Blowing on Dandelions by Miralee Ferrell

Blowing on Dandelion is the story of a widow, Katherine, her two daughters, Lucy and Amanda, and Micah Jacobs and his son Zachary.   Katherine runs a boardinghouse and soon finds out that her mother's visit was planned to be a permanent move. She has not had a great relationship with her mother and as she dwells in this, a fire takes the home and business of Micah Jacobs, a widower.   Mr. Jacobs moves into the boardinghouse while he recovers from injuries and gets his business back together.  In the meantime, more boarders arrive: a Mr. Tucker and a Mrs. Wilma Roberts along with her twenty year old niece.  As various problems arise and conflicting personalities clash, a sweet story of love is told.

I really enjoyed this book.  This story begins with am image most girls can relate to-- blowing the "puff" off of dandelions and making wishes.   It represents an ideal time of life when our lives were perfect and we felt safe and secure.  I expected a deeper book when it began with this, but it was actually a lighter read despite quality messages within.  I liked the characters, though I wish we could have seen more personal growth in all of them rather than just in Mrs. Cooper.  (Several other characters did have personal growth moments also such as Micah and his faith in God, but I think it should have been delved into just a bit more.)  One other thing that I really appreciated about this book is that although it was set in the 1800's, I still felt like it could easily apply today and even have most of the story occur in present day.  I definitely recommend this book to anyone wishing to read an entertaining, thoughtful romance based on Christian values.

A copy of this book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via Netgalley.