Buttermilk Sky by Jan Watson

About the book: Weary of the expectations imposed on her by her strict upbringing, eighteen-year-old Mazy Pelfrey prepares to leave her home in the Kentucky mountains for the genteel city of Lexington, where she’ll attend secretarial school. She knows her life is about to change—and only for the better. Everything will be blue skies from now on.

But business school is harder than she thought it would be and the big city not as friendly, until she meets a charming young man from a wealthy family, Loyal Chambers. When Loyal sets his sights on her, Mazy begins to see that everything she’d ever wished to have is right before her eyes. The only hindrance to her budding romance is a former beau, Chanis Clay, the young sheriff she thought left firmly behind.
Danger rumbles like thunder on a high mountain ridge when Mazy’s cosseted past collides with her clouded future and forces her to come to terms with what she really wants.

My thoughts: Life in Kentucky just prior to World War I was simple, especially in the South. Wanting something different than marriage and family in a small town, Mazy goes to Lexington where she studies secretarial skills - shorthand and typing. She lives in a boarding home under the watchful eye of a firm matron with several other young women seeking to make their lives better by being prepared to earn a living.

Mazy has left a young man behind who wants marriage - with Mazy. He is dependable and loyal. However, Mazy wishes to branch out and test her wings in the world a bit. She meets a young man of wealth who seems to fancy her. Several events bring pleasure and trouble into her life and in her distress she must make choices.

Jan Watson has written a believable story with well-drawn characters. Chavis (male lead character) is interesting, especially in how he interacts with his prisoners and responsibilities as sheriff. Sometimes it is quite humorous. My favorite character in the entire book, though, is Cinnamon. I hope the author will bring us a sequel that focuses on Cinnamon.

Buttermilk Skies gives us a peek into the lives of young people here in the United States just prior to the war and into the social strata of that time.

DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of Buttermilk Sky from Tyndale Blog Network as a member of its blogger review program. Opinions expressed are solely my own. I received no compensation for this review.