Review: A Great (and believable!) Love Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2013
I was provided an advance review copy of Simone Beaudelaire’s “High Plains Holiday,” and I’m glad I was.  Books set in the Old West (the book takes place in 1888, in Kansas; that definitely counts) aren’t usually my thing, but I was captured by this novel from the first page.“High Plains Holiday” tells the story of Cody Williams, the brand new pastor of the town of Garden City, Kansas, literally just off the train; and Kristina Heitschmidt, the church organist.  The author builds both Cody and Kristina believably and sympathetically right from the start, and draws the reader into their tale.  Can Cody settle in and find his place in this new and, for him, very strange environment?  Will he and Kristina get past their initial distrust of one another?  You’ll have to read the book to find out…The author also does an outstanding job of making the town feel real, with details that ground the book firmly in it’s proper place and time.  There’s also an interesting cast of supporting characters, all of them well-drawn, leaving plenty of room for the next book in this series (the cover promises that this is only book one in the “Love on the High Plains” series).The author as a flair for descriptive language, which makes the setting and the people really come alive.  The book is told in the third person, and alternates between Cody’s and Kristina’s points of view (with a couple of detours into other characters at appropriate moments).I truly enjoyed this novel, I highly recommend it, and I’m looking forward to book two!