Summer of Promise by Amanda Cabot

Summer of Promise by Amanda Cabot isn't the worst historical fiction novel I've read. It isn't the best either. This book took me a while to get into, it wasn't until the third or fourth chapter that I began to get interested, the characters didn't cause me to connect with them until then.

Abigail Harding goes west from her teaching job in Vermont to the untamed Wyoming wilderness to see her sister Charlotte, who she is convinced needs her. We are never told why or how she knows this, she just does. When she's almost at the Fort where Charlotte lives, her stagecoach is about to be held up by some armed bandits but their plan is foiled due to the unexpected appearance of Lieutenant Ethan Bowles who wasn't supposed to be on the coach.

Much of this story seemed predictable to me. Sure, Abigail is almost engaged to a man back at home. Yes, Ethan is a self-proclaimed life long bachelor. Yes, we know that the robberies are an inside job. The only thing I didn't find predictable was the way the bad guys were rounded up in the end. I normally don't mention endings in a review but this one was just so far fetched that it made me laugh.

If you're looking for a book that will help you pass some time then this might be the one for you. If you want something that will keep you guessing until the very end then pass on this one.

About the book:

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?

This book is available beginning January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

This book was provided for review by Revell.