The tornado that devastated Kings’ Orchard pushed Rhoda, Samuel, and Jacob to make a new start in Maine. Are they strong enough to withstand the challenges of establishing an Amish community—and brave enough to face the secrets that move with them?

Love Is Only A Letter Away

So what if Joann Yoder’s Amish community deems her a spinster? She’s content to stay single. In the meantime, she’s working hard to finally buy her dream house. So it’s problematic when she’s fired from her job to make room for the nephew’s owner, Roman Weaver. His blue eyes aside, she simply can’t stand him! Good thing she has the secret letters she’s been exchanging with a mystery man to keep her going. But who is writing her letters? And could she possibly fall for him in real life, too?

Brides of Amish Country: Finding true love in the land of the Plain people

My Comments:   This sweet book appealed to me on many levels.  I haven’t been fishing since I was  a young girl, with my dad and brother.  Fishing plays a huge role in the story.  But, I love books, printing, publishing, and writing – things Joann loved, and Roman grew to love.  The main characters are multi-faceted and not perfect.  I always appreciate that.  Since I married young I can relate to feeling like an old maid at 27 . I have yet to read a Patricia Davids book I do not like!

Bold widow Johanna Yoder stuns Roland Byler when she asks him to be her husband. To Johanna, it seems very sensible that they marry. She has two children, and he has a son. Why shouldn’t their families become one? But the widower has never forgotten his long-ago love for her; it was his foolish mistake that split them apart. This could be a fresh start for both of them. Until she reveals she wants a marriage of convenience only. It’s up to Roland to woo the stubborn Johanna and convince her to accept him as her groom in her home and in her heart.

My Comments:  I loved revisiting Seven Poplar’s and Emma Miller’s characters.  It is gratifying to read of a long-in-coming happy ending for Johanna.  A single mom with seven daughters – who could imagine this in the Amish community?  I love visiting with strong women and those of the Amish faith are especially interesting.  This book visited the issue of pride and how it can harm us in large and small ways.  Emma Miller always provides an interesting read!

Thanks NetGalley for the free review copy!

Every year, young Amish men descend on the cozy little town of West Kootenai, Montana, arriving in the spring to live there for six months and receive ‘resident’ status for the hunting season in the fall. They arrive as bachelors, but go home with brides! In The Promise Box, the second book of bestselling author Tricia Goyer’s Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series, Lydia Wyse, a book editor from Seattle who grew up Amish, returns to the small community of West Kootenai, Montana to give comfort to her father after her mother’s death. She is drawn back to the familiar Amish ways after finding her mother’s most precious possession, a Promise Box of prayers and scripture. What her publisher sees, though, is an opportunity for a sensational ‘tell-all’ book about the Amish. Lydia soon finds herself falling in love with Amish bachelor Gideon Hooley. She wants nothing more than to forget her past and look forward to a future as an Amish bride. Will the pain of her childhood—and her potential betrayal of her community—keep her from committing her whole heart?

My Comments:  I cried and cried during this book.   The main characters are Lydia, an author and editor who left her Amish roots to become Englisch; and Gideon, from a huge family with legalistic parents.  Lydia and Gideon, both have baggage which they feel unforgivable. Even though Lydia hadn’t seen her mother the last few years of her life, her mom was able to communicate to her through the promise box -  a box which she wrote letters to Lydia and Bible promises which meant something to her.  There were a few twists and turns and problems along the way, making for good reading.  I am enjoying these books matching bachelors with brides from West Kootenai, Montana.  I also enjoy the aspect of the Amish being friends with and even worshipping at times with the Englisch believers.

A Wedding for Julia, the third book in a romantic series from popular author Vannetta Chapman, takes a last look at the Amish community of Pebble Creek and the kind, caring people there. As they face challenges from the English world, they come together to reach out to their non-Amish neighbors while still preserving their cherished Plain ways.

Julia Beechy is so stunned, she can hardly breathe. Her mother’s announcement that she must either marry or move from the family home upon her mother’s imminent death catches Julia by surprise. How can she leave the only home she has ever known? What about her dream of opening her own Plain café?

When Caleb Zook offers support, comfort, and a solution, Julia is afraid to accept it. Can she marry someone she barely knows? Is it the right thing to do? Is this God’s plan for her future?

Caleb thought his time for marrying was long past, but he feels a stirring in his heart he cannot shake for this beautiful, forlorn woman. Amid the circumstances of this life-altering decision, the people of Pebble Creek weather the worst storm to hit Wisconsin in the last hundred years. Where will Julia and Caleb be on the other side of it?

