A Season on the Wind - by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 

About the book:

Ben Zook was as free as a bird--until a chase for a rare White-winged Tern takes him to the one place on earth he planned to never return: his Amish home in Stoney Ridge.

Desperate for photographs of the elusive tern, Ben hires local field guide Micah Weaver, planning to "bag the bird" and leave Stoney Ridge before anyone recognizes him. But he neglected to plan for Micah's sister, Penny.

Ben had become Penny's spark bird during one long-ago summer, when she had introduced him to birding, even sharing with him a hidden eagle aerie. Penny always hoped Ben would come back to Stoney Ridge. Back to his Amish roots. Back to her.

The only problem? Ben has absolutely no memory of Penny.

My review:

This story started out slow for me but I ended up liking it pretty well as there was a twist and also ended up being very emotional and touching.  I liked the varied viewpoints as we have a professional birder who's been running away for years, the woman waiting for him all of that time, his cousin whose life has fallen apart and she doesn't know what to do and the young guide who can't find the words to tell a girl he's interested in her.  They've all experienced different hurt, from family or a church or a spouse and are at various stages of healing.  Some have turned away from God or never really knew him or are actively leaning on Him and listening for Him.  There's some romance and just a peaceful feel to the whole story.  I'm not much of a bird watcher myself but it was interesting learning about them and I can see how it would be exciting finding a rare one.  Forgiveness was a major theme for the story.  I also liked seeing characters from previous books set in Stoney Ridge show up.  I would recommend this story even if you don't love Amish stories as it had much to offer.

I received this book free from Revell.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.