Review: Spring for Susannah

Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond
Genre: Christian Romance
ISBN: 978-1595549242
Published: June 14th 2011 by Thomas Nelson

Rating: 3

With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Underhill agrees to go west to the Dakota territory to marry her minister's homesteading brother, Jesse. But Susannah is painfully shy, doesn't see herself as worthy of love from either a husband or from God, and lives in constant fear that Jesse is going to ship her back to Detroit.

In spite of her petite size and the fact that Susannah doesn't look like she could survive on the prairie, Jesse quickly discovers that his new wife is a greater blessing than he even hoped for. The years she spent as her father's veterinary assistant allow her to save Jesse's ox and twin calves and to help neighboring farmers with their animals.

But Susannah's feelings of unworthiness are deeply rooted, and she can't believe that Jesse's praise-or the tenderness and love he shows-could possibly last. The thawing of her heart seems almost as distant as Spring in the midst of the winter blanketing the Dakota prairie.

Warning: few spoilers

Okay. So. I got this in the mail and read it through completely the same day. That's got to be worth something.

I loved the premise of this book. It sounded so sweet, it sounded like it had a lot of potential. And I loved it: up until the halfway mark.

Halfway through, Susannah, seemingly out of nowhere, storms out of the house and tells her husband she's leaving. One minute she was fine, and she was beginning to love him, and the next minute, that horrible smelly house is just too much for her. It made no sense.

Also, their arguments were like that (what few of them they had.) on minute they were fine and the next minute they have a little bickering or frustration with each other, and he's like "if it's that bad for you, we'll get divorced." (not an exact quote, but it was something like that).

Then he left her. It was tolerable up until that point. But then he just snapped, and he left her. The locusts came back and he wouldn't listen to her, he just left and was like "I'll bring you home money because now I can't support you." He went all Edward Cullen on me just as I was really beginning to like him!

And then she found out she was pregnant.
And then he gets captured by Indians.
And then she thinks he's dead and two other guys say they'll marry her.

A little bit of plot overkill, maybe?

I was really disappointed. It would have been so much better if the conflicts were more realistic, and the plot consisted of less events that were more pointed towards the same thing.

Then there was her salvation. She wasn't really a Christian before, and her faith didn't seem much improved by the end either. I was hoping for a heartbreaking realization or a sacrifice or a change, and all I saw was "huh I guess he's on to something, okay I'll pray too. God please give me back my husband."

Because of all that, near the end I found myself skimming and reading just the dialogue so I could get to the end. And the very end could have had so much more emotion, so much more response, but it just felt very dead.

I really wish I had loved this book because it sounded so adorable. If only it hadn't turned at that halfway point.

Recommended for ages 15+ for one scene in which the doctor gives some advice to the married couple