Book Review: Simple Secrets

Simple Secrets by Nancy Mehl is the first book in her Harmony series. I was able to read this book through Net Galley and Barbour Books and was provided with a digital copy for this review. I love Amish fiction and after recommendations from friends, I decided to read this book. While it is not about the Amish it is about Mennonites, a close relative of the religion. The Simple Secret in the book really is not so Simple! The story starts off introducing us to Gracie Temple, a graphic designer who loves her job in the big city. Gracie gets a phone call at work from her dad telling her that her uncle Benjamin, who has placed the Bann on his family, has died and left her his house, land and everything in the house. She decides to take two weeks off from work to go to the Kansas Mennonite Community of Harmony and collect some family heirlooms and sell the property. When she gets to the house, she discovers a letter her uncle left her about a secret he has been keeping. The secret told her that a man was killed and he buried the body on his land to protect Gracie’s father who he thought killed the man. Gracie and a neighbor, Sam Goodrich, who befriends her and introduces her to the town and then later helps her try to solve the mystery of who is the real killer. Gracie finds out that Harmony has a lot of secrets and someone even tries to scare her out of town. Will they find out who the killer is? Will the town secrets come out? Read to find out how the story all comes together. Sam and Gracie also seem to be falling for each other after only knowing each other a few days. How will they act on those feelings since Gracie has her dream job in the big city and Sam has no plans of leaving Harmony?

I was drawn to the story from the first chapter. My friends were right. If you like Amish fiction, you will love this book. This book had mystery, romance and even suspense. Sometimes I felt like the day in the life of Gracie and Sam went on forever since so much happened in one day. Overall, I LOVED the story and can’t wait to read the second book to the series called Simple Deceit. Simple Deceit comes out December 1, 2010. You can find Simple Secrets in stores now.