Customer Reviews

A Promise for Spring

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kim Vogel Sawyer has been very prolific the past few years, having her first book published in 2006 and now having a total of 11 single titles with another due out this fall. I have loved all her books I have read.

Her books are soft and gentle reads, yet with much emotion, and you become so involved with the characters that you feel like you want to sit down and talk with them even after you finish reading the book!

A Promise for Spring is no exception. I usually empathize with the heroines in novels, but in this story, I felt great compassion for both the heroine, Emmaline Bradford, and the hero, Geoffrey Garrett. The young couple had been promised to each other back in England, their home country. Neither knew it would be five long years before they would see each other again, or how much each would change during that time. It reminded me of when my husband was overseas in the Air Force and I was back in KY attending college. Although our time apart was a little less than one year, we still had many adjustments to make to each other and the changes that had taken place in our lives.

Imagine traveling half a world away to marry a person whom you haven't seen for five years. Emmaline and Geoffrey have both gone through huge changes in their relationship with each other and with God. They each need to renew their faith in Him and in each other before their new life together can flourish. I hope you will buy and read this book to find out if and how a "well-bred Englishwoman" will "become a wildflower bride." Trust me, Kim won't disappoint you!

I'll not take the time to give an overview of the story line, as most of the reviews have already done that. I'm a fairly new fan of Kim's books, having read two so far and working on a third now. This one did not disappoint. I tend to gravitate toward books that are character driven, and "A Promise for Spring" certainly fit that criteria.

The author draws a realistic picture of life during a difficult time period in history, set in a harsh land. Are the two main characters always sweet, loving, and likable right from the start? Nope. Do you want to shake them at times and tell them to grow up? Yes. Is it realistic and believable, based on the circumstances? Absolutely.

Personally, I don't care for sticky sweet, over-the-top romances where the main characters have very few faults. I'd prefer to read books that hit closer to home where the emotions are concern. How would I feel in this situation, if I'd fallen for a man years ago, then come with great anticipation of becoming his bride and he wasn't at all what I remembered? More than likely I'd have been just as ready to run back home as Emmaline.

Some reviewers have commented that they didn't like Geoffery, and felt he was too harsh and unsympathetic. While I chafed at times over his lack of understanding where Emmaline was concerned, I also sympathized with his position. He'd been longing for and loving this woman for years, with absolutely no idea that her heart had changed towards him. Everything he'd done on the ranch was based on what he believed she'd want or like. I can't begin to understand the depth of hurt and rejection a man would feel when everything he'd worked so hard for appeared to be despised, or at best, not appreciated, by the woman he loved.

I felt the author did an incredible job presenting a very difficult situation, and did so by showing both sides of the issue. Both Emmaline and Geoffery were depicted with tremendous depth and insight. Good fiction evokes emotion on the part of the reader, and I experienced a wide range of emotions by the time I finished this book...with the final one being a deep sense of satisfaction at a story well told. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good romance in a historical setting, and is willing to have their emotions and thoughts provoked beyond the typical 'light' romance.

My elderly mother still reads a lot and this is her type of reading.. She loved it....

When an English rose is transplanted to the Kansas prairie, can anything be easy? Of course not! Even though they were betrothed five long years earlier, Emmaline Bradford no longer knows the man she meets when she steps off the train in Moreland, Kansas. For his part, Geoffrey Garrett has practically been counting the minutes till the arrival of his bride. But the nervous, sullen woman clad in black is a far cry from his dream girl.

Kim Vogel Sawyer has a gift for writing characters who struggle through adversity and come out stronger for it. In Emmaline and Geoffrey, she presents two stubborn people, each working through a pain of their own. It's not until they put their own needs aside and truly see each other that reconciliation comes.

A Promise for Spring is a lovely tale of the men and woman who worked so hard to create a new life in the sometimes harsh, sometimes beautiful prairie. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with Emmaline and Geoffrey, and look forward to Ms. Sawyer's next offering.

Kim Vogel Sawyer is an excellent writer, letting the reader feel the emotions she portrays in her characters. I recently discovered her books and will continue to read her passionate writing. She is a woman of great faith and compassion.

I believe this book accurately displays the struggles that take place between a man and a woman. It was a very encouraging and hope filled story. I liked it.

This book was excellent. Will hold your interest all through the book. I enjoyed it very much.

Geoffrey Garrett is the most unappealing male lead I have ever encountered. Thoroughly self-centered, vain, belligerent at times, and patronizing, he represents the exact opposite of what I would expect from a Christian man. Even though he 'changed' at the end of the novel, he never apologized to Emmaline for the rude and harsh way he treated her, and I can't forgive that.

After reading and loving this author's Sommerfield Trilogy.I was surprised by how disappointed I was with this book.

I couldn't stand Geoffrey Garrett! There was nothing appealing about him at all,and he did nothing at all to try to win Emmaline's heart. I found myself rooting for her to make it back to England the several times she leaves him,and I was let down each time she stayed! He wasn't the kind of man that any woman would want,and there is no romanantic development or even any chemistry between Geoffrey and Emmaline!

This was a pretty boring read,and I can't recommend it.

Emmaline Bradford wasn't exactly a mail-order bride. But she must have shared some of the same frustrations. As I read this book I couldn't help but think of the book Men are From Mars . . . because Mrs. Sawyer makes us privy to the thoughts and motives of both these characters. This author does such a great job that the reader feels the emotion and feels the tension. Her books just keep getting better and better. This is a great story with take-away value.