Seeds of Summer: My Review

What do you get when you mix a rodeo queen and a preacher?  Throw in some orphaned siblings and missing money and you have Seeds of Summer: Book Two (Seasons of the Tallgrass).  This second book in the Seasons of the Tallgrass series by Deborah Vogts (I reviewed the first one, Snow Melts in Spring (Seasons of the Tallgrass, Book 1) last year so I was happy to be offered a complimentary review copy of this one.

Set in the present day Seeds of Summer: Book Two (Seasons of the Tallgrass) is the story of Natalie, who was first runner up in a national rodeo queen pageant.  Shortly thereafter, her father is killed in a ranch accident, leaving her in charge of the ranch and her two siblings, since their mom had been dead for years, or so they thought.  Shortly thereafter, the new preacher in town meets her brother and then later, her sister.   He realizes the pain with which the family is dealing, and also is attracted to Natalie. One complication is Natalie's stepmother (and her siblings mom) who shows up one day and wants to become part of their lives.  Another is this young woman in her early 20's having to deal with teenaged rebellion on the part of her siblings.  Finally, it is  a Christian romance and the big thing keeping Natalie and Jared apart is his faith and her lack thereof.

While it gets a bit heavy on the religion at the end of the book, most of Seeds of Summer: Book Two (Seasons of the Tallgrass) is a romance about someone who is Christian as opposed to a book that promotes Christianity in every scene.  Jared is portrayed as the perfect romantic hero--kind, generous, strong, caring, protective and religious but Deborah Vogts manages to do that without making him too good to be true, or sickeningly sweet.  Natalie, as the one who has to find Jesus before they can live happily ever after definitely seems real.

Grade B

First Wildcard will tour this book June 14.  Check back then to read the first chapter.