Friday, January 20, 2012

The Wonder of Your Love by Beth Wiseman

The Wonder of Your Love is the second book in Beth Wiseman’s Land of Canaan Series. I fell in love with Beth’s first series that a lot of the characters come from.  I really liked Katie Ann in the first book of this series and felt sorry for her.  Her husband left her for an English woman.  Katie Ann discovers she is pregnant in the first book and now she has a son.  Her husband is killed and Katie Ann knows he was her true love and believes no one else will ever be for her.  An older English lady in the community has sort of adopted Katie Ann and spends a lot of time with her and helps Katie Ann out. 
Eli Detweiler comes to Canaan to attend his nieces wedding.  He lives in Ohio with his kids.  He raised them after his wife died and they are all older now and married.  So he is ready to experience life doing what he wants.  So when he meets Katie Ann he was never thinking about looking for anyone, but Katie Ann’s elderly friend plays matchmaker.  Katie Ann’s friend wants Katie Ann to din someone to take care of her and her son because her elderly friend knows that she will not be around forever.  The couple seem to like each other, but could they make it work?  Could Katie Ann let someone else in her life after all her first husband did to her?  Would Eli be able to leave his family in Ohio to be with Katie Ann?  So many things come into play in this book.  Read it to find out. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I have wanted to learn more of Katie Ann’s story since I last left Canaan.  I also enjoyed learning more about Katie Ann’s husband’s English woman who he left Katie Ann to be with. I loved learning how Katie Ann had to learn to forgive this woman, Lucy.  There was just so much love in this book.  You left it with a warm loving feeling!   I can’t wait for the next in the series!

I was given an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and Thomas Nelson.  I was not required to give a positive review only an honest one.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A Life of Joy by Amy Clipston

A Life of Joy is the fourth book in Amy Clipston’s Kauffman’s Amish Bakery series.  I had been awaiting this book for awhile now.  This book focused on Lindsey Bedford.  Lindsey and her sister Jessica came to live with her Amish Aunt and Uncle after her parents die.  Lindsey decided to stay with her Aunt and Uncle and live Amish while Jessica went back to live with her parent’s best friends who were English like her parents.  Lindsey had been living among the Amish for 4 years now.  Lindsey’s friends start talking about taking classes in preparation to join the Amish church.  Lindsey does not feel ready to join yet.  Lindsey’s sister Jessica comes flying into town to tell them she is taking a big internship in New York and wants Lindsey to go with her. Jessica also is always onto Lindsey about taking her GED test.  Lindsey ends up having to go to help her parent’s friends that Jessica was living with before going to New York.  Her Aunt Trish as they call her has broken her leg and Lindsey must go and help her.  Will Lindsey be able to hold onto her Amish beliefs and customs while living with them or will she decides she wants to come back to the English world?  Lindsey goes on a discovery for what she wants out of life.

As with all these books I really enjoyed this one.  A lot of this book took place in the English world, so I missed all the Amish bakery scenes as in the previous books.  Even though I missed those bakery moments, I was really glad to get to go on this self discovery journey with Lindsey.  I think she really grows up and finds herself throughout this book.  It was a great chance to catch up with these characters and know what was going on with them.  I really liked how Rebecca allowed Lindsey to make the decision that she knew would be one of the biggest decisions of her life.  While Aunt Trish tried to allow her to make her own decisions, I felt like she also tried to push her into the English world as did her sister.  I am looking forward to learning more about Jessica and her relationship with Jake.  I’m hoping that will be the next book will be more about that, but we shall see.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and  Zondervan.  I was not required to give a positive review only an honest one.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

An Amish Family Reunion

An Amish Family Reunion by Mary Ellis is an e-book I reviewed through NetGalley.  I am not required to give a positve review, just an honest one.

This book started out really hard for me.  I think the main reason was because I have not read her other books.  I had to struggle to remember who the characters were, and there were a lot of them.  I think the author had to do this because they were all being invited to a reunion and we get to see in their lives before they come to the reunion.  The characters quickly grew on me and I really enjoyed this book.  By the end of the book, I know I needed to check out Ellis' Miller Family series.  This book has a lot of things to deal with a death, a near death, an unexpected pregnancy, a Rumspringa trip, a break up, a couple struggling to get along, Amish writting a book and much more.  I think my favorite parts of the book were the Rumpsringa trip to Niagra Falls and when the Amish write a book.  These were topics that I have not seen in other Amish fiction books that I have read.

I'm really glad I got the opportunity to read this book.  It was a really fun read once I gt all the characters figured out. This book is available on February 1, 2012.