2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great beginning to a new series!, February 4, 2012
This review is from: Summer of Promise (Westward Winds, Book 1) (Paperback)
Well I want to begin with good news and bad news. The good news is that I loved, loved, loved this book and the bad news is I have to wait over a year for book 2 in the series. This is Amanda Cabot's newest book and is the beginning of the Westward Winds series. Every since I finished reading her first series, Texas Dreams I was ready to read more from her, this book did not disappoint at all and I am so blessed to have stumbled across this great author. Summer of Promise was so much fun to read it was full of twists, suspense, romance and adventure. This book kept me turning the pages and when I thought I had found a place to stop something exciting would happen. I loved Abigail the way she grew to love Wyoming, not just the people but the land. If I was in her shoes I think I would have responded the same way. Abigail is a kind and loving person that truly put others first in her life and also kept the story alive. This is a book you just have to read, it is that good. I give this book a solid 5 stars and know that it will have a place on bookshelf for years to come. Great job Amanda Cabot!!!!
*I received this book from Revell for the purpose of this review.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good...Looking forward to addition books in the series, February 6, 2012
This review is from: Summer of Promise (Westward Winds, Book 1) (Paperback)
I really loved the last two books in Amanda Cabot's Texas Dreams series, so I was very excited to receive the opportunity to share the first volume of her new Westward Winds trilogy, Summer of Promise, with you on a blog tour here at MiscMayzee.
Perhaps I went into Summer of Promise expecting a LOT or perhaps it was just the fact that this book is the first of a trilogy that will share the "Westward Winds" theme, but the volume came up a bit short. I tend to think it was the latter because there was a lot going on in this book.
The main character of Abigail Harding hops out to Wyoming (From Vermont) to spend time with her sister Charlotte because she thought perhaps her sister was a bit lonely out on Army fort in the middle of the "boring" Wyoming countryside. You may think that this and the likely love interest that we find in Ethan Bowles, a lieutenant at the fort, would consume the bulk of the book. However, this is not the case.
Within this book we also focus on the following:
Robberies at the fort
Peg's place (the hog ranch or a house of ill-respute)
Leah who works at Peg's Place
Abigail teaching English to the German soldiers at the fort
Abigail and her sister Charlotte bringing up a puppy named Puddles
Charlotte being sickly while expecting and the underlying reasons
Charlotte's cranky husband Jeffrey
Ethan's complicated relationship with his grandfather
That alone is a lot but there were also other smaller things such as baseball games, friends like Oliver, sewing circles, adventures with the cook, etc. that also took up space in the volume. The constant changing of thoughts and activities made the book a bit hard to follow consistently or develop a firm desire to keep turning the page. This was a rare volume that I went through chapter by chapter.
I ended up reading the second two volumes of the Texas Dreams trilogy without reading the first though I do own it now to read later. I am thinking that this book is the way Amanda Cabot sets up the scenery for her books and that the next two will be more focused as the other Cabot books I have read were most concise and gripping. I don't think I put Tomorrow's Garden down once.
I would emphasize that despite my note on the activity in the book that ended up being a satisfying read and leaves me waiting to read more about the next chapter in Charlotte's life as she is to be the star in that book. It should be quite interesting, and I will also be interested in seeing how the book compares to this one and the previous trilogy mentioned.
Also interesting--- Amanda Cabot mentioned at the end of this book that she will have a Christmas novella released later this year. I will be watching for it as well.
On a further note, I do want to call attention to the hearty way Amanda Cabot works the Christian message into this book. Instead of skirting around faith with generic calls to pray or Bible verse relating, this book features testimony and a female lead who offers true Christian compassion and aid to all while also offering a heartfelt reflection on trusting in God and Christ to help a man who has a void. I would recommend this volume for these aspects alone.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this volume.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bibliophile Support Group Review, February 3, 2012
This review is from: Summer of Promise (Westward Winds, Book 1) (Paperback)
Summer of Promise is an inspirational historical romance by Amanda Cabot.
It's June 1885 and Abigail Harding is concerned about her sister, Charlotte. Charlotte's letters have grown increasingly downhearted and Abigail is sure there's something wrong - though Charlotte never mentions anything. Not that she would.
Since Abigail has the summer off from the girl's school she teaches at in her beloved Vermont, she decides to travel to Fort Laramie, Wyoming where her sister lives with her enlisted husband to spend some time with her and get to the bottom of whatever's going on.
On the monotonous travel by stagecoach to the fort, their stagecoach is attacked by armed robbers - which is how Abigail meets Lieutenant Ethan Bowles, a fellow passenger. He quite easily diffuses the situation with a well-placed bullet and back to traveling they go.
Despite being rattled by the incident, Abigail is even more disturbed when she reaches her sister and finds her thinner and in ill health. She knows she made the right decision visiting.
Yet Abigail knows she won't stay forever - Vermont is her home, and she plans to marry a fellow teacher when she returns - though nothing has been set in stone yet. But as the summer continues she begins to see the beauty of Wyoming, with the help of Lieutenant Bowles who quickly becomes a good friend.
She begins to wonder... will she return to Vermont? Or is her heart finding a home elsewhere?
That might sound a tad cheesy, but stay with me here. :)
Summer of Promise is actually a very good novel - especially for an inspirational historical romance fan. It has a lovely, visual Wyoming landscape and a likable, independent heroine in Abigail who is dealing with an unhappy, worrisomely pregnant sister and her not-so-welcoming, possibly secretive husband, giving lots of good family drama which is both interesting and tender.
Ethan, as our male lead, also has a good chunk of character development and investment potential. The subplot dealing with his profession of finding the numerous deserters and traitors is actually quite absorbing and twisty, creating a novel long mystery that I enjoyed.
Though I wasn't head over heels with Summer of Promise, I was pleasantly and gently swept away by the time period detail and burgeoning feelings between the leads. The biggest moment for me, though, was when Ethan had his epiphany about God (no details here!) and all the circumstances surrounding it. It was truly touching and emotionally beautiful - gave me chills!
I did correctly guess who the sought-after traitor amongst them was quite a bit earlier than the characters, but that only bothered me mildly. The outcome did end up being surprising, despite my seeing clues all along. It ended up being a great reveal. I only wish the end of the book hadn't felt so hasty and rushed. Of course, that's just how it felt to me.
Summer of Promise was easy to read, fast-paced, and very charming - though I'm not jumping up and down over it personally, I am definitely interested in continuing with the series (of which it looks like there'll be two more books) as I did have fun reading it and found it to have many merits.
Don't know if this is necessarily a novel for non-fans of the genre though. From my point of view, I'd recommend it to all y'all who are already interested in some good historical romance with a Christian heroine.
*Available January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
*I received a copy of Summer of Promise from the Baker Publishing Group. Their generosity in no way influenced, nor sought to influence, my opinion of the novel.
*To read more reviews from the Bibliophile Support Group or comment on them, simply click on my Amazon profile and find a link there. I'd love you to check out my blog, where I post new reviews every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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