Summer of Promise by Amanda Cabot - My Review

Abigail Harding decides to leave Vermont to head west to Fort Laramie to check on her sister Charlotte.  She thinks that Wyoming will be dusty and boring.  Her stage coach is robbed a short distance from the fort, but Army Lieutenant Ethan Bowles is on board to save the day.  The two are thrown together during the robbery and once they arrive at the fort.  Ethan just so happens to be best friends with Abigail's brother in law.  Abigail is bound and determined to not like Wyoming and return to her intended and her teaching position in Vermont.  Ethan has no need for a headstrong woman or love.  There are robberies going on in and around the fort and both Ethan and Abigail feel the need to determine who is responsible. Abigail also needs to help everyone she meets and somebody has to keep her safe. 

I loved this book! I waited for the release date for a while and downloaded it first thing on the morning that is released.  I was not disappointed!  There were lots of twists and turns in the book that kept me reading.  I was always surprised.  Just when I thought I had figured something out I would be thrown for a loop.  I think I finished it in record time.  I totally identified with Abigail's need to fix things and help people.  I loved learning more about Fort Laramie.  I've read lots of books where the characters briefly visited the fort, but I really enjoyed it as a setting for this book.  The famous fort is no longer just a stopping point on the Oregan trail (remember that game in elementary school?), but a real place.  Amanda Cabot did a wonderful job bringing the fort to life.  I really look forward to the rest of the books in the series.  I want to see how things turn out for the other sisters.  Does it really have to be a year?