Wow. What a wonderful book. Set in the summer of 1964, Jocie is a spunky spirited girl of thirteen. I love her innocence. I feel sorry for her too. A mother and sister absent. An old batty woman who spouts Scripture like Old Faithful. A father struggling to make ends meet. She's stuck between childhood and womanhood. Then everything changes. Nothing is what she thought it was anymore. The truth can hurt, but it can also heal. ( )

I had a hard time getting into this book but once I did it was absorbing. It's the story of Jocie, a preacher's kid who will be starting high school in the fall. Jocie's mother left her and her father many years ago taking Jocie's sister with. How Jocie and her family go through life really is what make this such a good book. ( )

I realize this is the first book in a series, so a lot of questions went unanswered in the end. This is a Christian fiction novel, but it's not very preachy, actually. One problem I had with the book is that many of the main characters just blindly accept anything that comes their way. The good characters are almost unbelievably good, and the bad characters are almost laughable in their extreme badness. Still, I stuck with the book to see what would happen in the end, so the writing was interesting enough to keep me going. ( )

Sweet Christian fiction about family in a small town. ( )

Life in Hollyhill!

I have read several books by author Ann H. Gabhart and have enjoyed them all. Scent of Lilacs is a book you will enjoy once you get into it. The beginning was a little slow for me.

I fell in love with Hollyhill because it reminds me so much of the small town I grew up in. Everybody knew everyone’s name and everyone knew everybody’s business!

Jocie captured my heart from the start . A young innocent girl who struggles to find out who she is. Her father, preacher David, tries so hard to please everyone. He is definitely a person after God’s own heart. Just wait until you meet Wes; A strange man? Perhaps in his own way he is but I could not help but grow fond of him too. Loved his stories!

There are life struggles, hurts, and spiteful mean spirited characters that are vital to this story. Take heart, there is also love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and hope.

I urge you to pick up a copy of Scent of Lilacs. I think some of you will relate to small town living as much as I did.

I am looking forward to reading book two, Orchard of Hope. ( )