book review

Regina Beswick was born to be a princess.

Carley Marek’s world shatters when she survives a horrifying accident, and she doesn’t know how to pick up the pieces. Trying to rejuvenate her career, she takes a trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to stay with a friend in an Old Order Amish home and write an article about the Amish culture. Although she expected to ask questions and be an impartial observer, she finds herself becoming a part of the community as she helps a sick child’s family and begins to fall for Dr. Noah, a man shunned from the very family she’s visiting. With all of these new pieces to the puzzle of her life, where can Carley go from here?

Beth Wiseman has written the best Amish novel I’ve read in years. True to the Amish culture of central Pennsylvania, this book does not romanticize their lives, nor does it make their culture seem foreign or strange. She creatively uses the characters and the plot to keep the reader in suspense while introducing real-to-life drama. Carley’s turmoil and questions regarding her past experiences and her faith are real and are not resolved in a paragraph. She struggles to understand the mystery surrounding the events of Noah’s shunning and the difficult ramifications his family faces because of that years later.

Plain Pursuit will challenge any reader to seek out forgiveness and to understand how they, too, can be a “child of promise.” If you’ve ever been interested in Amish culture or have questions about how God relates to His children, this is a book for you.

For more information about Plain Pursuit by Beth Wiseman, go here.
For more information about Thomas Nelson products, go here.

** Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

Meeting the family that her mother had kept hidden from her, Holly comes face to face with her real life and blood legacy. She also falls for the charming Zach, a handsome Mennonite veterinarian who is everything she’s ever wanted in a husband: confident, kind, successful, and authentic. And Zach proposes marriage. Is this too soon? Is this the right choice? Mother and Amish grandmother think she’s rushing into too much of a lifestyle change. Holly is in love with Zach and that precludes everything. Until she meets an attractive Amish man. And an old suitor shows up.

Pennyslvania Patchwork is the moving, richly told story of one woman’s heart, her faith and trust, and the choices she makes. Never easy, but one choice can change your destiny.

Pennsylvania Patchwork is about the choices that we make and how they affect our lives.  A dramatic saga about three women, this book picks up right in the middle of conflict.  A prologue catches the reader up to speed with what happened in the first book of the series, and soon that reader will be hurtling through Lancaster County faster than a runaway horse and buggy.  

Pennsylvania Patchwork is a tangled web of emotions, mistakes, grace, and forgiveness.  It’s a story full of wisdom and seeking to live God’s way, no matter how you might dress to do so.

I really enjoyed this story.  Although it did take me a few chapters to figure out the full backstory for each character as I haven’t read the first in the series, I got up to speed quickly and fell in love with their situation.  I could relate to each character, despite all being from different backgrounds and generations.  I want my children to be faithful adults like Mommy Anna.  Like Esther, I don’t want to hold grudges from past hurts and want to make right past issues.  Like Holly, it’s sometimes confusing to be faced with multiple options for a dream – what is the best way to choose?  Because each person felt so realistic, I felt as if I had a vested interest in the choices that they made.  Near the end, a few of those choices felt as if they’d been made very quickly. This high-action part of the plot kept me at the edge of my seat, however, as my eyes flew over the pages.

Having been in Lancaster County just a few short weeks ago, it was fun to read about a group of Amish where the lifestyle and location is so familiar to me.  I definitely will be watching for Kate Lloyd’s next book.  This is one of the best Lancaster County Amish stories I’ve read in a long time!

Author Kate Lloyd is a passionate observer of human relationships. A native of Baltimore, Kate spends time with family and friends in Lancaster County, PA, the inspiration for her novels. She is a member of the Lancaster County Mennonite Historical Society. Kate and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest. Kate studied painting and sculpture in college. She’s worked a variety of jobs, including car salesman and restaurateur.

Learn more about Kate at http://www.katelloyd.net

I received a free copy of Pennsylvania Patchwork from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

What’s it like when the man you married is already married to God? asks Pastors’ Wives, an often surprising yet always emotionally true first novel set in a world most of us know only from the outside.

After the war, nearly dead from his injuries, it appears Seth got married. Oh, he’s got a lot of excuses, but his wife isn’t happy to find out Seth doesn’t remember her. Callie has searched, prayed, and worried. Now she’s come to the Kincaid family’s ranch in Colorado to find her lost husband.
Callie isn’t a long-suffering woman. Once she knows her husband is alive, she wants to kill him. She’s not even close to forgiving him for abandoning her.

Then more trouble shows up in the form of a secret Seth’s pa kept for years. The Kincaid brothers might lose their ranch if they can’t sort things out. It’s enough to drive a man insane–but somehow it’s all making Seth see things more clearly. And now that he knows what he wants, no one better stand in his way.

