A Peek At My Bookshelf: The Dandelion Field by Kathryn Springer

About the Book:

This handsome firefighter makes a living coming to the rescue, but Gin doesn't need a man to fight her battles.

After Raine’s dad walked out, Ginevieve Lightly never lived in one place too long, a rambling lifestyle that defined her daughter’s youth. When their car dies in Banister Falls, Wisconsin, Gin promises Raine they can stay until she finishes her senior year of high school. Gin will do anything to make sure her daughter has a bright future . . . a future that’s compromised when Raine reveals she’s pregnant.

Dan Moretti has only ever called Banister Falls home. After losing his best friend in a tragic accident, Dan devoted himself to responding to fires, rescuing the helpless, and guiding Cody Bennett, his best friend's son, through life. With Cody being the epitome of the good kid, it was an easy job. Until he says four little words: “The baby is mine.”

Knowing gossip of Raine's pregnancy will erupt sooner or later in the small town, Gin's reflex is to grab the suitcase and escape to a new city, a new life. But with each passing day, Gin's feet stay rooted in Banister Falls, and she falls a little more for this local firefighter who shows her not all men abandon women at the first sign of smoke.

As Gin and Dan do the best they can to guide the two teenagers through their early entry into adulthood, they discover together that romance can bloom in the rockiest of situations. And God can turn the pieces of a broken past into a beautiful new beginning.

My Thoughts:

As an avid reader, I face the difficult decision of which books I keep and which must be moved off of my already buckling bookshelves. What I'm finding as time passes is that the quality of inspirational fiction, already quite high, has truly become top of the line for readers. This discovery, in turn, makes deciding which books to keep and which to move on more difficult.

Within reading the first chapter of "The Dandelion Field", I knew I had a keeper in my hands. Kathryn Springer isn't a debut author. I actually have 'kept' some of her novels from years ago on my shelf and have missed her in the publishing world.

But this novel is fresh, new and full of life...much like a dandelion field. And just as the seeds from a dandelion are caught by the wind to be sent far and wide, the message of this book must be passed on from one broken person to another.

Ginevieve is a wounded, broken young mother who only wants for her teen daughter what we all want: a life that is better, easier than our own was. That, and apparently lots of puns--I mean, Raine Lightly? How cute is that??

Evie Bennett is more like Gin that she realizes, but has "doing things in the proper order" separated her from reaching out and encouraging Gin and Raine? Fire Captain Dan Moretti will have to help bridge the gap and help both families find the path for the future.

But this novel is about so much more than teen pregnancy and abstinence. The layers go on an on as you read: authentic faith, unconditional love, coming to faith, maturity in faith, healing the past, letting go of our 'adult' children, and recognizing genuine love when it comes your way.

The story is emotional and touched a spot in my heart that I hope never toughens up. As the daughter of a sixteen year old mother, age has taught me to love for what I was given and not hate for what I lacked. And this is just one of the lessons of "The Dandelion Field" that readers must see.

My thanks to my friends at Zondervan Publishing for my advance copy of "The Dandelion Field" in exchange for an honest review. I truly cannot think of a novel I've enjoyed more, and my only wish is that Kathryn is hard at work on another book.

Highly recommended.

Happy Reading!

Photobucket