Bethany Quin is more than a little angry about returning home to Peaks, Iowa and mostly terrified about the past being in her face again. She has a lot of anger and resentment stored up for certain people in the town and a truck load of guilt surrounding her childhood best friend. As Bethany is forced to work through the pain of her childhood and face up to the things she ran from, she does in deed find that after the winter comes the spring.
Another new author for me to read. Katie Ganshert is a treasure of a find. She has written a well paced, character driven, heartfelt novel full of lovely prose mixed amongst some great scenes of character interaction. It’s clear she is not afraid to write about conflict both internal and when the characters interact.
I loved the depths probed in this book and found the issues of lost hope, shattered expectations and new life brought to life with beautiful writing and honest prose. Bethany is at times really mean and I didn’t always like her actions, but I always wanted her to overcome the issues in her way. I loved how Evan Price wasn’t afraid to stand up to Bethany and call it like it was. Both are well rounded characters, strong and all too human.
I really liked the issues of faith presented in this story too. It was presented differently in genuine faith as compared to shallow or “fake” faith that only traps people, rather than setting them free. It’s the first novel I’ve read that tackles the faith issues from that perspective.
So a great read and I will be reading more from this great author.
Jess is a mum of two children and married to the calmest man alive. She loves to bake and go for walks. A writer of contemporary romance, Jess write stories about the heart and where love is worth the journey.