Hurricane Season

Author: Lauren K. Denton

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: April 3, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Emotional, well-written, with a little suspense mixed in for good measure.

Ty and Betsy Franklin are owners of the Franklin Dairy in Alabama. Ty knew he wanted to take over his grandfather’s farm since he was fifteen, but it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice.  Betsy sacrificed a lot too, including her promising career in marketing to be with the man she fell in love with.  Together they’ve brought the farm into the modern era, but still have problems that come and go.  One problem they never planned on was being unsuccessful at having children, which tears at Betsy’s heart through their whole marriage.  That all changes when Betsy’s sister Jenna calls out of the blue asking Betsy to watch her two girls for two weeks while she goes on a writing retreat in Florida.  Jenna is a free spirit to say the least.  She never measured up to her parent’s expectations and once she was in college, she jumped from one adventure to the next, leaving her a single mom who currently manages a coffee shop.  Jenna who never wanted kids has two and Betsy who yearns for kids has none.  As the days with the girls continue, things begin to get strained in her and Ty’s marriage.  As hurricane season approaches, they must prepare the farm for the storm but may face one even greater in their relationship.

This book really stirred up my emotions. My heart yearned for Betsy as she went through her life often defeated because she couldn’t have kids.  The things she felt and some of her actions really hit home hard because we all struggle and do things that don’t make sense to anyone but ourselves.  Then in retrospect, we can look back and question why we even did those things in the first place.  It was this attribute that really brought Betsy to life for me.  Ty came alive quickly as well.  His loving heart towards his wife was wonderful, but he still got frustrated with her and would just shut down at times because he didn’t know what to do or what to say.  It was like this was based on a real life marriage.  In many instances, I understood how each character felt thinking through my own marriage.  Jenna reminds me of a few women in my life.  Doing what she did seems completely abnormal to me, but I know a few people that wouldn’t think otherwise.  It was easy to put faces to the characters and see the whole book acted out in front of me.

This book could easily be a case study for groups to read about and reflect on the behavior. I recommend it to all who love a good story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.