Always Green (Garden Gates) (Paperback)

by Patti Hill (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...outdone herself with this latest work – words like charming, touching, encouraging, quaint, funny, and poignant come to mind." -- Lori Graham, Once Upon A Romance

"Filled with larger than life characters... I look forward to reading this talented author again in the future." -- Inspirational Romance Writers

"Hill's tight, focused plot will immediately draw readers into the story... This well-written book promises an enjoyable reading experience." -- Hannah M.K. Rexroth, Christian Book Previews.com

"Patti Hill has proven she is a master of the written word... Always Green is a wonderful story." -- Vanessa Ng, InFuzeMag.com

"Patti Hill is an amazing artist, painting word pictures with her watercolor pen as she writes her fabulous novels." -- Romance Junkies

"The characters...are delightfully and truthfully drawn...lyrical...a wonderfully absorbing story... an exceptional, fun-to-read novel." (Five Stars) -- Love Romances

"another great book to devour...The story is well written and has secondary characters you can’t help but love." -- Wendy Keel, The Romance Reader's Connection

"gentle and poignant story of a woman's struggles and her determination... The characters are inviting and the plot is satisfying." -- Andrea Sisco, Armchair Interviews

(4 stars) "Hill continues the GARDEN GATES series with warm characters to love and care about..." -- Romantic Times

Product Description
Garden Gates Book 2 Mibby Garrett isn’t asking for much, just a white knight to rescue her from lonely widowhood, her faltering garden design business, and an unrelenting drought. Or she’d settle for a super dad to guide her son, Ky, through the harrowing years of adolescence. Instead, her free-spirited mother and acerbic sister show up on her doorstep, only magnifying her loneliness. Mentor and friend Louise reminds Mibby that God’s blessings flow during droughts of the land and droughts of the heart. Can Mibby put her confidence in Him and discover what it means to be always green and growing?

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764229389
• ISBN-13: 978-0764229381
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #198,985 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It will draw you in and you'll root for Mibby!, September 27, 2005

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Sometimes it seems as if nothing is going right. It's like the world is off a click or two in its rotation and can't quite get back on track. That's where life is for Mibby Garrett. Her husband, Scott tragically died in an accident, her friend has cancer, she's struggling to raise her teenage son alone (need we say more?), put food on the table and keep the roof over their heads. Keeping the roof over their heads is becoming increasingly difficult. Perennially Yours, Mibby's gardening business is losing clients left and right with the prolonged lack of rain. And then there's the pesky water heater that decided to inconveniently die.

With all that is happening in her life, Mibby can't help but wonder where God is and why won't he stop the craziness in which she's floundering. But there are prayers and encouragement for Mibby and when one man leaves her life, another enters. But is that something she wants?

Always Green is the sequel to Like A Well-Watered Garden and many of the characters from that book make a return appearance in Always Green. Although this is a sequel, it is a book that stands alone. I'm looking forward to the next Patti Hill novel.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a gentle and poignant story of a woman's struggles and her determination, strength and faith in facing head on everything the world throws at her. The characters are inviting and the plot is satisfying. It will draw you in, make you root for Mibby and then celebrate the successes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars by Caroline O'Neill, a writer, October 3, 2005

By	Caroline Coleman "a writer" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Yet again, Patti Hill has written a beautiful novel. From the moment we find Mibbi, hiding in the closet of her deceased husband trying to remember the smell of his clothes, we fall in love with her (all over again, in my case, as I'd already read and loved Like a Well Watered Garden). The characters are so real you feel like you know them from the moment you meet them. You can't put the book down until you're finished. And then you feel like emailing the author and asking when the third one will be ready!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Always Green, June 16, 2007

By	Amanda Snow (A Patchwork of Books) "Lover of ... (Holloman AFB, NM USA) - See all my reviews

Always Green, is the second book in Patti Hill's Garden Gates series, the first being Like a Watered Garden. In this installment, we pick back up with Mibby Garrett, a single mother after losing her husband to cancer and a garden designer extraordinaire. The plot follows Mibby as she gets herself into one scrape after another, first going on several disastrous dates, then being entered into a garden design contest on accident, all while trying to raise a 14 year old boy that is interested in nothing but computer games, as well as trying to keep track of her huge dog, Blink.

As in the first novel, Always Green showcases just what it is like to be a single mother and a business owner. Mibby's life appears to be a mess, yet she always comes out shining because of her faith in God, her hilarious friends, and her strong sense of inner confidence. She may appear weak and disheveled on the outside, but Mibby Garrett is incredibly strong. Hill lets the reader root for Mibby and always leaves them chuckling at her mishaps. I really did end up enjoying this book and will definitely get the 3rd in the series. I would recommend this for those needing a quick and lighthearted read, but I would also say that reading the first in the series is a must before picking up this one.