“The Calling” by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 Bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher delivers her trademark twists, turns, and tender romance in this delightful and exciting visit to the deceptively quiet community of Stoney Ridge.

Twenty-year-old Bethany Schrock is restless. Her love life has derailed, her faith hangs by a thread, and she is spending the incredibly hot summer days wading through a lifetime’s accumulation of junk at the home of five ancient Amish sisters. About the only thing that holds her interest is the spirited and dangerously handsome Jimmy Fisher—and he seems bent on irritating her to no end.

When the sly old sisters and a guest at the Inn get Bethany involved in running the local soup kitchen and starting a community garden, she suddenly finds herself wondering, Shootfire! How did that happen? Despite her newfound purposefulness, a gnawing emptiness about a childhood mystery continues to plague her. Encouraged by Jimmy Fisher, she will seek out the answers she craves—and uncover a shocking secret that will break her heart, heal it, and point her to love.

The Calling is one fun story.  It’s a great continuation of Bethany’s plight from The Letters, the first book in this series, and I love the way that Fisher has Bethany dealing with her family and romantic situations and growing in maturity at the same time.  This doesn’t keep her from being a bit reckless, especially where Mrs. Miracle is concerned, which definitely adds an element of playfulness to the story.

 The Sisters add depth and maturity to the story by comparison.  While Bethany’s definitely growing, the Sisters set a great example of doing good deeds in secret, of caring for those around you, and of keeping priorities straight.  Of course, their advanced age set against Mrs. Miracle’s unexpected youthfulness keeps these lessons lighthearted, as well.

The very best stories are ones in which you learn great lessons alongside the main characters without getting quite as traumatized as they do, and Fisher writes these masterfully.  I love that the wide array of characters can face such modern issues in honest, simple, truthful ways without the reader feeling bogged down in heavy emotion.  While Fisher certainly gets the depth of these matters across, The Calling is poignant and funny all at the same time – and I can’t wait for the next one.

Read an excerpt here, hop around on this bloggy hop, or purchase your own copy now