A Time to Bloom
Book 2- Leah's Garden
Delphinium (known as Del) Nielsen has big dreams of a new school house for Salton, Nebraska. She and her sisters have been living in Salton for about one year, getting used to the frontier life. Del has been teaching in the church due to a tornado that destroyed the former school house. She was under the impression that the men in town would start to construct the new school house, but they cancel any plans to do so. Instead, they are more focused on building a train station that will help grow the town, so Del is forced to continue using the church as a school house.
Meanwhile, the Nielsen sisters’ older brother, Anders, arrives bringing a friend of his, RJ Easton. RJ wears a patch over one of his eyes. It was an injury he sustained during the Civil War. RJ is struggling to acclimate to life post-Civil War. He lost his fiance to another man and he is experiencing a lot of pain in his eye. But he has an educational background in engineering and Del is interested in him helping out with building the school house. He resists at first, but as he settles in the town and learns how to deal with his pain, he decides to help out.
As RJ and Del work together, they start to develop feelings for one another. Both have lost past loves. Can they love again? Can they start over or will they continue to live in the past?
I really enjoyed this book. This is the second book (out of four) about the Nielsen sisters in Nebraska post-Civil War. Despite RJ being a difficult person to deal with, I felt tremendous sympthay for him as he navigated his post-Civil War life. Del was strong, but had immense compassion for the children she taught. This novel shows really well the hardship of the frontier life, but also the hope that can come from it if people allow themselves to rely on neighbors and the community.
Rating: 5/5
Next Novel to Review: Christmas at Whitefriars