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.