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Showing posts with the label Zondervan

A LONG BRIDGE HOME book review

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A Long Bridge Home  (Amish of Big Sky Country #2) by Kelly Irvin Book Description: After her community in the awe-inspiring Montana mountains is suddenly consumed by a raging wildfire, one young Amish woman finds herself in a new town where she’s introduced to the Native culture of the Kootenai people.   When the Mast family is forced to evacuate their home in the West Kootenai region of Montana, Christine chooses not to move with her family to her father’s childhood home in Kansas. Instead, she wants to stay closer to home and to her beau, Andy Lambright, who has yet to ask for her hand in marriage and who seems to be holding tightly to secrets from his past.  Now, living with her aunt and uncle in St. Ignatius, Christine is on her own for the first time in her life. While working in her uncle’s store Christine meets Raymond Old Fox, whom she befriends, and he introduces her to his rich native culture with strong ties to the earth and nature. Despite the warning...

THE BAKE SHOP book review

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The Bake Shop (An Amish Marketplace Novel #1) by Amy Clipston Return to Lancaster County with the first installment of Amy Clipston's charming new Amish Marketplace series. Christiana Kurtz loves to bake, but when her bake stand becomes too busy, her mother encourages her to move her business to the local market. Her new bake shop becomes so inundated with customers that the line blocks the leather and woodcraft shop next door, which is run by Jeffrey Stoltzfus. When Jeffrey complains that her stand is driving away business due to the lines, she complains to him that his personalization machine smells. Though their relationship starts off on bad footing, they eventually forge a friendship. When Christiana’s father makes a surprise visit to the market, he is upset to find that Jeffrey uses the building’s electricity to personalize his items. He tells Christiana that Jeffrey is too modern for her, and she’s forbidden from dating him. Christiana is crushed, but she knows she...

LISTENING TO LOVE book review

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Listening to Love (An Amish Journey #2) by Beth Wiseman Falling in love can only mean trouble for an  Englisch  girl and an Amish boy… unless there’s another way for them to listen to their hearts.   Englischer  Natalie Collins looks forward to Friday night suppers at Levi and Mary Shetler’s house every week: delicious food, wonderful conversation with her Amish friends, and, best of all, the presence of Levi’s older brother Lucas. Natalie and Lucas have become best friends despite their different backgrounds. They share a love of books, and he is teaching her about God in a way that she can understand. But the closer they become, the more opinions everyone seems to have. Levi and Mary, Lucas’s family, and even Natalie’s mother—whose own life is a mess at the moment—have concerns about their relationship. Why can’t everyone understand that it’s possible to just be friends? Besides, they couldn’t be together even if they wanted to be. Lucas would never leave ...

MOUNTAINS OF GRACE book review

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Mountains of Grace (Amish of Big Sky Country #1) by Kelly Irvin In the first of a new series set in the Amish communities of Montana, bestselling author Kelly Irvin explores what the Amish do in the aftermath of natural disaster. Schoolteacher Mercy Yoder loves her life in the beautiful West Kootenai region of Montana. But when a wildfire blazes outside her beloved community, she and her family are forced to evacuate and flee to the small town of Eureka. John Hostetler, Mercy’s beau, sorts through the damage left by the fire, helping Mercy set up a makeshift school to continue her passion. Eureka is filled with fire personnel, media, and rubberneckers—more contact with the outside world than Mercy has ever experienced. A chance encounter with a smoke jumper, Travis Cooper, leads to longer conversations about her Amish beliefs and life. As word arrives that their home was one of the houses destroyed in the fire, Mercy struggles to accept that everything they owned is gone. A l...

THE FARMER'S BRIDE book review

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The Farmer's Bride (Amish Brides of Birch Creek #2) by Kathleen Fuller Book Description: Bestselling and award-winning author Kathleen Fuller returns to the Amish community of Birch Creek in this charming tale of falling in love while pursuing the dreams of your heart. Having grown up in poverty, Seth Yoder refuses to be financially insecure again. His passion is woodcarving, but he’s vowed to work on his father’s successful farm, even though his heart is in his craft. Splitting his time between farming and his secret hobby keeps him busy—too busy for social activities.  Martha Detweiler has a different problem—she’s the only single woman in a community full of young men, and they’re all competing for her favor.  All of them . . . except Seth Yoder. Overwhelmed by the unwanted attention, she finds herself constantly fleeing from them, and that isn’t the way she wants to live her life.  When Cevilla Schlabach, Birch Creek’s resident matchmaker, hears of Marth...

HEARTS IN HARMONY Book Review

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They both love music. Will God deny what brings them such joy?       Musical prodigy Levi Shetler hasn’t touched a piano since he secretly played one years ago. His strict Amish community forbids instruments or the singing of any music not in their approved songbook. Levi asks God often why music tempts him when playing an instrument isn’t allowed in his world.  One person knows Levi’s talents: Mary Hershberger, the girl who promised years ago to keep his secret. Mary comes from a more liberal district than Levi, but she’s facing family troubles of her own. The mutual care for an aging  Englischer,  Adeline, reunites Mary and Levi as young adults. They realize that, despite their differences, they have a shared love of music—and a shared confusion about whether their talents are God-given gifts or temptations luring them into the  Englisch  world.  The couple realizes they must compromise or part ways, but a tragic accident shakes the...

