Autumn Sky

by Gale Sears

Alaina Lund is angry at the new hired man. Until now, she has been her father's right hand in the orchards, and she would be happy to spend forever in the trees with her adoring father. But now her emotionally distant mother says it's time for the eighteen-year-old to learn the duties and boundaries of a woman of the 1910's and Alaina's mother is forcing the issue with her husband. Nephi Erickson is the quiet Mormon who has been hired to help Samuel Lund work his fruit farm in the California Sierras. But soon the beliefs of this unassuming outsider will begin to unravel the lives of the Lund family and Alaina must struggle against the duplicity of one she believes she can rely on. Perhaps Nephi can help her get what she so desperately needs.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Historical Fiction, Lds, Romance, Historical Romance, Fiction, Christian Fiction

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good but ended abruptly, kind of like a season climax. Wonder if thete is to be a sequel.

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite genres is LDS romance novels. It's my weird passion. The genre is very predictable: boy and girl meet, one or both are less active, they face a trial, they both become active, fall in love and get married. I love the genre because its so happily ever after.

This book is an LDS romance novel, but it does not follow the typical plot. You don't know who the main character will end up with until the end. Even at the end, you wonder if she really made the right choice. On top of that, the book is beautifully written and the characters are real with depth to them. I LOVED this book. My favorite of its genre.

[Hilary Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I also listened to this book on tape while driving in the car. There are lots of things that I could have let bug me about this book, but I kept reminding myself that it was set around 1900 and not today. I really didn't know much about the book and was often surprised by what would happen. There was a whole section that made me cry (not good since it was dark and I was driving in a canyon at the time!). If I don't let myself get bugged by little things, then it's really a good story. The way it ends makes me think there has got to be a sequel, which is set up to be a pretty good story too.

[Courtney Throckmorton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low 3 for me. It had lots of potential, but I struggled to really connect to the characters. It switched POV pretty abruptly and then ended very abruptly, in my opinion. (Some of this might be due to me listening to it, and not reading it.) But the plot itself had a lot of potential and really interesting aspects to it, like when in church history it was set.

[Nisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and the characters a lot, but the ending was so abrupt as to be jarring. I felt like there needed to be more resolution. Much more. If you don’t mind dreaming about a happy ending, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

[Amber]

I tried, this book just didn’t keep my interest.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated this book's ending instead of being bothered. I don't want to spoil anything so just read this if you want something different in endings.

[Betty Ann Baer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ending is open for another book.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was flowing along and then just stopped.

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this author and I was excited to read this book. I listened to the audio version, and I think I would have liked it better if I had read the printed version. The narrator made Alaina came across as a completely whiny spoiled character who is judgemental and always annoyed with the people around her. I didn't even like her for most of the book. And if you're looking for a happy ending where all the loose ends are tied up and everybody's happy, this is not a book for you. It is, however very realistic, and a good picture of what life could look like in that time and place. The writing was great, this is not my favorite book by this author, but I have to say they are very good writer. I just didn't really love the storyline, and it left me disappointed at the end.

Edited to add: apparently this book is one of three. That would have been good to know before I started it.
Edited to add: the series makes it worth it!!! The third book is a masterpiece!

[Rayni]

Book 1 of 3 Autumn Sky
This review was copied from Covenant Books:
Alaina Lund is angry at the new hired man. Until now, she has been her father’s right hand in the orchards, and she would be happy to spend forever in the trees with her adoring father. But now her emotionally distant mother says it’s time for the eighteen-year-old to learn the duties and boundaries of a woman of the 1910s—and Alaina’s mother is forcing the issue with her husband.

Nephi Erickson is the quiet Mormon who has been hired to help Samuel Lund work his fruit farm in the California Sierras. But soon the beliefs of this unassuming outsider will begin to unravel the lives of the Lund family—and Alaina must struggle against the duplicity of one she believes she can rely on. Perhaps Nephi can help her get what she so desperately needs.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary of book: Alaina Lund is angry at the new hired man. Until now, she has been her father’s right hand in the orchards, and she would be happy to spend forever in the trees with her adoring father. But now her emotionally distant mother says it’s time for the eighteen-year-old to learn the duties and boundaries of a woman of the 1910s—and Alaina’s mother is forcing the issue with her husband.

