A Time to Bloom by Lauraine Snelling, with Kiersti Giron, is the second book in the Leah’s Garden series. This is a great Christian historical fiction story of four sisters, all named after flowers. This story takes over where the first one ends, so it is best to read in order. This is such an encouraging story to read. The sisters are hardworking and open minded to trying new adventures to help build their lives in a new area. Del works as the town’s teacher to help bring money in while the others work the farm. I so enjoyed that their brother, Anders, is finally able to visit them and see the progress they have made and the hard work they have done. He is encouraging in the prospect the sisters have for building a new business.

I especially love the fact this book focuses on flowers. Not only will the flower garden be a memorial for their mother, but it will help the family. As I read the story I so wanted to add new variety to my own gardens. I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

A Time to Bloom
by Lauraine Snelling
Pub Date: June 7, 2022
Bethany
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This is # 2 in the series and each one keeps better. It picks up where book one left off, with the story of the Nielsen sisters. Forsythia and Dr Adam are now married and living in town while Lark, Del and Lilac continue to work to build their homestead and dreams of a garden, farm and boardinghouse. Del is also teaching school for the town.
This is a great book and I am recommending it. I will purchase it for our library.
5 stars

A Time To Bloom is a must read. This next installment focuses on Del. She is trying to get a new school built, however she teaches school in the Church after last year’s tornado. Her other sisters want to start a boarding house. They have their brother Anders come and help. He brings his friend RJ. RJ was injured after the Civil War. He is from upstate NY. He is jilted by his fiancé and with only one eye he wants to start over. He decides to take up the offer to go west from Anders. It takes a long time for a friendship and romance to blossom, but the side story and characters are so well written I didn’t notice that it took a long time.

This books takes up just after the first book in the series, Seeds of Change. A very enjoyable story featuring Delphinium (Del) and her quest for a school house. The Nielsen sisters are efficiently learning to manage their homestead as they all work together. Each sister is unique with talents and creativity to support each other. I love the way they take care of others as well as their own family. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

A Time to Bloom by Kiersti Giron and Lauraine Snelling is book 2 in the Leah's Garden series. I enjoyed both stories. There was more danger and tension in Seeds of Change, but the reader had to give up a bit of logic to enjoy the story. Lark disguised as a male, Lark, while on a wagon train for several weeks is kind of hard to believe. Kept her voice masculine all the time in close contact? Never whiskers any time of day? Feminine hands? Lady curves undetected? I'm glad Lark did pass as a man for safety sake.

A Time to Bloom is set in Nebraska one year after the four Nielsen sisters arrive. They still have lots of very hard work farming and planning a boarding house. Del continues to enjoy teaching even though meeting in the church building in inconvenient, since a tornado blew away the school building. Brother, Anders Nielsen brings a friend, RJ out to their little town to find work. He is helpful to them although he is surly.

There is good character development, and I appreciate the research Lauraine Snelling does to make the stories accurate historically. This is a Christian story, but it isn't preachy. I think non Christians can enjoy it. I suspect that Kiersti Giron did most of the writing because there were some odd contemporary words and phrases used ( e.g. "Hey" for "Hi" and "looking to" meaning planning. i rate it 4 stars

"a time to bloom" by lauraine snelling with kiersti gironnis the second book in her 'leah's garden' series. i have been a fan of lauraine snelling's books for many years and this did not disappoint. i love the stories set back in time and it was fun to read about a story settled in my home state of nebraska.

this story is about how delphinium nielsen (knows as 'del') and her sisters are struggling to run a farm and keep a garden alive to survive. they are financially strapped even with 'del' teaching school. she is having to deal with parents who believe their children are better served working on their family farms than going to school.

del and her sisters' brother returns from war with a friend rj. rj believes in the school and wants to help, but there is tension between him and del. i won't give away the rest of the story, but this was fun to read and i look forward to the rest of the series.

i received this book digitally from net galley to read and give my honest review.

A Time To Bloom is the delightful second book in the Leah’s Garden series. It picks up where book one left off, with the story of the Nielsen sisters. Forsythia and Dr Adam are now married and living in town while Lark, Del and Lilac continue to work to build their homestead and dreams of a garden, farm and boardinghouse. Del is also teaching school for the town.

