Sharing my love of reading and books through book reviews. Grab a cup of coffee and a good book!

Monday, April 29, 2013

An Amish Kitchen

By Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipson & Kelly Long

About This Book
The Amish Kitchen is the Heart of the Home – and the Ideal Setting for Stories of Love and Hope.
Fall in Paradise, Pennsylvania, always brings a brisk change in the weather. This season also ushers in unexpected visitors, new love, and renewed hope for three women. 
Fern has a green thumb for growing healing herbs, but longs for love to bloom in her life. Then the next-door neighbor’s oldest son, Abram, comes running into Fern’s kitchen seeking help for his little sister. The crisis soon leads to a promise of romance—until mistrust threatens to end the growing attraction.
Nearby, Hannah runs her parents’ bed and breakfast, Paradise Inn—but her life feels nothing like Paradise. She longs for a man of integrity to enter her life, but never expected him to knock on the front door looking for a room. Will she be able trust Stephen with her future once she discovers his mysterious past?
When a storm blows a tree onto Eve’s farmhouse, she has little choice but to temporarily move her family into her parents’ home. Outside of cooking together in the kitchen, Eve and her mother can’t agree on anything. But this may be just the recipe for hope in healing old wounds.
Three Amish stories—each celebrating love, family, and faith—all taking place in a tight-knit community where the kitchen truly is the heart of the home.
Also Includes Reading Group Guide and 45 Old Order Amish Recipes

My Review
I truly loved this book!  Three different Amish stories all centered around something to do with the Amish Kitchen being the heart of the home.  I had previously read books by all three authors (and loved all three for different reason) but to have stories from all three in one location was icing in the cake.  All three novellas are well written, and although they are shorter stores, they don't leave the reader wondering what happens next.  The homeopathic remedies and the recipes in the back of the book add to the appeal to Amish readers. 

I give this book five out of five stars and I hope that the authors have future books with combined stories!

NOTE - I received this book free from ThomasNelson in exchange for an honest review.  I was, in no way, obligated to provide a positive or good review.




Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Accidentally Amish


By Olivia Newport

About This Book

Escape the helter-skelter of the modern culture and join software creator Annie Friesen, hiding at the home of an Amishman. With her high-tech career in jeopardy, Annie runs from fast-paced Colorado Springs—and straight into the hospitality of San Luis Valley’s Amish community. There she meets cabinetmaker Rufus Beiler, and the more time she spends with him, the more attracted she becomes. When Annie finds she shares a common ancestor with Rufus, she feels both cultures colliding within her. But is her love for Rufus strong enough for her to give up the only life she’s ever known?

My Review

This is book One in the Valley of Choice Series.  I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.  It is not the typical Amish fiction book so I was a little disappointed.  The main character is not Amish and the story is actually two parallel stores woven into one novel.  There is the modern story about Annie and there is the one about her ancestors.  Annie flees her former boyfriend because she no longer trusts him - he steals from her.  She hides in a barn and meets the Beiler family.  Within the book the story of the Beyeler family is told as they came to America in the 1700s.  At the end of the book we find they are actually the author's relatives.  Annie meets Rufus Beiler and begins to fall in love.

I really didn't get into the characters as I have in other Amish novels - there is not much depth and the two-fold story doesn't interest me either.  I may read the follow-up books in the series to see what happens, but if I don't read them I won't feel as if I missed anything either.

NOTE - I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Twice A Bride

by Mona Hodgson

About This Book
Full of resolve, young widow Willow Peterson decides to pursue her dreams to be an artist as she settles into a new life in the growing mountain town of Cripple Creek.  When she lands a job working as a portrait painter with handsome entrepreneur and photographer Trenton Van Der Veer, the road before Willow seems to be taking a better-than-anticipated turn. 

With questions tugging at several hearts in town, including the Sinclair Sisters’ beloved Miss Hattie, change is traveling down the tracks as several unexpected visitors make their way out West.  Will the new arrivals threaten the deep family bonds of the Sinclair sisters and the roots of love that are just taking hold for Willow?

My Review
This is book 4 in The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series.  I have read two of the books and have found them to both be very enjoyable.  Willow is actually a sister-in-law to one of the Sinclair sisters, but is welcomed as a part of the family.  She had been institutionalized for depression after her husband’s death.  She is tired of everyone treating her like a piece of glass so she decides she is going to stand on her own and begin a new life. 
Trenton Van Der Veer is not your typical romantic hero.  He has a speech impediment and it has scarred him throughout his life.  He knows who God is but hasn’t been to church since his parents convinced their church to exorcise the demons causing him to stutter – he was embarrassed and mortified.  He was engaged but the young woman broke his heart and he is not looking for love. 
He is a photographer and finally settles down in Cripple Creek thanks to a good friend.  Willow is a portrait painter and he hires her to do work for his clients, mistakenly thinking she is married.  When he finds she is a widowed, he is secretly relieved.  Can these two overcome their pasts to find true love?
The characters are the strongest part of this book – they are very well written, fully developed  and easy to empathize with.   As you read the book, both Willow and Trenton grow in faith and it’s encouraging to you in your faith.  The related stories with the Sinclair sisters bring lightheartedness and help the book to be a quick, easy read without too much worry, gloom and darkness. 
IT is possible to read this book as an individual book even though there are brief references to past story lines in the first three books.  You wonder what happened but it’s not a bad thing – you’ll just want to go back and read the first three books !!
Final review – FIVE out of five stars!!
NOTE – I received this book free through the Blogging for Books program at WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing for my review.  I was, in no way, obligated to give a positive review.