Seeds of Summer & Contest

Title: Seeds of Summer
Author: Deborah Vogts
ISBN: 978-0-310-29276-0

Goodreads blurb:

A heart-warming contemporary romance set in the Flint Hills of Kansas where a former rodeo queen abandons her dreams in order to care for her deceased father’s ranch and her two half-siblings, only to realize with the help of a young new pastor that God can turn even the most dire circumstances into seeds of hope.
Spanning the Seasons of the Tallgrass, each story in this series reveals the struggle of the people who live there and the dreams they have for the land until they come full-circle in a never-ending cycle, just as man comes full-circle in his understanding of God.

My Take:

I hadn't read the first book in the series yet (Snow Melts in Spring) so I read that one just in case you needed to - you don't. Some of the characters carry over, but you can read this book on it's own. What I was blown away by was how very good she is at making a setting come alive - and writing characters that don't seem two dimensional. It is very hard to believe this is only her second book.

I'm was more than a little picky and sentimental when reading these books too. You see ~ they are written about the area I live in and will soon be moving away from. So I can tell you that she got it right. If you want to know what it's like in this area, just pick up the book and read. She does an excellent job making the countryside come alive for you.

Then there are the people. Sometimes in fiction we meet some cardboard cut-outs. You know the ones I mean ~ they have no real depth, and you can't really relate to them. You can kind of tell where the author was trying to go ... but they didn't quite make it because the characters fell flat. These people are genuine. You can imagine meeting them in the grocery store or at the next family reunion. Maybe they live next door and maybe they are just like you.

These were a great read. I was provided a copy for review and I'm very thankful for that. It didn't influence my review at all. (I bought Snow Melts in Spring myself and also think that is terrific and should be on everyone's TBR list).

Since I'm getting ready to move, I've decided to pass on another blessing to someone else. I have an extra copy of the brand new book A Love of Her Own by Maggie Brandon. Just agree to review it on your blog to pass the word around.

In one comment tell me whether you're a follower, became a follower, if you advertised this contest on your blog, and your email address (with spaces or spell out dot and that sort of thing).

The contest ends the 27th of June. It's a lovely book and I wish you all the best of luck. :o)

My movers will be here the first week of July and I still haven't sold my old house ... so things have been a bit crazy and stressful here. Thanks for being patient with me. I have a few reviews to catch up on and I am sorry for not being very good at keeping up lately. Life has been hectic.

Blessings~