A Summer of Discovery

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the premise at first—*another* city-meets-country redemption arc? But *A Summer of Discovery* won me over by refusing to play by the usual rules. The protagonist, Claire, isn’t some wide-eyed naive; she’s a woman whose faith is more habit than fire, and her return to the family farm feels less like a homecoming and more like a hostage situation. Price’s narration sells this tension perfectly. She delivers Claire’s snark with a dry edge that keeps the character from feeling like a cliché, and her voice for the grandmother is a masterclass in warmth laced with mischief. You *believe* these people have known each other for decades, warts and all. The production is clean, but not sterile—there’s a lived-in quality to the audio, like you’re eavesdropping on a porch conversation. That said, the pacing stumbles in the middle when the plot leans too hard into farm anecdotes (yes, the goat is funny, but we don’t need *three* scenes of it eating laundry). And while the spiritual themes are woven in organically, the climax’s resolution feels a touch neat compared to the messiness that precedes it. Still, this is a rare Christian fiction audiobook that balances humor and heart without veering into preachiness or schmaltz. If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at a relative’s “blessing in disguise” or wondered if God has a sense of humor, this one’s for you—just maybe skip the goat’s solo chapters if you’re short on time.