Summer of Promise (Westward Winds Book #1): A Novel [Kindle Edition]

Amanda Cabot (Author)

Book Description

Though she had planned to spend the summer in Vermont with her sweetheart, Abigail Harding cannot dismiss her concerns over her older sister. Charlotte's letters have been uncharacteristically melancholy, and her claims that nothing is wrong ring false, so Abigail heads West to Wyoming. The endless prairie seems monotonous, but when her stagecoach is attacked, Wyoming promises to be anything but boring. Luckily, the heroics of another passenger, Lieutenant Ethan Bowles, save the day.

When circumstances--and perhaps a bit of matchmaking--put Abigail and Ethan together, there's certainly attraction. But Abigail is planning to marry another man and return to life in Vermont as soon as she is finished attending to her sister. And Ethan loves his life in the Army and the wilds of Wyoming. When summer ends, will Abigail go back East? Or will she fall in love with this rugged land herself?

Book 1 of the new Westward Winds series, Summer of Promise is a tale of following your heart to unexpected places. Readers will enjoy Amanda Cabot's passionate characters and vibrant setting in the beautiful high prairie.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Summer of Promise is an engrossing story of love and adventure on the Wyoming frontier that is sure to capture your heart! Get ready for a charming tale of life on an Army post woven into an engaging, fast-paced, heartwarming read!"--Kathleen Morgan, author, A Heart Divided and A Love Forbidden

Though she had planned to spend the summer in Vermont, Abigail Harding cannot dismiss her concerns over her older sister. Charlotte's letters have been uncharacteristically melancholy, and her claims that nothing is wrong ring false, so Abigail heads west to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. When her stagecoach is attacked, Wyoming promises to be anything but boring. Luckily, the heroics of another passenger, Lieutenant Ethan Bowles, save the day.

Abigail plans to marry when she returns to Vermont, just as soon as she attends to her sister. As the summer passes, she finds herself drawn to this rugged land and to a certain soldier determined to persuade her to stay. When summer ends, will she go back East, or will she find her heart's true home?


Amanda Cabot is a popular speaker and the author of Paper Roses, Scattered Petals, and Tomorrow's Garden as well as a number of novels under various pen names. She's an avid traveler who finds inspiration for new stories in her travels and enjoys sharing new parts of the country with her readers. A former Easterner, she now lives in Wyoming.

About the Author

Amanda Cabot is an accomplished author under various pen names and a popular speaker. The author of Paper Roses, Scattered Petals, and Tomorrow's Garden, she is also a charter member of Romance Writers of America, the cofounder of its New Jersey chapter, a member of the ACFW, and an avid traveler. She lives in Wyoming.

Product Details

• File Size: 840 KB
• Print Length: 416 pages
• Publisher: Revell; Original edition (January 1, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005PQUXAG
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,671 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Bibliophile Support Group Review February 3, 2012

By Connie & Angie L

Format: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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great beginning to a new series! February 4, 2012

By Jlwhitney

Format: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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A STORY WITH PROMISE January 8, 2012

By Kym McNabney VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

A love of historical romances originally drew me to SUMMER OF PROMISE by AMANDA CABOT. Discovering it took place in Wyoming was the sealed the deal. As I began to read and realized it was set at Fort Laramie, I quickly flipped back to the front cover. Sure enough the building was the exact one I had taken pictures of on a trip to Fort Laramie, Wyoming a few years back.

In reading the authors notes, she too visited Fort Laramie and was quickly inspired to write a story. Having been there I couldn't agree more. While I was there I recorded information for a book that I was writing based out of Hartville, Wyoming, not far from there. I hope to visit Fort Laramie one day with my family, and I'm sure when I do, SUMMER OF PROMISE will once again come alive.

When Abigail Harding set out to confirm her suspicions about her sister, she never imagined what God had planned for her. An attempted stagecoach robbery. A man who killed for a living. And...

Ethan Bowles has lived a life protecting his heart, so love was not in the picture. That is until he meets the beautiful and impulsive Abigail Harding. Only problem is, she's promised to a man back home in Vermont. Even if that were not the case, she'd made it perfectly clear that Wyoming was boring and not for her.

AMANDA CABOT writes a wonderful historical romance with an equal portion of suspense, intrigue, and romance. The majority of books I read are Christian fiction, but I don't welcome being preached too. I believe that stories need to be realistic, and sin, trials and tribulations are a part of life. SUMMOR OF PROMISE met my desire on both accounts.

The faith aspect was mildly woven in with just the right amount. I liked that the secondary characters in the story were allowed to drink and visit "Peg's". There are some faith based publishers that doesn't allow such things, even though it's the "bad guys" that do so or a character that goes through a faith growth. I loved the ending as well. Readers will be kept guessing, and are in for a not so common ending.

Though there are several characters, each were unique and well thought-out. I really loved the idea of touching on one of the secondary characters throughout the book, to later discover her story will be continued in the next book.

MS CABOT has done an amazing job of creating intrigue and anticipation for her next book in this WESTWARD WINDS series.

*Please see my profile for more information on this review.

More About the Author

With both parents avid readers, it's no surprise that Amanda Cabot learned to read at an early age. From there it was only a small step to deciding to become a writer. Of course, deciding and becoming are two different things, as she soon discovered. Fortunately for the world, her first attempts at fiction, which included a play for her fifth grade class entitled "All About Thermometers," were not published, but she did meet her goal of selling a novel by her thirtieth birthday. Since then she's sold more than twenty five novels under a variety of pseudonyms. When she's not writing, Amanda enjoys sewing, cooking and - of course - reading.