This story had me from page one! It is magnificently written by a truly talented and wonderful author that writes in a style sure to make you feel a part of the story within the pages!!

Set in a quaint little Mennonite community, Summer Steadman is all alone after her family falls sick and dies. She's desperate for a job to make ends meet, so she boldly takes on the task of teaching Peter Ollenberger's son while he is recuperating from an injury and is unable to attend school. She never planned on falling in love and knows he can't accept her English ways and looks at her as an "outsider", so she leaves to the home built for her near her family's graves, but can she return to the man she loves and accept his Mennonite ways??

Peter Ollenberger is a widowed Mennonite man, raising his son and taking care of his late wife's grandmother. He has a strong faith. He has good friends...that is until the young "learned English woman" lives in the small shack on his property and teaches his son lessons...and steals his heart!

Ms. Sawyer tells of tested faith, the value of family, morals and a love for God that is sure to draw you in from the first page! This book deserves highest praises many times over for an author who knows how to capture the readers' hearts! ( )

Here's another book that I listened to rather than read. It's one of those pioneer love stories that has a lot of humorous moments as well as some tearful ones. Summer Steadmann's journey to Oklahoma in the early 1900's with her family was interrupted by their deaths from cholera. She ended up stuck in a small town in Kansas, wanting to die herself. Enter Peter Ollenberger, a widower, who needs a teacher for his injured son. You can probably guess where all of this leads. It's not quite a predictable as one might think, however, as the author throws in several unexpected turns. It's an enjoyable read or listen and helped pass the miles down the road. ( )

Loved this book! Easy reading, feel good kind of book. First book I have read by this author and will now be reading all her others! ( )

Childless widow looks to rebuild her life.

Summer's life does not reflect the brightness of her name. In route to Oklahoma, her husband and children were all stricken with Typhoid and died. Now Summer is all alone in the German/Mennonite community of Gaeddert, KS, where she doesn't even share the language or religon of her neighbors. Yet she is an orphan and estraged from her other relations so she has no where else to go. Besides, she still feels tied to the row of graves where her family lies. So when a local farmer offers to have her stay in his shariah (Shed) and tutor his injured son she feels she has no choice but to take him up on his offer. The predictable romance between Summer and the widowed father then runs its course throughout the rest of the novel, as well as the spiritual redemption of the main character. The best part of this book was the depiction of Gaeddert and it's people, especially the bits of Low German sprinkled throughout. The author was good about incorporating this but not making it hard to follow. As a Kansasan who had at least heard of this community, it made it all the more interesting to learn more about it. ( )