Summer of Promise (Westward Winds Book#1) by Amanda Cabot

Set on a military base, this is great historical loving fun!

Summer of Promise (Westward Winds Book#1) by Amanda Cabot

Revell, January 2012
ISBN: 978-0800734596
416 pages paperback

Review copy provided by the publisher via HNR, thank you!
Review originally posted in Historical Novels Review Magazine, May 2012
Burton Book Review Rating: 4.5 Stars

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.

With a perfect mix of romance, suspense and discovery of faith Amanda Cabot brings us a bright new series featuring three sisters raised in the East. In this first book, the impulsive middle sister Abigail travels to Wyoming Territory to visit the eldest sister Charlotte at Fort Laramie in 1885. Abigail meets Lieutenant Ethan Bowles on the way there, and the two immediately hit it off.  Once the summer is over, Abigail must choose between the steady life and love she left behind or the promise of an eventful future with Ethan.

Before she does, she has to help Ethan discover who is behind the stagecoach robberies without either of them getting hurt, but that proves more difficult than it seems. Abigail's evolving character is likable, as we are eager to see Ethan and Abigail's mutual attraction become acknowledged. Sure to please any historical romance reader, this was a well written story with a great mix of characters with a fast moving plot that includes a range of topics from family bonds, Army deserters to mischievous puppies. I am already looking forward to the next installment of Westward Winds which will follow Charlotte's path. I am also on the hunt for the author's previous Texas Dreams series! I still do not know - five years post this review - what the author's pseudonym is though I tried several times to google unsuccessfully.