Carolyne Aarsen All In One Place

All In One Place

Carolyne Aarsen

FaithWords, Aug 2007, $12.99

ISBN: 9780446696821

In Seattle Terra Froese decides ending another bad relationship is not enough. To distance herself, she leaves the West Coast for Montana to live with her sister Leslie VandeKeer, whom she has not spoken with for quite some time. As she regains her equilibrium, Terra assumes she will need to rescue her sibling from tedious rural family life.

However, she finds Leslie seems shockingly contented and the small town residents wonder about the big city intruder as she lands in some trouble almost from her first step there. Police officer Jack DeWindt thinks Terra will not survive Big Sky Country although he is very attracted to her and her to him. However, Terra wonders if that is enough for her to finally put down permanent roots.

This interesting character study focuses on Terra's conversion (for the most part from her viewpoint only) from a life of wandering disentanglement to one of belief in God and truly caring about others, but does so in a reasonably realistic manner. Although the lack of other perspectives especially that of her sister reduces the impact of Terra's journey, fans who appreciate a simple well written contemporary tale starring a complex woman will enjoy Terra finding her way and self.

Harriet Klausner