“Becoming Bea” by Leslie Gould

Beatrice Zook knows God wants her to learn patience toward others. When assisting a family overwhelmed by triplets proves surprisingly successful, her confidence in dealing with others, both young and old, grows.

One person she’ll never be able to find peace with though is Ben Rupp. They’ve known each other forever, and Ben understands precisely how to antagonize her. What neither she nor Ben will admit is that beneath all their bickering, attraction awaits. When friends decide to try and bring the couple together, will the pair be able to find true love? Or will they damage their relationship beyond repair?

Becoming Bea is a true delight.  Painfully honest with herself, Bea struggles to interact comfortably with others.  Gould writes the story in such a way that this problem becomes easy to relate to, and as Bea overcomes this issue, others take its place so that the tension continues to build throughout the story.  I loved the ebb and flow in Becoming Bea!

The overall message is an important one – too important for me to spoil by sharing here.  Gould builds into it with her fantastic ebb and flow technique, however, and it highlights the spiritual lessons that Bea is learning, in addition to the interpersonal ones.  These are all things that we all must learn at one time or another, whether in as toddlers or teens, and I appreciate seeing these added into a story about adults.

Amish books often portray life through rosy lenses, but Bea faces personal issues on all fronts, and some of them are the stuff of today’s newspaper headlines.  I appreciate the honesty and blunt look at life from an Amish perspective – because it can’t all be stars and hearts all the time.  This edginess made the story more realistic and refreshing to read, because while I wouldn’t wish problems on anybody, there are things to learn from overcoming problems, and Bea definitely grows from hers.

I loved Bea, and I loved her story.  I love that it continued Cate’s story, and I loved the balanced drama, romance, and life lessons shared along the way.  Becoming Bea is just a solidly great book, and I think you’ll like it, too.

Read other reviews on this bloggy hop here, or click here to purchase your own copy now.

Leslie Gould is the coauthor, with Mindy Starns Clark, of the #1 CBA bestseller The Amish Midwife, a 2012 Christy Award winner; ECPA bestseller Courting Cate, first in the Courtships of Lancaster County series; and Beyond the Blue, winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice for Best Inspirational Novel, 2006. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Portland State University and has taught fiction writing at Multnomah University as an adjunct professor. She and her familyl live in Portland, Oregon.

Find Leslie online: website, Facebook, Twitter
 
I received a free copy of Becoming Bea from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

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