Review of In Plain View

Review of In Plain View

by Olivia Newport

Annie’s quest for simplicity is about to get complicated. Nearly a year after leaving her successful but unsatisfying high-tech life, she wonders if she can truly succeed at being Amish. A lucrative job offer, a red dress, and the shadow of an Amish woman looking for a husband create a vortex that clouds Annie’s choice. Her parents seem determined to sabotage her efforts, and Rufus Beiler, an Amish carpenter who captured her heart, leaves room for doubt about their future. But when an explosion brings Annie under suspicion, can she clear her name and bring the future into plain view?

Valley of Choice Series:
Book 1 - Accidentally Amish
Book 2 - In Plain View
Book 3 - Taken for English - Available February 2014

MY REVIEW:

Olivia Newport melds the past and the future...linking the lives of the ancestors to the hope of the future generations.   It does not happen without considerable pain and heartache.   Amish shun their people if they leave after baptism so the forgiveness and reconciliation do not always take a simple course.   The process seems harsh to those of us who look on from the outside world, and even to many among the Amish themselves.

        Add war to the mix and the Amish believe in nonviolent resistance.  What do you do with the Amish who choose to fight for the freedom of America from the British?   What do family members say when their own family members seem to betray their values and beliefs?  Can they reconcile?  Can the depression and pain from wartime activities ever allow Nathaniel and Magdalena to find the love they long for?   

       I enjoyed this book immensely but I did get confused at times as the author switched back and forth between time periods and characters.   I read the prequel to this book and that helped me somewhat but it took me reading through half of the book to truly feel I had a clear handle on who was who and where the story line was taking place at the time.   This is a story full of hope, even though it is laced with heartache and sorrow....just like real life. 

I received a free pdf copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

FROM THE AUTHOR:

I’m imagining you. You walk past as I water my front flowerbeds and we wave. You check the time as we both stand in a long line at the grocery store. You sit in front of me in church. I’m at my table in the coffee shop and you’re at yours.

We may smile politely and move on with our separate lives. Or one of us may speak, a simple invitation to conversation, and the words flow between us.

Here the adventure begins. When we meet someone new, we never know where it might lead.

I’ve been married for over thirty years and have two twenty-something kids. We live in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where the day lilies in my back yard grow as tall as I am. (No short jokes, please.)

Not every piece of my life is pretty, though. Some days I want to throw out whole chunks. But I am living each day looking for the grace of God to me, in me, and through me. Having your companionship along the way will help uncover a lot of great stories.