THE TEACHER'S BRIDE book review

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The Teacher's Bride (Amish Brides of Birch Creek #1) by Kathleen Fuller Book Description: Beloved and bestselling author of Amish romance Kathleen Fuller reminds us that sometimes opposites really do attract.   "A heartwarming story of unexpected romance woven with fun and engaging characters who come to life on every page."--Amy Clipston, bestselling author of  A Seat by the Hearth   If there is one thing Christian Ropp will not allow in his classroom—or his life—it is chaos. So why is he drawn to Ruby Glick, a woman who seems to bring mayhem wherever she goes? Christian Ropp moves to Birch Creek to accept a teaching position in the rapidly growing Amish community. He’s determined to put the rambunctious school in order as well as check another task off his list: finding a wife. Of course, that would be much easier if women were like textbooks, straightforward and logical. When an accident puts Christian out of commission, a new community member named Ruby Glick...

A SEAT BY THE HEARTH book review

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A Seat by the Hearth by Amy Clipston Book Description: Priscilla Allgyer knows she cannot leave the past behind. But can love lead her toward the promise of healing?  Priscilla Allgyer left the community to escape the expectations of Amish life. Now, years later, she is forced to return—along with her six-year-old son—to the place she thought she’d left behind forever. Though once estranged from her family, Priscilla is welcomed by her mother, but her father is cold and strict. He allows Priscilla to stay with them provided she dresses plainly, confesses her sins, and agrees to marry within the community. Once again, she feels suffocated, trapped, and alone. As Priscilla reluctantly completes her shunning, she catches the eye of Mark Riehl, a farmer with a playboy reputation. Wary of Mark, Priscilla barely gives him the time of day—while Mark, unused to being ignored by the women of Bird-in-Hand, won’t give up the pursuit of her friendship. Priscilla desperately needs a friend...

"Beneath the Summer Sun" Book Review

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Beneath the Summer Sun (Every Amish Season #2) by Kim Vogel Sawyer Book Description: Jennie Troyer knows it’s time to remarry, and with two men pursuing her, she doesn’t have to look far. But after the pain she’s experienced, can she open her heart to love? It’s been four years since Jennie’s husband died in a farming accident. Long enough that the elders in her Amish community think it’s time to shed her grief and remarry for the sake of her seven children. What they don’t know is it isn’t grief that’s holding her back, but rather a fear of a repeat of her abusive marriage. Paul Graber has known--and loved--Jennie since they were children, and he’d hoped to court her when they were teenagers. But when he was fourteen, Paul’s father died suddenly in his arms. Ever since he’s been afraid of the searing pain of loss that comes from opening himself up to love. Now Jennie’s free again and he’s fighting to have the courage not to lose her a second time. Nathan Walker is a Men...

"A Place At Our Table" Book Review

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A Place A t Our Table (Amish Homestead #1) By Amy Clipston Book Description: Kayla Dienner has suffered her fair share of heartache, which is why she vows to protect her heart at all costs . . . until she meets Jamie Riehl. Along with his volunteer work at the local fire department, running his Amish farm keeps Jamie Riehl busy. He barely has time to eat at the family table, never mind find someone to date. But when he meets Kayla Dienner, he is smitten. Kayla tries hard to deny her attraction to Jamie. After all, she’s spent the last year discouraging her younger brother, Nathan, from becoming a firefighter. The death of their older brother in a fire a year ago is fresh in her mind—she can’t bear the idea of putting her heart on the line every time the sirens blare. Then tragedy strikes, and Jamie wants to extinguish any flame between him and Kayla. Can Kayla set aside her own fears to save the love she was determined to deny? The first book in the Amish Homestead series, ...

"The Beloved Hope Chest" Book Review

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The Beloved Hope Chest  (Amish Heirloom #4) by Amy Clipston Book Description:  In the final installment of the Amish Heirloom series, the Fisher sisters learn the mystery behind their parents’ marriage—and about the sibling who has never been spoken of. Mattie Fisher’s three daughters know that she’s been keeping a secret from them. With each item pulled from the beloved family hope chest, they’ve discovered a new clue about their mother’s past. But there’s a reason Mattie has been keeping her history hidden, and she’s not sure she’s ready to reopen old wounds. Will dredging up the past change the way her children view her? Or her marriage to their father? And can she handle the pain of revisiting the memories that preceded the last few happy decades? Mattie’s story is one of grief and learning to love again. But like the best things preserved in a hope chest, it's a story of love and redemption born out of heartache—and it's past time to share it. MY BOOK REV...