Nephi Erickson is the quiet Mormon who has been hired to help Samuel Lund work his fruit farm in the California Sierras. But soon the beliefs of this unassuming outsider will begin to unravel the lives of the Lund family—and Alaina must struggle against the duplicity of one she believes she can rely on. Perhaps Nephi can help her get what she so desperately needs. (less)

Not a deep book but a good fast read.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alaina Lund is a young eighteen year old woman helping her father work the orchards on their farm in the early Northern California days of 1913. Alaina has been her father's right hand in the orchards and loves it, then when he hires Nephi Erickson, a young man with a strange religion, she is angry. With her mother against Alaina doing a man's work, she begrudges having to learn the duties of the household. With her mother being raised in a home in San Francisco with servants, she expects Alaina and her younger siblings to do much of the work. Alaina and her siblings enjoy the comraderie of having fun, but Elizabeth doesn't approve. When a shocking accident occurs, everything is turned upside down for Alaina and her siblings. I highly recommend this first vol of a series.

[Aprils · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally suprised I liked this series of books. Actually I loved them! I only checked them out from the library because we have the same last name, the author and I. He He It turns out Gale Sears is a very good author and the story is captivating. I love Historical Fiction and this is the first I've read that deals with World War One. I really liked the characters, and the plot. I have to admitt that I read the second book first because I didn't realize it was a series. I'm actually glad it worked out that way! I think you could pick up any of the 3 and be able to read it as a stand alone story!

[Ndshill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised that I enjoyed reading this book as much as I did. This is book one in a series of three. I listened to the 2nd book while driving from Utah to AZ, so I knew the major events of this book before I began to read it. I actually enjoyed reading it more listening to the 2nd book. I especially recommend it to my family because it takes place during the time period we are concentrating on this year.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, clean story. Sometimes the heroine was a little ridiculous, but overall I liked it. Nothing was tied up at the end (which usually bugs me), but I could see it was coming, so I was expecting it and had already ordered the next book in the series - which I assume will be a continuation of this story.

[Lewestover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a local friend, this is the first of a three-book series. I'd probably classify the series as historical ficiton, WWI era. The characters have much more depth than those in the typical LDS "romance" genre.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quickly captured by the author's writing style and greatly enjoyed this story. The characters came to life to me; like old friends. The ending was very abrupt, but I soon realized it had a sequel. Knowing that definately helped!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book--it took me a few chapters to get into it, but I really ended up liking the main character Alaina. The end kind of left me hanging, but luckily I had the sequel handy.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An historical novel set in California in the early 1900's (World War I time period), and written by an LDS author. It was the first of the series, and was pretty entertaining. I enjoyed learning about what it was like then, and the characters were well developed, and relatable. Good read!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found out about 3/4 of the way through this book that it is part of a 3 book series. It doesn't really close much of anything up so I am hoping that by reading the next 2 it will really be a great series and then I can recommend it. Until then, read at your own risk.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite kind of book: historical fiction! This one takes place before and during WWI and focuses on a family who live and run their own orchard in California. They learn how to work hard and deal with life's tragedies and happinesses. I love how I learned with them about life's lessons.

[Heidee · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are in the mood for a rollarcoaster, go for it! read it. It was constantly up and down, happy and sad! At one point I was crying! It was so sad! Then it all gets better and it ends in one of my least favorite things in the entire world. A CLIFFHANGER!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed a book that I could just melt away into and forget my "post-Christmas blues" for awhile. This was it. It is a Mormon fiction, but not too corny. I really liked the characters and just when I thought it would be too predictable, there was a twist...

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was three chapters from the end when I remembered I had read this book before (checked, yep, four years ago)! And I remembered feeling then that the ending was too abrupt! It was just getting good! So, other than the ending, it was a fun read.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book by gale sears. i have decided i like her style of writing and storytelling. i did stay up late a couple of nights reading it and was not in the least disappointed. i am now reading the second book in the series and am anxious to see what develops.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the ending leaves you hanging a bit...but the 2nd book was already published so I didn't have to wait in suspense for too long.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was amazing! Best book I've ever read!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a little over-dramatic. But I did enjoy reading it and it didn't take me very long to get through. Now I am on to the next one.

[Mariana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have tried to read this book twice, and just can't get into it. The author is to wordy for me.