Today is the first day of spring. And thanks heavens. It has been a long, long winter on the Oregon Coast. It has been a long winter a lot of places, it seems.

Most years, I don’t mind the winters here in Lincoln City. Yes, we get an average of 97.27 inches of rain per year (according to Wikipedia, which also thinks we have an average high temperature in August of 72 degrees [I wish—we’re about 10 degrees cooler than that], so allow for a little wiggle room). And yes, the wettest months of the year are November through March. But we usually get some spectacular sun breaks amid the deluge. This year, however, it’s been unrelentingly rainy and gray.

So, like I said, come on, Spring. Please. You can do it.

One thing long dreary winters is good for, however, is reading. So, this week, I’m recommending a great book to entertain you on a rainy day indoors, but with spring in the title to help usher that season along.

That book—Grapevine Springs by Dean Wesley Smith—is part of the time traveling Western series Thunder Mountain.

Here’s the synopsis:

Could the entire history of an Old West mining town be false?

Did Grapevine Springs ever really exist?

Duster Kendal wants to know the answer to that question. But to get the answer, he must turn for help from two top researchers who must risk everything, including their lives, to find the answer.

A gripping new adventure in the Thunder Mountain series.

Happy Spring!

Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.