Review: Winter's thaw
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2013
New in the 'Compass Girls' series focusing on the Compton family living on the Compass ranch. We first meet Sienna as a giggling sixteen-year-old. Six years later she's working at nursing and has a boyfriend, Josh, who is considering going to Florida with his college pals instead of spending Christmas at home.Daniel, a new worker, brings some excitement along with his Virginian accent. He dropped out of rodeo with an injury, and Sienna gets to know him. She doesn't live it up and has only ever dated Josh. Daniel is tactful but thinks the girl should see some more of life. Sienna finds him attractive but is properly distant, loyal to her boyfriend and with her future mapped out; others think Josh may not be in it for the long haul. Then Josh comes home for Thanksgiving with an abrupt change of plans.This modern western has with conference calls for girlie chats, about a traditionally-minded girl and her sexual awakening. The normal family pressures are present - an elderly lady whose memory is slipping, a protective father - but by night, and stolen time during the day, Sienna explores a new side of herself.Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon have each published several books separately and have collaborated on the 'Compass Brothers'. WINTER'S THAW shows how modern women are not bound by the constraints of our grandmothers, and are entitled to expect more from life than settling for the first offer to come along.