Snow Melts in Spring (Seasons of the Tallgrass, Book 1) [Paperback]

Deborah Vogts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 2009

She loves the land. Mattie Evans grew up in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Although her family has lost their ranch, she still calls this land home. A skilled young veterinarian, she struggles to gain the confidence of the local ranchers. Fortunately, her best friend and staunchest supporter is John McCray, owner of the Lightning M Ranch. They both love the ranch, and can't imagine living anywhere but in the Flint Hills. He's haunted by it. Gil McCray, John's estranged son, is a pro football player living in California. The ranch is where his mother died and where every aspect of the tallgrass prairie stirs unwanted memories of his older brother's fatal accident. Gil decides leaving the ranch is the best solution for his ailing father and his own ailing heart. But he doesn't count on falling in love. Falling in love isn't an option. Or is it? When Mattie is called in to save a horse injured in a terrible accident, she finds herself unwillingly tossed into the middle of a family conflict. Secret pain, secret passions, and secret agendas play out against the beautiful landscapes as love leads to some unexpected conclusions about forgiveness and renewal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Deborah Vogts is a fresh new voice in fiction Karen Kingsbury, America's No. 1 Novelist and Bestselling Author of The Above The Line Series Bitter regrets, fragile relationships, and unfulfilled dreams converge in the Flint Hills of Kansas, weaving a story of love, hope, and faith. Debut author Deborah Vogts's attention to detail bring the setting and characters to life, creating a lively, enjoyable, yet thought-provoking tale of the importance of forgiving past mistakes and trusting God with the future. I look forward to future installments of the Seasons of the Tallgrass Series. -- Kim Vogel Sawyer, Bestselling Author of My Heart Remembers and The Sommerfeld Trilogy

From the Back Cover

She loves the land. Mattie Evans grew up in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Although her family has lost their ranch, she still calls this land home. A skilled young veterinarian, she struggles to gain the confidence of the local ranchers. Fortunately, her best friend and staunchest supporter is John McCray, owner of the Lightning M Ranch. They both love the ranch, and can't imagine living anywhere but in the Flint Hills. He's haunted by it. Gil McCray, John's estranged son, is a pro football player living in California. The ranch is where his mother died and where every aspect of the tallgrass prairie stirs unwanted memories of his older brother's fatal accident. Gil decides leaving the ranch is the best solution for his ailing father and his own ailing heart. But he doesn't count on falling in love. Falling in love isn't an option. Or is it? When Mattie is called in to save a horse injured in a terrible accident, she finds herself unwillingly tossed into the middle of a family conflict. Secret pain, secret passions, and secret agendas play out against the beautiful landscapes as love leads to some unexpected conclusions about forgiveness and renewal. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (June 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310292751
• ISBN-13: 978-0310292753
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #759,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deborah Vogts' debut release, Snow Melts in Spring, is the first in the Seasons of the Tallgrass series by Zondervan. Deborah and her husband live in SE Kansas and have three daughters. She enjoys reading, gardening, cooking and playing the piano. Some of her favorite activities include taking walks with their two golden retrievers, caring for their American Quarter horses and watching old movies. To learn more about Deborah, please visit her Country at Heart blog or her web site at http://www.deborahvogts.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Debut Novel..., October 5, 2009

By 

Love 2 Read Novels "Sherry" (a small town in Kansas USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Snow Melts in Spring (Seasons of the Tallgrass, Book 1) (Paperback)

Mattie Evans is a vet in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Though her family lost their land she still calls it home. Nothing can make her leave the Flint Hills or can it? Gill McCray grew up in the Flint Hills but difficult memories caused him to leave and become a quarterback for the 49ers. Nothing will make him return to Flint Hill, or is there? When Gil's horse, Dusty, is hit by a drunk driver, Mattie is called to help. She recommends the horse be put down but John McCray (Gil's estranged father) encourages Mattie to do everything she can to save the horse. When Gil returns home for a weekend visit to check on the horse he meets Mattie and sparks fly.

I loved this story and not because I'm a fellow Kansan. But because the story was filled will real people that could easily be living in the Flint Hills right now. Deborah's writing style makes you want to keep turning pages. The story is packed with lots of character interaction which I love. She also allows you to see inside each character's thoughts which is always intriguing to me. This is Deborah's debut novel but it reads like a seasoned author. This comes highly recommended. Can't wait for "Seeds of Summer". Great job Deborah!!!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Characters were unbelievable and ending made me roll my eyes, May 7, 2010

By 

J. Lewis (Rexburg, ID) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snow Melts in Spring (Kindle Edition)

I hate to be the first person to write an under a three star review, but I really did not like this book. I usually zoom through a book but this one was hard for me to get into. My first problem with it, was that I didn't really like any of the characters. I didn't hate them, but I didn't like them either. I didn't feel like they were very realistic. Gil was not at all believable as an ex-NFL player. For instance, there is no way that a recently retired NFL player is going to throw around a football and explain football rules to a girl that he likes during the SUPERBOWL! No way. Throughout the book, he didn't seem that interested in football and what was going on with it. To me, Mattie and Gil were bland characters with no personalities to call their own.

The storyline was all right and I felt that the book moved at a pretty good pace, although I was bored at times. I thought that Gil's story was interesting and I was curious to see how he coped with his guilt. Religion was pretty scarce in the book until the very end. Then it felt like the author suddenly remembered that she was writing a Christian fiction book and tacked on a cheesy and unrealistic ending. I left the book feeling dissatisfied and like I wasted my time.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as Good as Expected, October 3, 2009

By 

Diane Maccani "horseman author" (Bessemer, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snow Melts in Spring (Seasons of the Tallgrass, Book 1) (Paperback)

When I heard about this book, I was quite excited. A horseman, (been one all my life) a veterinarian (I worked for my brother, a vet) and in Kansas (we hunt there). It sounded like something I could really like.

While it wasn't a bad book, it wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped. The characters weren't people I could really like or hate. They were neutral in personality. For all the trouble Mattie had as a vet, the author didn't do enough with her work, and what there was wasn't very realistic. All we read about were mainly strays she took in--that may be good, but who pays the bills--and the horse that got hit by the car. Again, not realistic. No one (except a wealthy ex-pro ball player) could afford to leave their horse with the vet for months on end. He was dealthly sick, not eating, doing poorly, and then, presto, an added diagnosis and he was better. From experience with these injuries and illnesses, I thought his medical care could have been explained better. There also wasn't enough about Mattie's other workload.

The conversations between characters were very stilited. In real life, people generally don't talk that way. I realize the author was trying to be correct in grammar, etc., but the formal wording took away from the character's developement.
Also I found their emotions were back and forth and could have been decribed better.

Over all, the story line is fine, but for my reading it needs more character development and realism.