Carol Moncado

Summer of Promise by Amanda Cabot

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?

This is my second book by Ms. Cabot and the first book in the Westward Winds series. Set at Ft. Laramie in the years after the Civil War and not long before it closed, the setting was perfect.

I loved Abigail. Spunky, determined, and cares deeply for those around her. I also loved Ethan. A soldier to the core, he’s also able to admit when he’s wrong and love deeply.

There’s an element of suspense with the stage coach robberies etc. and Ms. Cabot kept me guessing to the end with who the bad guy was. She even had me questioning my thoughts on someone I was just sure was innocent.

One thing I wasn’t crazy about was the very ending itself. Not enough of the ‘after’ I’ve mentioned before. BUT this is book 1. There is resolution to the stagecoach robberies and so on, but still enough loose ends that I expect to see at least some of the characters carry over into the rest of the series. That should satisfy my inner literary voyeur by the time all is said and done.

I look forward to book 2 in the series.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

I was provided a free influencer copy of the book by Revell.