This is a rollicking adventure full of humor and drama!  Connealy has penned a Western like no other.  From forgotten wives to “crazy” cowboys, you won’t want to put Over the Edge down.  

The story of the Kincaid brothers continues in this, the third adventure in the series.  Connealy does a wonderful job of weaving each brother’s story together, layering the depth, emotion, and sheer hilarity of a man who’s traumatized enough to forget his own wife.  

Personally, if I was forgotten by my own husband, I’m not sure I could chase after him, but Callie has the strength of character and stubbornness needed for this monumental task – and her courage in the face of adversity makes her totally lovable.  Seth, on the other hand, appears to be so addled that one can’t help but feel for him.  You want to cheer him on just as you groan with frustration that he’s losing his grip on reality – again.  When these two are joined with several other brothers, children, ranch hands, a few bandits, and a missing fortune, you’ve definitely got a winner.

I’ve had the good fortune of reading the first book in this series, and I loved it as much as I did this one.  Now, having read the third, I can’t wait to get my hands on the second one.  You won’t want to miss a single one, either – this series is just plain fun.

I received a free copy of Over the Edge in exchange for an honest review.

You can read other reviews on this bloggy hop here.  To begin your cavernous adventure now, purchase your copy here.
Mary Connealy writes fun and lively “romantic comedy with cowboys” for the inspirational market. She is the author of the successful Lassoed in Texas, Montana Marriages, and Sophie’s Daughters series, and her novel Calico Canyon was nominated for a Christy Award. She lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her husband, Ivan, and has four grown daughters.

Visit her on her Web site maryconnealy.com

Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess—just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn’t going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.

Once Upon a Prince, Book Trailer – Rachel Hauck

Caught between the war raging around them and the battles within, two souls long for peace—and a love that remains true.

Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. A boyfriend back home, a loving family, and a challenging job as a flight nurse. But in July 1943, Georgie’s cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson.

Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée. While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they’ve made?

With her signature attention to detail and her talent for bringing characters together, Sarah Sundin weaves an exciting tale of emotion, action, and romance that will leave you wanting more.

Continuing with the wide cast of characters created in With Every Letter, On Distant Shores returns you to the drama unfolding within the military during World War II.  As if fighting Hitler, Mussolini, hunger, heat, and disease weren’t enough, Hutch also fights inequality within our very own military.  I’ve never before heard of the pharmacists’ fight to become recognized as officers, and it’s fascinating.  Who would’ve thought that such a respected and important profession would have faced such barriers?  I didn’t – but because of Sundin’s creative story, I enjoyed expanding my education!

Hutch and Georgie make colorful characters who complement each other well, and yet their differences in rank and those waiting for them at home make for a romantic story.  Sundin’s push beyond the typical romance – making the story not just about finally finding a happy ending for their love but instead learning to grow as God’s children and follow His will – make this a deep and enduring kind of story.  

Well written and full of historical detail, Sarah Sundin is rapidly moving up on my ‘favorite author’ list.  This has always been a period in history that is fascinating to me, but Sundin’s On Distant Shores shines a spotlight on a little-known corner of it – and it shows us just how important these hardworking men and women were during this war.

Sundin reminds us that our lives are really not about us – not necessarily about our plans or our wants but instead what God wants us to do and how we can help others.  

What a fun way for God to deliver that reminder. 

You can read other reviews in this blog hop here or visit this page to purchase our own copy.

Sarah Sundin is the author of “With Every Letter” and the Wings of Glory series. In 2011, A “Memory Between Us” was a finalist in the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Awards, and Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist’s mate (medic) in the Navy and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children. 

Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.

I received a free copy of On Distant Shores from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Michigan, 1888

 

She came to America searching for her brother. Instead all she’s found is a web of danger.

No Safe Harbor is full of twists and turns!  Cara’s journey is a difficult one as she tries to find her brother without knowing whom she can trust, and that makes the entire book suspenseful.   It seemed as if every other person she met had some kind of possible connection to her brother, and not knowing whether she’s safe keeps the reader on her toes.

My absolute favorite aspect of the book, though, was that of Cara’s Irish heritage.  I loved hearing the references to her homeland, to searches through Ellis Island to trace immigrants, and the brogue fairly jumped off the page and into my ears.  My great-grandmother once traced my ancestors back to Ireland in 1632, and I’ve always wondered what their journey – earlier though it was – must have been like.  While I’ve never heard of my ancestors having these types of strong family “connections,” this makes for a fascinating story!

I can’t wait to read the next installment to the Edge of Freedom series.  

You can check out other reviews on the blog tour here, or, you can buy your own copy of No Safe Harbor here.