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.

Review: A Promise of Hope

A Promise of Hope by Amy Clipston is the second book in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series.  This book focuses on Sarah whose husband dies in a fire at the end of the third book. Sarah is expecting the couple's first baby.  She decides that while she is grieving she will go and live with her parents so she can have the help and support she needs as she is pregnant and raising her new baby.  Things seem to be going well, until a stranger, Luke, shows up and claim to be a relative.  He tells her things about her husband that she never knew, deep dark secrets.  Sarah must learn to forgive her dead husband for all the things he lied to her about while they were married.  She talks a lot with Norman who really seems to understand her since he recently lost his wife.  Sarah also begins to enjoy spending time with Luke until she finds out maybe he was not so truthful with her either.  Who will she choose to spend the rest of her life with? Norman or Luke?  I really enjoyed the setting of the Amish Bakery and how all the women in the family worked together to make it a success.  I also fell in love with the characters and the problems in their lives and how they were able to solve them all.  I really liked how they relied on verses from the Bible to help guide them in their lives too.  The book, like the first in the series also had a lot of Amish recipes scattered throughout the book.  I am really looking forward to the next one in this series.

Review: A Gift of Grace

A Gift of Grace by Amy Clipston is the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed the story.  If you remember The Redemption of Sarah Cain by Beverly Lewis, this story is like that but it is reversed.  The English girls go to live with the Amish family.  The two teenage girls are forced to live the rules  of the Amish community even though they are not Amish after their parents die in a car accident and their mom (Grace) wants them to live with her sister, Rebecca,  who is Amish.   Rebecca and her husband have been trying to have children of their own for many years, so Rebecca welcomes this challenge. I found it really interesting how it all works out.  I think that one thing I don't like about the Amish in this book is all the gossiping and this is a great example of how gossip can really hurt others.  I also enjoyed the romance that starts with one of the teenagers and a boy at the factory she works at with her Uncle. Great read, can't wait to read the sequel!  Also lots of Amish recipes included throughout the book.