There was nothing particularly wrong with this book, but nothing extraordinary either. I kept waiting for a big problem, situation, or climax but it never came. Tropical storms, hurricanes, and favorite cows came and went without anything happening, though it felt like each time they were mentioned it was hinting of something more to come. One of the characters goes on an artist's retreat as a photographer- some of the writing surrounding that is cheesy but I got through it. I generally didn't care for the story or characters so I won't be searching out more from this author.

4 stars for this sweet southern-filled read. Being from Alabama myself, I loved the setting from the get-go. All mentions of specific places made me feel right there with the characters. And I particularly enjoyed the nod to UAB (where I work) as it’s usually overlooked.

This is a story about a family. Betsy and Jenna grew up with career-driven, distant parents. Betsy was the smart, responsible sister to Jenna’s free-spirit, rule-breaking self. Betsy is married to Ty, a hardworking dairy farmer from South Alabama.

Jenna, a long-ago photography hopeful, is given an opportunity to attend a 2-week art retreat in Florida; the only issue is finding someone to keep her 2 girls for her while she’s gone. She calls Betsy the day before she’s set to leave and asks her if she’ll keep her girls for 2 weeks. Betsy agrees... before she talks to Ty.

Betsy and Ty have been trying for 5 years to have a child of their own while still running a dairy farm. When the girls are dropped off, they have to learn to be parents on-the-spot. While they are enjoying their time with their nieces, it is also a painful reminder of what they don’t have. Then when Jenna leaves a voicemail saying she’s extending her stay at her retreat, they have no choice but to keep on. Ty worries Betsy is getting too attached to the girls.

This book is so true of some family situations. And it deals with them very well. I wanted to start off not liking Jenna, but she really grew on me. She had to find her way, and when faced with her dream job she had to weigh what she really wanted out of life. I liked her decision.

I really would have given this 5 stars if the ending hadn’t of made me so mad. There was closure, but I wanted a little more; like, maybe, 2 years into the future. But that’s my opinion.

This is the second book I read from Lauren K. Denton. His first book, The Hideaway has made me fall in love with the narration created by the author. Then another thing that made me pick and take this book is because the cover is very beautiful and alive. Of course, the third part that makes me love this book is the concept of the relationship between two sisters. I want to fall into this story.
Betsy and Ty Franklin may have given up on having children. Moreover, they are too tired with various tests that have been passed fertility. They try to establish love in the home without the figure of a child. Then came two nephews, the two daughters from her sister, Jenna. Yes, it was two weeks that could change Betsy's life.
I love how every character in this story is built. As usual, Lauren K. Denton also drugged me with a binding and easy-to-read narrative. Then we also should not forget the concept of storms in this story. Storms can come to life and ruin everything, but by that time we also learned many ways to grow and heal.
Throughout the story the reader will find emotions built from clear characters. Three different angles of each character make the story more fresh and interesting. Then the reader will be carried away by stories of emotion, accepting, giving and sustaining. This is not an easy life for every character. They have different problems but that does not mean they do not rise.
Then the bond between the two sisters was built from unexpected stories. I really like the writer who try to attract the reader's emotions. Like it or not, this story keeps me going through the pages to the end. It is a contemporary story that is alive and hard to forget.
Each narrative also flows very well. I can feel this effect, just like when I read The Hideaway. I think this is the advantage of Lauren K. Denton that will push this book to explode throughout the bookstore. But for the end of the story, I was actually less impressed and sick. Indeed all the stories end like that, peace and there is a very deep meaning. But I think this ends too soon. And finally, after reading, I have many questions that may never be answered again.
It's a living, contemporary story about the relationship of two sisters. The narrative is so beautiful that it forces me to finish it in one reading. And thanks to the author Lauren K. Denton also NetGalley # #Tnzfiction #NetGalley

It took a long time for me to love this book - I must have been half way through before it really started to pull at my heart. But when it did I really loved it,
The characters became real and believable - and the 'unlikeable' sister became a much more sympathetic character. A really good read.

Very good book! I have three daughters, and I can attest to the drama and discord that happens in sisterly relationships. Denton pairs family conflict with the destruction of a hurricane and draws her readers in with a thoughtful and insightful story.

Hurricane Season is the story of two sisters, Betsy and Jenna. I will admit that I didn’t get this at first—I think of Betsy as an old-fashioned name, and I thought she was an old family friend … with an emphasis on the ‘old’. And my review copy didn’t make it clear in the subtitle the way Amazon does (the full title is Hurricane Season: A Southern Novel of Two Sisters and the Storms They Must Weather, which is a bit of a mouthful).

Betsy is a thirty-year-old farmer’s wife who is unable to conceive, so it’s poetic irony when Jenna calls and asks Betsy to babysit her two daughters so she can accept a scholarship to a photography retreat in Florida. Betsy agrees anyway, because that’s who she is, but Ty isn’t so happy about the arrangement.

