One Last Spring
Sian Ann Bessey
280 pages
hard copy edition
From the Publisher:
Wales, 1884 The quiet village of Llanwddyn has long been a safe haven for Gwen, a young Welsh country girl whose life has been fraught with tragedy. Following the untimely death of her parents, it was her aunt’s home in Llanwddyn that provided Gwen and her brother a refuge from their grief. Now, with the unwelcome news that the village is to be razed in the name of progress, an inescapable wave of change has begun. When her brother departs to follow his dream of sailing the high seas, Gwen is left alone to navigate the shifting world around her. She soon finds herself relying on the support of her brother’s best friend, Lewis, a gentle blacksmith whose kindness stirs her heart. Resigned to the fact that Lewis may never see her as more than a child, Gwen is soon swept off her feet by Thomas, a prosperous young Englishman. Torn between two men and two very different paths, Gwen has little time to determine what course her heart will follow. With time running out for her beautiful valley, will love come too late?
Review:
I really wanted to love this book. I picked it up one afternoon at my local book store and thought the back of the book sounded so interesting. There wasn’t anything wrong with this book, it was a sweet story. But it just took me so long to get into the story. The first half of the book seemed so slow moving to me. I really liked Gwen. She is a strong main character and I enjoyed how she stood up and did what was right. she sacrificed a lot for her Aunt and community. I loved the sense of community in this book, everyone was involved and cared about one another. I wanted to read more about Lewis – a little bit more background or more to the romance. I felt there could have been more courting or dialog – or just a little more.
This was a super clean romance, and I always appreciate that. My only problem was it was a little slower at times. It wasn’t my favorite historical fiction book, but it did have a lot of background and wonderful description and had a heart warming ending. I haven’t read anything by this author before, and she does have some other books that look interesting to me, so I will give a couple more of her books a try before I really make a final judgement on if I love her work or not.
Final Score:
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