Many of my friends go on and on about Wanda Brunstetter so when I saw this book I decided to give it a try. I enjoyed the book and didn't find anything truly terrible about the book, but, as with Karen Kingsbury, I simply don't understand why people wax poetic about Ms. Brunstetter's work.Certainly I will say that Ms. Brunstetter's writing ability is fine. She uses well developed sentences and correct grammar. Her writing is neither too elementary nor too scholarly. She strikes a fine balance for an easy read book such as a romance.Ms. Brunstetter's plotting was okay. However, I felt as if she forgot she was writing a romance and then added it in towards the end. Certainly she dropped a few paragraphs here and there that alluded to the fact that the two main characters had taken notice of each other but the actual acknowledgement of their feelings and the outcome seemed rushed and tacked on. It was as if the author realized she only had a chapter left and had to hurry up and wrap up her book.I also found a couple of instances where something happened within the story and it seemed to serve no real purpose. It didn't add to the story nor did it develop the characters. It was almost as if someone forgot to edit. (I don't want to be specific about this as I don't wish to ruin the book for anyone.)One thing that I really liked about this book was the Christian truths that each character displayed throughout the book. The author did a very good job of portraying a typical Christian’s day to day thoughts, struggles, etc. The use of Christian themes was neither heavy handed nor was it so sparse as to be vague. This is clearly a Christian book, but the author does a good job of not getting too preachy.I enjoyed the characters in the book as well. They were not the best developed characters I’ve ever been exposed to, but they were certainly better than some. Again, though, I found that with certain characters things were said and done by the character that seemed to serve no purpose or seemed at odds with what the reader knew of the character. All things considered, this is a great weekend or beach book. It is an easy yet satisfying read despite some of the problems with plotting and logical character development, and it’s certainly a safe read. That alone scores this book points with me. I like being able to pick up a book and know that I’m not going to be embarrassed or uncomfortable with what I read. Betsy's Return by Wanda E. BrunstetterThis is the second book in the Brides of Lehigh Canal series, and I got to read it through NetGalley.If you read my blog regularly you'll know that I reviewed the first book in the series yesterday. Click here to read that review before reading this one if you haven't done so already.I didn't love the first book in the series but I did like Betsy's Return a lot more. I'm glad that I gave Wanda E. Brunstetter another chance.Betsy's Return continues the story of Kelly's Chance except the main character is Betsy, one who was rather minor in the first novel.Betsy had left for several years and had been working in New York City with the Salvation Army when she receives news that her father has fallen terribly ill and she makes the decision that she must return home to care for him.Betsy's father has been the minister of the town for years but is forced to retire due to his quickly failing health, therefore a new minister must be found to take over the congregation. While Betsy understands she is also a bit sad to see her father replaced since he has done this job for so many years and loves it dearly.Betsy is a bit surprised to find that the new minister, William Covington, is quite young and attractive, and also unmarried. However, embarrassed by her past actions when she threw herself at Kelly's now-husband, Mike, she has little interest in trying to pursue anything with Mike.Furthermore, every other young woman or their parents are throwing their availability at Mike trying to match him up and get him married off.Mike, however, having been left at the alter is jilted by love and has no interested in being married. He has decided instead that he would rather be a lifelong bachelor.Betsy and William are pulled together as they both desire to minister to the town and do good works. Will they both stay single? Will they find their way together? Will Betsy return to New York City once she is done caring for her father? Will William marry someone else? What does God have in store for them? Read Betsy's Return to find out.While this book was admittedly better than Kelly's Chance, it still wasn't amazing. I got through it quickly because it's really short. And it's also very predictable from the beginning.It's a pretty decent story and I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't a memorable book.My biggest criticism is similar to Kelly's Chance in that a character again has a sudden change of heart with virtually no explanation. I hate when a struggle is resolved in about one sentence in a book, I'd rather see a gradual transformation of someone's heart than read a sentence saying something about it being a good thing that character X had a change of heart because now things will work out. It makes me wonder how and why character X had a change of heart, but I never find out more than that. I wish Wanda E. Brunstetter would elaborate more so that her readers were left with fewer questions.If you haven't read Kelly's Chance you can still read Betsy's Return, it by no means only makes sense if you've read the first book first. If you find a cheap or free copy it may be worth your time, but other than that I would give it only 3 out of 5 stars.
What do You think about Betsy's Return (2010)?
I won this in a First Reads giveaway, and can't wait to read it! I'll post a review once I do!
—Terrilee
akhir nya betsi dan pastor william merit setelah sebelumnya pake acara kabur2 an...^^
—passerby21
*Thanks to Angie Brillhart of Barbour Books for providing a copy for review.*
—Gitzelnm
