Monday, July 8, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: SMALL TOWN GIRL by ANN H. GABHART





Small Town Girl
By: Ann H. Gabhart
978-0-8007-2184-8
$14.99
Paperback
Pub Date: July 2013





Bestselling author Ann Gabhart weaves a timeless story of love, sacrifice and longing that will grip the  heart and  stir the spirit.  In her gentle and textured style, Gabhart takes the  reader  back  to  a  time  when  days moved slowly and life was simple.  A world that was about to change forever.

In  the autumn of 1941, rumors of war whisper through Rosey Corner.  The town waits in anticipation as if holding  its breath.  But for Kate Merritt, it seems life is letting out a prolonged sigh.  As Kate  watches  her sister  marry the man Kate has loved since she was fifteen, her  heart  is  silently  breaking.   And  even  the attentions of handsome best man Jay Tanner can’t draw her interest.

Then suddenly, Pearl Harbor changes everything.  Kate’s friends are rushing to get married before  the  boys go off to war.  The newspapers talk of women making airplanes and bombs.  Everyone in town begins rolling bandages, planting victory gardens and collecting scrap metal.  Kate finds herself drawn to  Jay  in  surprising ways, and when he enlists she can hardly breathe worrying about him getting  killed.   Could  she  truly  be  in love with him?  And if she is, will she ever see him again?

Fans of Angel Sister will be thrilled to see Kate Merritt all grown up.  New  readers  will  find  that  Gabhart tells a beautiful story that will touch their hearts and win their loyalty.







Ann H. Gabhart is the bestselling author of several novels, including Angel Sister, Words Spoken True, The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, The Blessed and The Gifted. She lives with her husband a mile from where she was born in rural Kentucky. Find out more at www.annhgabhart.com.

Praise for Small Town Girl and Ann Gabhart
"A classic. Ann Gabhart pens an enduring tale from the very first line of Small Town Girl. Rosey Corner is a world you won't want to leave, rife with spiritual truths, rich romance, and memorable characters that linger long after!" – Laura Frantz, author of The Colonel’s Lady and Love’s Reckoning

"The characters of Ann Gabhart's Small Town Girl pulled me into their lives and did not let me go. This love story, painted upon the canvas of a small Kentucky town struggling with WWII, is one of the most riveting historical romances I've ever read." – Serena B. Miller, winner of the 2012 RITA award for Inspirational Romance

Reader review . . . 

Kate thinks love may have passed her by as she watches her sister marry the man Kate has thought she loved since she was fifteen.  She knows she doesn't want to tie her life to  the hometown boy who believes they are meant for one another, and wants to believe there is life outside Rosey Corner.  The best man, Jay Tanner, feels the mutual attraction between them but is warned to stay away from her to avoid hurting her.  He tries to leave town, as he never stays in one place, but the town and its inhabitants draw him in, and the couple find themselves drawn together.  But the events of Pearl Harbor change everyone's lives.

The real star of this novel is the town of Rosey Corner.  The people and places are so well-drawn I could see them.  The characters all center around the Merritt family.  Little Lorena, abandoned and taken in by the family, Graham, the eccentric loner befriended by them, and Fern, his sister who appears sporadically and disappears into the shadows, all play a part in the relationship between Kate and Jay.  

The World War II era is one of my favorite settings for historical fiction.  The effects of the war on a small town in Kentucky is particularly interesting, as people who have had little or no contact with the world at large are suddenly affected by events on another continent.  Admittedly, the story seemed to lag a bit in the middle of the book, but it was still a captivating story.

4.5 stars


Available July 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  
 Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Publishers. 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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