The Only Best Place: A Novel [Paperback]

Carolyne Aarsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2006

Leslie Vandekeere thought her big-city career made her life worthwhile, but a move to small-town Montana shows her how big the world really is. Leslie had a good life: a happy family, a great career (even if it did pull her away from her home), and all the energy of urban living. But she finds herself miles away from the city she knows and loves when her husband moves her and the children back to his boyhood home in Montana to help his mother work the struggling family farm. Being a farmer's wife was definitely not in Leslie's plan, and now she finds herself dealing with dirty cows, giant machinery, eccentric neighbors, and an extended family she doesn't quite fit into. When her husband hints that the move might be permanent, Leslie must decide--can she really handle this much fresh air?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The heroine of this charming novel, the first in a series, is Leslie VandeKeere, who unhappily follows her husband hundreds of miles to Montana. There, they will be helping out on his family farm for a year, after which the VandeKeeres plan to return to their glitzier urban life in Seattle. Shortly after their arrival in Montana, however, Leslie begins to notice certain changes in her husband: he starts going to church with his family and seems quite happy to be pulled back into the fold of his mother and sisters. Leslie doesn't fancy this transformation, and she doesn't like his designs to stay in Montana forever. The plot has few surprises and is in fact an old chestnut of faith fiction: cosmopolitan sophisticates find faith, family ties and purpose in a small town. But Aarsen's strong character development makes up for that, as readers will find themselves feeling sympathetic for, and seeing things from the viewpoint of, nearly every character. There are a few slips—Leslie wants nothing to do with the Christian subculture, yet she casually invokes Gary Chapman's "five love languages," a tidbit of evangelical-speak that a secular urbanite like Leslie wouldn't know. Nonetheless, this promising new series in Christian fiction is sure to find many fans. (Sept. 18)
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About the Author

Since selling her first book in 1997, Carolyne Aarsen has published numerous mass market titles with Steeple Hill and has more coming. Her stories reflect a love of God, family, and rural life. When not writing, she enjoys knitting, scrapbooking, and eating chocolate (who doesn't?). She lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (September 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446696811
• ISBN-13: 978-0446696814
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,256,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A transplanted city girl, Carolyne moved to the country when her fiancee and now husband, decided he wanted to farm. The move took quite well and Carolyne learned to milk cows, herd cows, drive a tractor, can, freeze, garden, bake, cook and preserve. She and her husband raised four wonderful children and took in numerous foster children. Somewhere along the way Carolyne decided she wanted to recreate her own version of the romance novels she loved reading. In her writing she yearns to show redemption and change and the chance to start over. Coming home to faith and love is a thread that is woven through every story she writes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, February 6, 2007

By 

J. Dearyan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Only Best Place: A Novel (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book and especially how skillfully all the characters were drawn. I did feel much sympathy toward the main character and found her faith journey and her marriage journey quite realistic. I felt like I could almost see the area described by Aarsen. I think you will really enjoy reading this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aarsen makes you laugh and cry at the same time., October 2, 2006

By 

Ane Mulligan "V.P./Sr. Editor, Novel Rocket" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Only Best Place: A Novel (Paperback)

Aarsen has delivered an engaging story of one woman's lonely struggle to discover who she is and where she belongs. A trained nurse, Leslie is competent in the emergency room, but her husband's family thinks she's greedy and a bad mother. I fell in love with this confused character from the first page. I chuckled at Leslie's loving-but-misguided sister, who through emails encourages Leslie to take control and not "give in to the cult."

A domineering mother-in-law and a plethora of VandeKeeres to keep straight don't make Leslie feel welcome. Only her new job at the local hospital gives her a sense of self-worth and a dangerous alliance. How Leslie reconciles all this is a wonderful journey of discovery and faith.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifically empathetic story of a woman struggling to make it, September 29, 2006

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Only Best Place: A Novel (Paperback)

The Only Best Place by Carolyne Aarsen is one of the finest books I've read this year. Leslie VandeKeere gives up the job she loves in Seattle to follow her husband to his family farm back in Montana, and she has to decide if dealing with a meddling mother-in-law and living out in the middle of nowhere is worth her marriage. Aarsen writes Leslie's thoughts in an unbelievably real way. Leslie is easy to identify with; even when she's wrong-headed you can't help but empathize with her. She captures the uneasy intricacies of an in-law relationship while making sure that everyone is portrayed evenly. Along the way, Leslie watches her husband renew his faith in the Lord, and she finds some herself. The quick emails at the end of a few chapters introduce the Leslie's sister, the main character in the next book in the series. I'm looking forward to it.