Friday Book Pick: Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert

I've heard people argue that they dislike Christian fiction because it's just happy people living happy lives. There are some novels out there that meet this description, but the vast majority of the books I've read deal with real people struggling to survive the problems that life throws at them.

In Wildflowers from Winter, debut-novelist Katie Ganshert digs into her character's painful pasts (and presents) to show how amazing rebirth can come from life's deepest hurts.

Here is a description of the story, courtesy of publisher Waterbrook Multnomah:

A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built the life she dreamed of during her teen years in a trailer park.  An unexpected interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa.  

Determined to pay her respects to her past while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of five hundred acres of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.

 Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years.  When Bethany is left the land, Evan must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany’s vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away. 

For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn’t seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace that she’s not even sure exists?

I was amazed how this new author managed to pull a touching love story from the shadows of death, grief, loss of dreams, and negative church experiences. She drew me in from the very first paragraph, expertly weaving together first-person memories with third-person story-telling without leaving the reader confused.

I can't wait to read Ganshert's second book, Wishing on Willows (due to release in March, 2013), which will continue the story of Peaks, Iowa. I'm looking forward to spending more time with these characters and seeing how they pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and experience the joy that comes with the spring.

Click here to download the first chapter of Wildflowers from Winter now.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the purpose of review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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