Book Review~Love's Abundant Harvest

About the Book: Lucy has lived a difficult life.  Raised Old Order Amish by an overpowering mother, she received a disfiguring scar on  her cheek as a child. Very shy, and with no marriage prospects, her parents arrange for her to marry Sam Wagner, a widower.  Lucy moved to a new town after her wedding, and now lives a miserable life with her new husband, who is verbally abusive. Pregnant, Lucy fears the life her child will have being raised by her husband.

Manny is Lucy's neighbor, a widower himself, still grieving the loss of his wife. When he meets Lucy, he is immediately drawn to her sweet nature, and is also very concerned for her.  He suspects she is being abused by Sam, and so he begins stopping by each day to deliver the mail.  One night, a fire destroys most of the farm, and Sam is found dead. Will Lucy open up to Manny, and is there a future for the two of them?

My Thoughts: Love's Abundant Harvest, by Beth Shriver, was a wonderful story.  There aren't too many stories on abuse in Amish families, as it is kept quiet within the family. My heart ached for Lucy as she dealt with daily life with Sam, who was just horrible to her. Thankfully she had her grandmother and her grandmother's friends to go live with when Sam died.  They helped her get through the difficult time, and helped get Manny and Lucy together. Love's Abundant Harvest was a story of  love, loss, and trusting God to get you through everything.

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Charisma House/Booketeria in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Book Review~Clara's Wish

Lizzy Ryder is a young Amish woman of marrying age.  She dreams of finding the perfect Amish man to spend her life and begin her family with.  Her best friend Clara is very ill.  Lizzy makes the daring decision to contact Lizzy's wayward brother, Zack, to inform him of her illness.  Zack had left the Amish church and had no contact with his family.  Zack quickly returns to the Amish community out of concern for Clara.  As Lizzy and Zack spend time together caring for Clara, they both begin to have feelings for each other.  But Lizzy wants to live Amish and Zack doesn't.  Can they have a life together?  Will Clara survive her illness?

My Thoughts: Clara's Wish: An Amish Christmas Romance written by author Beth Shriver, is a beautifully written Amish romance.  It shows the importance of family and friends, made even more special by the Christmas season.   Throughout the book, Zack is working through conflict within his family and in himself.  The seriousness of his sister's illness overshadows the feelings stirring within him for Lizzy, but he can't ignore them.  I enjoyed the extreme close friendship shared by Lizzy and Clara, more like sisters.  The three main characters were well developed and I felt like I knew them personally by the end of the story.  Clara's Wish is a perfect book to curl up with on a quiet weekend. A sweet bonus at the end of the book are several yummy recipes to try, as well as an excerpt from the author's next book, Love's Abundant Harvest.

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from Charisma House in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my own. 

Book Review~First Impressions by Sarah Price

When I first saw the description for First Impressions by author Sarah Price, I was intrigued how she could pull off turning a classic such as Pride and Prejudice into an Amish novel.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it is possible, and Ms. Price did an amazing job with it! 

First Impressions is the first book in Sarah Prices new series, The Amish Classics.  In this story, the Blank family is a traditional Old Order Amish family.  They were blessed with five daughters, but no sons.  For an Amish farming family, not having a son can be a problem, but daughter Lizzie takes on the role of son, helping her Daed with all the farming chores.  Lizzie is a spirited young woman, and would rather be helping with farm chores or reading than courting young men.  Her older sister Jane, however, dreams of marrying and starting a family. 

Some new people from an Ohio Amish community move in near the Blank's Pennsylvania farm.  Jane is quickly attracted to Charles, a kind and upstanding Amish man.  They begin to spend time together, and the family assumes a marriage will happen soon.  When Lizzie meets Frederick, she is shocked at how prideful he is.  She doesn't like anything about him.  When Frederick admits his interest in her, Lizzie shoots him down immediately. 

I don't want to give any more of the story away, so I will stop there.  First Impressions was a wonderful story, one I read in two days.  Even though I haven't read Pride and Prejudice, I do know the basic story and First Impressions is the Amish version of the story.  This story focuses on family, faith, and love.  It will remind you to not judge, and not to believe gossip.  It is a romantic love story full of good life lessons. 

*Disclosure: I received this book free from Booketeria in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my own. 

Book Review~Fearless

Jim and Amy Spencer are grieving the loss of a child during pregnancy, with no hope for children in the future.  In their small town of Virginia Mills, one of the residents is saved from a house fire by a young girl who mysteriously appeared in the fire.  Nobody knows who she is, and she doesn't know anything but her first name-Louisa.  She is placed with the Spencers, who soon start noticing odd things happening.

Louisa seems to have a special gift of healing, which stirs up their town.  At the same time, murders begin occurring, leaving the residents terrorized.  Do the two have anything in common?  What will happen to Louisa, and will the killer be stopped?

Fearless is a page-turning novel written by author Mike Dellosso.  This isn't my usual type of fiction, but the description intrigued me.  I'm glad I decided to review it, because I couldn't put it down once I started reading!  This book has you on the edge of your seat to the very last page!  It is a good, clean book with an overall theme of faith in God. 

Disclosure: I received this book free from www.thebooketeria.com in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.