Jenna has made a few bad decisions in her life, but loves her daughters and wants to be a good mom. That means she wants to do more with her life than make ends meet working in a cafe, so when she gets the opportunity to reconnect with her dream of being a professional photographer, she is both keen and scared.

Hurricane Season is an interesting and thought-provoking story that doesn’t run according to plan. Given the set-up, I had an idea of how it would finish, but I was around 80% wrong. That was both good and bad—my ending was the happy-ever-after emotionally fulfilling easy but unrealistic end. I guess Lauren K Denton doesn’t believe in easy. And that’s true to real life: things don’t come easy, and getting what we wish for doesn’t magically make everything perfect.

There are some good lines, inspiration for writers and other creatives, and the people who work with them:

There will always be people to criticize your work. I'm trying to help you, to make you better than you think you can be, better even that you're trying to be.

I’d like to think I take that approach when working with writers.

However, I wouldn’t call Hurricane Season Christian fiction—while Betsy and Ty go to church, the faith element isn’t central to the plot or the journey of either Betsy or Jenna.

If you’re looking for a feel-good Christian romance, Hurricane Season isn’t the book for you.
But if you want a novel that addresses hard questions of wants and priorities and doesn’t tie up the ending in easy answers, Hurricane Season might be the novel you’re looking for.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

It is a story which talks of the realtionship between two sisters , Betsy and Jenna. Betsy lives in a farm with her husband Ty,she is still recovering from the fact that she may never be a mother. Jenna is a manager of a coffee shop and mother of two children , Walsh and Addie. When Jenna is offered a shot at realising her dreams as a photographer, at Halycon Treat, she leaves her kids with Betsy.

Will Betsy be able to protect her heart ?

Will Jenna's dreams come true ?

Read to find out

I loved the writing style and the characters. It was a fast paced read and i enjoyed it . Since i love taking photographs it was easy to connect to Jenna. I felt bad for Betsy

This is going to sound terrible, but the cover of the book sold me- I want a spot like that one for a dinner party! Ahhh, but the story itself! Just a wonderful work! Nothing dramatic, no mysteries to solve, no horribleness, just a well told tale about a family with all it's strengths and weaknesses. All it's beauty. I could relate to the story and though some reviewers found it slow, I thought it was a nicely paced book for a lazy day of reading. Kudos Lauren Denton- fine book to read again in the future.

If you are looking for a novel set in Alabama, try HURRICANE SEASON by Lauren K. Denton. I was initially attracted by the truly beautiful cover and I found the story to also be heartwarming and gentle. Franklin Dairy Farm in Southern Alabama is home to Ty and Betsy Franklin who agree, although childless themselves, to watch over their young nieces for two weeks while Betsy's sister, Jenna who is single mom, attends an art retreat to enhance her photography skills. The story is told from alternating viewpoints, allowing readers to better understand as all three adults grapple with their own "internal storms" even as some actual hurricane warnings become dire. HURRICANE SEASON is a story about family, marriage, sisterhood and the choices made for love. Consider this if you are looking for a slow-paced beach read this summer.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC this was a wonderful read and will be recommending to friends and family.

**Big thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to review this title**

This author has been on my radar for awhile, and I didn't even realize that until I reached the end of this book. Honestly, the cover is what kept drawing me in, over and over until I finally gave in and asked NetGalley for a copy.

This book really drew me in. It's about 2 sisters who really weren't sure how to be with each other. When Jenna has an opportunity to grow as an artist thrust upon her, she drops her girls with her sister, Betsy. Betsy lives on a farm with her husband Ty.

It really throws Betsy off her game, as she is still trying to recover from infertility issues. Thinking she'll never have a chance to be a mom, she really has a hard time connecting with her nieces and caring for them. And poor Jenna, it is the first time since she had the girls that she was truly selfish. You just really hope those two can figure it out and reconnect.

It was a very good story, and I had a hard time putting it down. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good family story.

I don't often read this genre, but this one caught my attention. I'm so glad I read it! I loved the story of sisters, family, and dreams in this wonderful tale.

In Alabama, Betsy is married to Ty and on the outside, they have it all. They own Franklin Dairy Farm which has been in Ty’s family for generations. It’s a solid business, Ty managing the farm, Betsy taking care of the running of it, providing day trips for schools and troubled youths. The one thing missing from their good life is children and Betsy is losing hope she will ever achieve her dream of motherhood.

Betsy’s younger sister Jenna is much more of a free spirit. She works as a Manager in a coffee shop to support her two daughters. But when a place comes up at an exclusive Artists Retreat, Halcyon, Jenna can’t turn down the opportunity to revisit her dream of becoming a professional photographer.

As Jenna embarks on her journey of self-discovery, Betsy and Ty take care of her girls. As the weeks pass, and their home is filled with fingerprints and laughter, Betsy and Ty wrestle with their true feelings. Meanwhile, Jenna does some souls searching as she embarks on her lifelong dream.

Amidst all of this, Hurricane Ingrid is Alabama bound. I enjoyed Hurricane Season, the relationship between the sisters was very interesting. They were close, but yet there was so much they didn’t know of each other. A really enjoyable read.