My Comments:  This book was rich and full of story!  I loved the characters, and appreciated reading about a nontraditional Amish couple.  I read this whole series and recommend it to lovers of good Christian fictian.  Ada, Julia’s mom, is amazing.  It would be wonderful to have a Godly influence like her in one’s life.  The romance is sweet and also nontraditional, making it rather more engaging because it was not completely predictable.  Julia is a strong Amish woman who is independent and creative.  Caleb is the perfect match for her – both in personality and vision.  This is another great Amish fiction romance book!

    Readers of Kelly Irvin’s Bliss Creek Amish novels will be overjoyed to discover her new series for lovers of Amish fiction: The New Hope Amish. In the first installment, Love Still Stands, a group of dedicated families leaves Bliss Creek to establish a new community in Missouri. Among them is Bethel Graber, a beautiful young woman with a passion for teaching. But after being disabled in a terrible accident, overseeing a classroom is out of the question…and romance seems a long-lost dream.  Bethel begins physical therapy, determined to make a fresh start. But that won’t be easy in the town of New Hope, where the locals seem anything but eager to welcome their new Amish neighbors. Amid growing intimidation from the community, Bethel must find the strength to face her many challenges and the faith to believe that God still has a plan–and a love–for her life.

My Comments:  Wow!  It would take so much courage to pick up roots and begin in a new place, especially a place where you are not welcome.  That’s exactly what happens in this story.  Not only are the Amish not welcome, but their home was destroyed before they arrived, they receive no support from law enforcement, and they have their own challenges such as disbility, postpartem depression, loneliness, and isolation.  Facing these many challenges makes this an interesting multi-faceted story.  Again, I am surprised and pleased with the vast variety of Amish fiction available.  I haven’t grown tired of reading and enjoying these books. This book will be published the beginning of September 2013.  Thanks NetGalley for the preview copy.

In book 3 of the Emma Raber’s Daughter series, Amish fiction author Jerry Eicher brings the faith-filled journey of Katie Raber to its happy conclusion. Katie Raber is trying to put her life back together after Ben Stoll’s devastating betrayal of her love. When she is baptized into the church, she receives a surprising offer that will keep her close to her Amish community–much to her mother’s delight. But soon Ben is back in her life again–and at the same time she finds interest from another young man, though his bumbling efforts at winning her heart show him to be a far less desirable suitor than the more polished Ben Stoll. Readers who have followed the saga of Katie and her attempts to escape the stigma of being just “Emma Raber’s daughter” will be charmed by her new look at life as a young woman with important decisions to make.

Book 3 in the Emma Raber’s Daughter series

My Comments:  Great ending to a great series!  I loved this series.  I read it quickly and it definitely held my interest throughout.  I so love reading Amish fiction written by Amish authors.  I feel they might have a touch more authenticity. Many real-life issues were faced throughout the story and treated interestingly.  Relationships were tense.  Jesse is probably one of my favorite supporting characters.  I love the relatioship between him and Emma and all of the children.  It has to be difficult going from a family of two to a large family with at least 6 children!  The hope and healing of Christianity and its principles are encouraging.  I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for a free review e-copy!

When Amish widow Claire Shetler is attracted to the man who caused her fiancé’s death, they must both heal deep wounds to discover God’s hidden mercies. At seventeen, Tom Miller smashed his car into a tree, killing his brother only four hours before he was scheduled to marry Claire Shetler. Unable to live with his father’s bottomless grief and anger, Tom left the Amish church, ran away, and joined the Marines. Twenty-seven years later, Tom returns to Mt. Hope, Ohio, a wounded, decorated Marine helicopter pilot, and rents an apartment over Claire’s workshop. A widowed Amish midwife, Claire is struggling to support her family, and despite her unresolved anger toward Tom, she sees the money as a Godsend. She never dreams that she will end up falling in love with a battle-scarred soldier.  As Claire and Tom fight their way through the traumas of the past, they discover the tender mercies God has hidden along the way—one of which is a loving father who has been praying for his prodigal son to come home.

My Comments:  A year ago I read the first book in this trilogy, An Uncommon Grace and loved it.  I enjoyed this book as well.  The Swartzentruber Amish seem like a harsh group.  As much as I love reading these books, I don’t find much of God’s grace in their beliefs.  They are very strict with each other.   So much of the grief they face seems avoidable.  Legalism is something I have fought for years.  It is hard to be in the center.   From what I read in this book, I would agree most with the New Order Amish.  Claire the midwife fascinates me and I would love to read more about this.  I would love to read more about Tom’s change from Amish to US Marine.  I can’t even imagine a pacifist piloting during war.  I will read the third book in the series.  All of the characters are likable except for Tom’s brother-in-law, who just seems greedy.  The characters are very human with strengths and weaknesses, making them easier to relate to.  As always, family triumphs!  The writing is engaging and the story is thought-provoking.