the local school. One of her students is a wheelchair bound girl whose widowed father, Vance, is devoted to her. Both Meg and Vance have a past to move beyond and some growing to do before they can make any decisions about a possible future together. Throw in a lothario colleague of Meg's, Meg's protective father, and one little girl who is in love with her new teacher, and you've got a wonderfully winding adventure.

Boeshaar's sense of characterization and pacing make for a delightful story. From Grams's clock collection and quilting from her heart to Meg's parents to Vance's friends, life around Miracle is enchantingly portrayed. Hearing an eight-year-old's spot-on voice made the story come alive. Watching an imperfect heroine grow into herself, a hero who works as a mechanic and wears a uniform with his name embroidered on it, and a bad guy who isn't all bad is refreshing. Grams and her gentleman friend, Tom, hold the story together with a tight thread. I'm certain I won't be the only reader who hopes the next Miracle in Kentucky will feature their romance.
A very sweet read.

Meg Jorgenson is looking for a fresh start in Miracle, Kentucky, one that will help her overcome her past failures and discover a new purpose for her life. What she finds is a deeper faith, renewed connection with her family, and a love worth waiting for.

Andrea Boeshaar did an excellent job weaving together elements of faith and family in this charming Kentucky-flavored romance. Her characters became real to me, and I was sorry to say goodbye to them on the last page. This is a delightful book, and a great beginning for the new Love Finds You In...Series.

As a native Kentuckian, I can assure you that Andrea Boeshaar has the mood of a small town in the Bluegrass state and its down-home folks and their friendliness shown very realistically in this book.

As a retired elementary teacher, I can also tell you that the author does a wonderful job of portraying the heroine, Meg Jorgenson, as a caring, involved teacher. Meg moves from Chicago to Miracle to get a fresh start at life, and to renew her relationship with her grandmother.

Meg grows very close to one of her students, and the student's father. It will take several miracles to work out God's will in the lives of these realistic characters. I hope you will read this book to find out how that happens.

Finding Love in...followed by a name of an actual town in the United States is a new series by Summerside Press. This book was the first one I read in the series, and I enjoyed it so much I am now on my third! So hurry up and order this book. I bet you will enjoy it so much that you do the same!

This was a nice, light read with no big surprises or conflicts. If you are looking for a relaxing, uncomplicated book with a happy ending this might be the one for you. The story was told from 4 different perspectives at times (Meg's, Cammy's, Vance's and the grandma's)which was a little annoying to me but it didn't keep me from finishing.

This book is a refreshing take on finding love in the most unlikely of places. Teacher Meg Jorgensen leaves city-life behind, and with it, her loser boyfriend, in order to try a quiet life in the country with her grandmother. While others may not understand her need to get away and simplify her life, Meg feels deeply drawn toward the small town of Miracle and something she's not known much about before--the love of a family and the love of God. As she begins to grow in both of these areas, another kind of love comes to her through a handicapped student in her class named Cammy. When Meg becomes involved with Cammy's father, Vance, she gets the chance to build a family of her own and learns that life can be full of miracles! This book is full of timeless wisdom and hope--an encouragement to read!

You can do a lot with a theme on miracles. Andrea Boeshaar's new book "Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky," depicts a single woman who leaves behind a druggy boyfriend and a dead end job to pursue her dreams of making a difference as a teacher while getting her life on the right path. Her grandmother takes her in, and what follows is the story of how Meghan Jorgenson experiences a few life-changing miracles. There's the area of her relationships: her potential relationship with God; a difficult relationship with her selfish mother and the possibility of a relationship with a man named Vance whose daughter needs a physical miracle. A drunk driver killed Vance's first wife and left Vance's daughter unable to walk. Maybe, in a place like Miracle, Kentucky, you mind find just the right combination of prayer and the faith of one little girl to produce a miracle.

Andrea Boeshaar is a pro at weaving threads of a well-written inspirational romance. I'm most familiar with her novellas from Barbour (in their four-in-one anthologies), so when I saw her name come up as one of Summerside's authors, I was excited. She expertly immersed the readers into story world and kept us reading to see how she'd work out the challenges surrounding her heroine.

Add Andrea's Summerside book to the growing list of great fiction coming from this new house. Anyone looking for true-to-life situations, coupled with the dependability of a wholesome inspirational romance, as well as a dash of country living, will enjoy this novel. It's a break from the fast-paced rush.

As Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky by Andrea Boeshaar begins, Meg Jorgenson is running from her past. Her destination? The small town of Miracle, Kentucky where her father and maternal grandmother live--a place she hopes will enable her to make a new start and get her life back in order after a failed relationship. She moves in with her wise, witty grandmother, gets a job teaching and sets to work sorting out the mess she's made of her life. Having strayed from the Lord, whom she accepted at her Grandmother's knee when she was a young girl, Meg is searching for what's important in life--faith, family and friends.

Enter Meg's wheelchair-bound third-grade student, Cammy Bayer, and her widowed father, Vance. Reeling from the death of his wife in an accident that injured Cammy and left him to raise his handicapped daughter on his own, Vance has felt overwhelmed and had little time for romance. Upon meeting Meg, the devoted father wonders if the Lord has another partner for him in the caring schoolteacher. But when they clash over Cammy's chance to walk again, their relationship is tested.

Boeshaar has written a warm, uplifting story that is a fast, fun read. Unlike many romances on the shelves today, the reader hears the story from four characters' viewpoints: Meg, her grandmother, Vance and Cammy, which makes for a unique presentation that, although surprising at first, worked for me. Boeshaar does a fine job of developing her characters. I rooted for Meg as she dealt with her past and for Vance as he learned to have hope for his future.

I would recommend Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky to readers who enjoy a sweet inspirational romance. The story is a heartwarming tale with lovable characters who learn that with God, all things are possible--miracles included.

LOVE FINDS YOU IN MIRACLE, KENTUCKY

By Andrea Boeshaar

Review by Marion Kelley Bullock

Meg Jorgenson flees from an impossible situation in Chicago. She moves in with her loving Grams in Miracle, Kentucky and accepts a teaching position in a charter school for gifted children in nearby Stanford. She wants to turn her life around. From the beginning, she feels a sense of calm. What a contrast to the smog and city noise, the cars honking, people shouting. She wants to clamp onto this peace and make it her own.

Vance Bayer, widower, is drawn to Meg, and she has trouble keeping her mind off him. Others who get in on the action are Kent, the P.E. teacher, Leah, Meg's new friend, Meg's father and his "other" family, and finally--her mother. Vance's eight-year-old daughter, Cammy, handicapped with a spinal cord injury (SCI) after a wreck that killed her mother, plays cupid.

Will Vance accept Meg's suggestion that he consider an experimental procedure that might give Cammy back the use of her legs?

This is a sweet romance, but not syrupy. Andrea's characters are imperfect creatures who deal with real problems. Can these broken lives be healed?

Meg Jorgenson, a young woman who starts the book in a bad relationship,leaves to start again elsewhere where she can find a slower, more peaceful place. Her grandmother in Miracle, Kentucky makes that possible as the two reconnect their lives. The longer Meg lives in the new town, now with a job as teacher, it feels more like home everyday. While there, she learns to find hope for her life and a faith she much needed. And it is there she meets Vance, who lost his wife to death and is now a single parent with a disabled child.Meg meets Cammy the child at school and the two become close. Although Vance doesn't plan to draw close to another woman, Meg enters the picture, anyway. The story that entails is what keeps the reader turning the pages.

I found this to be an enjoyable read full of color and great supporting characters. I looked for a little more conflict, but was still entertained from beginning to end. I enjoy second time love, and the reader can look forward to it here. The book is worth the read.

Meg Jorgenson leaves Chicago and a bad relationship, ready for a fresh start. Thrilled to have landed a teaching position in a private school, Meg is looking forward to a slower pace, fresh air, and a chance to reconnect with her grandmother . . . and the father she barely knows. The longer she's in Miracle, the more it feels like home. She finds hope, faith . . . and maybe even love in this small town that her mother couldn't get away from fast enough.

Vance Bayer's life has been exhausting since his wife died, but he doesn't have any regrets. It's not easy being a single parent--especially to a child in a wheelchair. But Cammy's the best daughter a man could ask for, and he's not surprised when her new teacher soon adores her. What takes him by surprised is the spark of interest between him and Meg Jorgenson. He never expected to love again, but Meg just might be worth the risk. Assuming they can see eye to eye about the possibility of his daughter walking again--and assuming she isn't really like her mother, ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

Andrea Boeshaar has penned a sweet and enjoyable read. In some ways this was a typical "second chance at love" story, but she kept it fresh with a colorful cast of supporting characters and a hero and heroine who weren't nearly as stubborn as they could have been. I passed a few quiet evenings with this novel, smiling at the interplay between the characters and enjoying the beautiful country setting of Miracle, Kentucky.

One of the launching titles of Summerside Press's Love Finds You line, Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky is a pleasurable story that will keep the pages turning as Meg sets out on the road to faith and love. Sometimes she may have doubted that things would work out, but she quickly comes to see that when you live in a place called Miracle, anything can happen.