Two sisters, Betsy and Jenna couldn't be different than night and day. Growing up, Betsy was the one her parents appreciated, while on the other hand, Jenna was the "wild child". The years have passed, Betsy is now married to a farmer, Ty and they remain childless. Living in Alabama, they are always on alert during hurricane season. Jenna lives in Nashville, hasn't followed her dream of becoming a photographer and is now a single mom with two little girls. As an opportunity presents itself to Jenna to go to an "artist retreat" she asks her sister to take her children for two weeks so she might go to that retreat and follow her dream. Two weeks turns into two months causing a "storm" that brews within Betsy and tearing at her husband Ty. And while there is an actual hurricane brewing that has set its sight on the Southern shores of Alabama, there is the "hurricane" settling within the family. While I understand what the author is portraying here, I would have wished there was more drama, as the story seemed to move at a much slower pace than I would have preferred.

This was a lovely book. The characters are so well-developed and their story lines are real and easy to connect to. Denton is a writer who can pull you into a story and have you immersed in it before you realize it's happened.

To be fair I had a lot going on while reading this book, however I could not get into this book when i needed a distraction the most.

I didn't really understand where the Hurricane Season, the title of the book really played into the story. Betsy and Ty take in her sister's two girls, even though they have struggled to conceive. This leaves Betsy feeling all the emotions. Her little sister Jenna is trying to pursue a career in photography by attending a summer program.

A lot of the book, it talking about the farm, the girls, and Betsy's emotions on becoming a temporary caregiver. I just failed to connect to this one.

Really just kind of meh. I’m not a fan of overly descriptive writing, and this book could have been half the length had we not had such elaborate descriptions of the scenery. It wasn’t really a romance, so we didn’t have anything sizzling there. The characters were fairly cliched, and I don’t really understand the need for anything in Ty’s voice at all. It all felt fairly anticlimactic, especially the hurricane which features in the title. So it dragged a lot as I read it, and seemed to take far longer to read than it actually did. I’m not sure I would be hurrying to read one of the author’s other books.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I hate to give low ratings for books that are not absolutely atrocious, but this one really didn’t deserve three stars in my opinion. The author has skills, particularly in describing places, but the book as a whole was unfocused and dragged badly. I didn’t feel anything for any of the characters, and felt the endless unnecessary details tedious.
I think this writer shows real promise, and recommend watching for her later novels.

Note: I received an advance copy of the ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful story about two sisters during a difficult season. Anyone living through a hurricane can definitely relate to the anticipation of the unknown. This is just a slow paced story of life seen through the eyes of the two women searching for more. Love a good southern tale about life. Highly recommended!

Hurricane Season tells the story of two sisters. Betsy, the older sister, is the "good girl" in the family who married a kind man, Ty, and lives with him on their family dairy farm in south Alabama. Jenna, the younger sister, is a free spirit who is a single mom living with her two young daughters in Nashville. When Jenna has an opportunity to go to an artists' retreat in a remote location in Florida, she drops her young daughters off with her older sister and heads off. The planned two week visit stretches on, and lives are changed over the long summer.

Lauren K. Denton's first book, The Hideaway, was one of my favorite reads of 2017 (my review here), so I was very eager to read Hurricane Season.

I really loved everything about this novel. The heart of the story is the lives of the two sisters who are both seeking happiness and fulfillment in different ways. I found Betsy much more likeable and sympathetic. I loved her relationship with her husband Ty and the kind and mindful way that she lived her life on a daily basis on the farm. The farm details were lovely. Jenna, on the other hand, was much more selfish, and was very determined to follow her passion for photography no matter how much her impulsive actions inconvenienced her young daughters and her sister and brother-in-law.

I stayed up late reading to see what would happen with these women and with the precious little girls who were left in Betsy and Ty's care. To say that this is an engrossing novel is an understatement!

I also loved the Southern setting, the food, the iced tea, the long hot summer days, the casual Southern speech patterns. I am a native Southerner and have lived through many hurricane seasons; I found this aspect of the book very relatable.

Lauren K. Denton has a way with creating characters who are distinct and well rounded. The chapters alternate, mostly Betsy and Jenna, but some from Ty's perspective too. This is very well done and added to my enjoyment of the book.

The storytelling and descriptions are so graceful. This is a Christian novel but the faith message is subtle. It is all about grace and love. I really liked the following passage. Betsy has been gardening and a friend talks to her about the garden and the incoming storms:

"As far as your garden, sometimes storms can be helpful. ... All that wind and rain shows you which plants are the strongest. Those are the ones you keep, plant more of next season. But the ones that break under the force of the storm -- well, you just toss those and pretend they never set foot in your garden in the first place. Eventually you learn to choose strong ones from the get-go. You know how it is around here. Everything needs to be strong. Plants and people" (p. 316).

I rate Hurricane Season an enthusiastic five stars, and recommend it highly to fans of Southern fiction, women's fiction, and Christian fiction. It would be a perfect Summer read!