By gosh, these are busy women. I don’t know how they do it. Thankfully, they have gathered around them a wonderful community. Forsythia, Adam, his nephew Jesse, their three children, and now Del’s school children and their families. The sisters’ brother Anders also comes to visit, bringing his friend RJ. There are also new challenges for the sisters and their growing family to face. Plagues of grasshoppers, families damaged by violence, and a schoolhouse destroyed by a twister. With the amount of work to do, especially with the harvest and wanting to start on their boardinghouse, the Nielsen sisters need all the help they can get, but they also know that if they want to achieve their dreams it’s up to them to make it a reality.

Each of these books features all the sisters, but while Lark and Forsythia took more of the focus in book one, Del takes the spotlight in this second book. She is starting the school year without a school house. Worse the towns people, even her sisters, don’t seem to realise how important it is to her. New in town, RJ battles both memories and pain from the war. The injury that cost him his eye continues to bring him debilitating pain, causing him to offend Del right from the start. As Del continues to strive hard for her students and their families, she finds an unexpected ally in RJ and her own work helps to bring him peace and a place in of belonging in this little town he finds himself in. Their romance is slow to develop and we only really get anything more than friendship right at the very end of the book, but I enjoyed the friendship they build, as well as all the details of the lives of these busy sisters and their community.

I’m looking forward to continuing the story of these incredible sisters and the people they bring together around them.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

I adored A Time to Bloom, the second installment from Lauraine Snelling's Leah's Garden. I highly recommend it and give it five stars.

Lauraine Snelling has such a way with writing historical fiction and her collaboration with Kiersti Giron in the Leah's Garden series is a surprising and refreshing addition to the genre.

In the previous novel in the series, the sisters are moving westward as a real need to get away from a situation their brother got them into. This novel opens a year later and the sisters have settled into their homestead. Forsythia is settled into her marriage with the doctor and her new family acquired on the way to Nebraska. Delphinium (Del) is getting ready for a new school year (without a school house), Larkspur (Lark) and Lilac are preparing to build a boarding house, and their brother, Anders, comes for a visit and to help get the boarding house off the ground. Anders brought a friend with him who was an engineering student before the war and knew how to design buildings. The sisters hire RJ (Anders' friend) to design the boarding house and oversee its being built. Throughout the time taken to build the boarding house and later the school house, the sisters become close to RJ, but Del becomes especially close.

There are some pleasant surprises throughout this book. While Lark is the oldest sister, Del often appears to be the eldest, at least to my way of thinking. All of the sisters get along so well and complement each others strengths. They work well together and build one another up in ways not often seen in families or friend-groups.

The authors do tackle some tough problems and there is enough conflict within the plot to keep the reader engaged and involved in the story. I can't wait to see whose story is next and what challenges the sisters will face in the next novel.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a teacher who cares about her students as much as what they learn.

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

This book was sent to me electronically for review by Netgalley…quirky sweet characters…life the way it was…simplicity..hardships…love…friendships…family…this is an author I enjoy…she weaves a story that is intriguing and difficult to put down…what will the characters do next? How will they end up?..what will the family do for survival? Curl up with a warm, cozy Afghan and enjoy an afternoon of reading with these characters…

A TIME TO BLOOM is the second novel in the Leah’s Garden series by LAURAINE SNELLING - this book written with Kiersti Giron.
The story takes place in the small frontier town of Salton Nebraska where three of the four Nielsen daughters, all named after flowers by their mother, have settled on the homestead which they have called Leah’s Garden in her honour. This book is largely Delphinium’s story - the schoolmarm who has always felt no one would want to marry her.
R. J. Easton is a bitter man, wracked with pain from an attack in which he lost his eye, when he arrives in Salton with Anders Neilsen. As he uses his engineering skills to help build a boarding house and schoolhouse, he gradually settles into this caring community ….
That is all I am going to tell you for fear of spoiling things for you.
The subjects of prejudice, drunkenness and child abuse are touched on, but it is largely a gentle read about frontier life.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Lauraine Snelling has teamed up with Kiersti Giron to write Leah's Garden book 2, A Time To Bloom. This book follows the adventures of the Nielsen sisters as they establish a new life in Nebraska. I loved the way the characters related to each other. I really enjoyed the storyline and the town sounds like a nice place to visit. (I couldn't live there because I like my modern comforts.) So anyone looking for an enjoyable book about frontier life should grab a copy of A Time To Bloom, a pitcher of tea, and settle in for a relaxing adventure.

I was given this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.