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This book starts with the thoughts of thirty-five year old recently jobless Allie Richards while she's sitting in the bank waiting to see the loan officer. Allie is a mother and widow. All her hopes and dreams of becoming a landscaping business owner are hinging on this meeting. Allie ponders why she can't be a man
-- cool and confident like the gentleman next to her.
The meeting didn't go the way she wished. Crestfallen and slightly depressed Allie goes out to her vehicle to have a good cry before heading home. Little does she know the confident man has followed her. He knocks on her car window to check on her. After assuring him she's fine, he climbs on his motorcycle and drives off. She daydreams for a moment about how she could ride off into the sunset with him. Then reality sets in and she wants more for her life and her daughters' lives then that. Allie is looking for reliability and stability.
Allie heads home, still a mess, but looking forward to a hot shower and some quiet time with her girls. Allie is shocked to find a surprise birthday party waiting for her when she gets home. All of her best friends have done this to make her thirty-fifth birthday a special one. After some cake, the party quickly comes to a close, but not before her friends can remind her of their small birthday party on Friday night. Imagine Allie’s surprise when the confident stranger appears again.
Allie’s friends, Victoria, Lark and Rachel, have found the perfect solution to her problem, or so they think. They beg Allie to enter the Beautiful Town Landscaping Competition. They all promise to become Allie’s crew and assist her with the project if she wins. Allie agrees to enter then waits on pins and needles to learn the results. Through the book Allie learns to stop trying to control what is out of her control
and comes to realize that only God can predict the future and she has to trust in Him if she’s going to get anywhere in life.
I loved this book. It showed a close relationship with Allie, her family, her best friends, and later Daniel Montgomery. Allie’s character changes so much over the course of the book. She goes from relying on herself to relying on God where she should have been all along. Allie learns nothing is certain in life. And God wants us to live our lives to the full extent and not worry about tomorrow.
Reviewed by Kristy Pelletier
for The Road to Romance
December 6, 2006
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