Title: The Spring of Candy Apples (Book 4 in Sweet Seasons Series)
Author: Debbie Viguie
Publisher: Zondervan
Genre: Teen Fiction/Christian
First sentence: Candace wondered how every couple of months she managed to wind up seated across the desk from a Zone executive.
The Spring of Candy Apples is the 4th book in the Sweet Seasons series, but it read well as a stand alone, as I have not had the opportunity to read the first three books.
We catch up with Candace during her interview for The Zone's college scholarship to Florida Coast College. The interview is with John Hanson, the owner of The Zone, an amusement park in California. Candace was entered into the running by her friend, Josh, for her rendition of a new amusement park ride called Balloon Races. During the interview, Candace also gets promoted from a seasonal employee to a regular part-timer working at The Candy Counter.
Candace's life is getting busy. She enjoys working at The Zone and is also involved in a talent show that is coming up there. Add to that the lead in her school play, Man of La Mancha, boyfriend, best friends, and her church youth group.
Over the course of the book we meet Tamara, her best friend and fellow castmate in Man of La Mancha. She and Tamara have been best friends for a very long time and have planned to go to UCLA together. Candace does not know how she is going to tell her friend that she is considering going to Florida Coast.
Kurt is her boyfriend whom she met after she started working at The Zone. He used to be Lisa's boyfriend, another Zone employee, and this has brought out a host of problems and animosity in Lisa.
She also met Josh working at the Zone and he quickly became a good friend. It also benefited her friend Tamara as she is seriously dating Josh's brother James. Josh always seems to be around when Candace needs reassurance or someone to talk to - and he is also a Christian.
Join Candace as she decides if Kurt is "the one", which college to choose, and how Josh figures into all this!
This was a very cute story and a quick read. It was definitely not preachy, but was able to get across the story of salvation through it's characters. It was a light read but covered romance, touched on family issues, values, and handling important choices. I would recommend for girls 14-18 years old.
