A Season for the Heart by J.M. Hochstetler

 

 

This story is set in 1945. The Germans have surrendered but the WW2 is still raging on other fronts.  Ellie, a young Mennonite woman, is planning to go to college and train to be a teacher. Her grandparents are Amish and her family still cling to some of the old ways.  The are pacifists and fighting in the war is frowned upon. Her friend, Jude, had enlisted and has returned home injured. He enlisted over his parent’s objections. His relationship with the community is strained because of his involvement in the armed forces.  Out of respect for his mother, he tries to blend in but he struggles with the restrictions of the Mennonite community.  Ellie, also pushes the boundaries of the rules by having close relationships with “English” friends. She secretly tries wearing makeup and shortened dresses.  She also had been engaged to Ted, a young Methodist who breaks their engagement when he goes away to college. Ellie has been helping Jude’s mother on their farm and wants to help him as well. She becomes close to Jude but is torn between him and Ted, who returns and tries to resume their relationship.

This story touches on the topics of religious prejudice, abuse and PTSD

This is not the type of story I usually read. It is much edgier and graphic than what I am accustomed to. There is an account of an attemped rape that was more graphic than what you would usually find in a book about the Amish and Mennonites.

This is also not a book you can hurry through.

I liked the amount of information there was about the Amish and particularly , the Mennonites.  I liked that the author draws upon their personal family history. It makes the story believable. It was interesting to see how the two communities live together but yet apart.

The author also touches on abuse in families and how PTSD affects Jude and his fellow returning soldiers.

If you are looking for the typical, sweet Amish romance, this is most likely not the story for you. However, if you like more intense and edgy stories you should give this a try.  This is not a fast read so settle in and get comfortable.

I give this my personal rating of 3 out of 5 stars. I really wanted to love this book.  That being said, it is a faith based story with several scripture quotes, which was welcomed. The story line of a Mennonite girl torn between different cultures was appealing to me, as was the setting of the WW2 era.  The topic of PTSD was very interesting although it wasn’t called that then.

Why would a young Mennonite man enlist in the armed forces, going against his religious upbringing?

Which man will win Ellie’s heart?  Does she ever realize her dream of being a teacher?

At this point in my reviews I usually include a link to the publisher’s website but I was unable to find one.  This was another reason for my 3 star rating. Other postings state that the publisher is Sheaf House Publishers. A search for the title on Amazon, NetGalley or Goodreads should give you more information.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed  are my own.

A word about ARC books.   Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) are a preview copy and are not a finished product. They may differ from the final published work and may include additional editing. 

 

The Protector by Wanda E. Brunstetter. An Amish romance and mystery.

 

Wanda Brunstetter is well known for her Amish romances.  This offering is the first book of a planned three book series, A Mifflin County Mystery.  Her books are easy to read and always uplifting and respectful of the Amish faith and traditions. 

This story revolves around a young man, Norman, who is the eldest son in the Petersheim family.  His sister, Rosa, disappears after an evening with her fiancé.  There are no clues and no leads.  Norman feels he has failed her and his family by not supervising her better.  He makes it his mission to try to find her. He and his parents are tormented by her disappearance. His mother takes it the hardest, to the point of barely being able to function. 

While Norman is obsessed with finding Rosa, his potential fiancé, Salina, is making a concerted effort to keep their relationship moving forward, hopefully toward marriage.

This is from the publisher’s website:

“In book one of A Mifflin County Mystery series, after a night out with her boyfriend, Rosa Petersheim has disappeared from the Big Valley without a trace. Norman Petersheim always considered himself his sister’s protector, and he can't believe she would have left home of her own accord. Clearly, he must have failed her. He throws all he has into helping the authorities search for Rosa, while trying to support his parents and siblings--who are struggling both mentally and physically. Salina Swarey loves Norman and hopes they are headed toward marriage, but his obsession with Rosa’s whereabouts is driving them apart. Can Norman find peace and contentment, even if he never learns where Rosa has gone?”

If you like Amish romances, this book will not disappoint. Wanda Brunstetter does a wonderful job of portraying the customs and beliefs of the Amish. The reader gains a real understanding of what it would be like to be a member of an Amish community.

Hopefully, many of the mysteries and unanswered questions will be resolved in the remaining books of this series.  

Go HERE to read an excerpt.

This is book is a must-have for anyone who loves Amish romances.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour publishing through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed  are my own.

 

The Winnowing Season by Cindy Woodsmall - a book review

I’ve always loved Cindy Woodsmall’s books.  She has a unique understanding of the Amish that comes from her personal relationship with them.  Go to her website and check out her other books.

 This book is the second in the series, Amish Vines and Orchards.  Woodsmall includes a “the story so far” section at the beginning if the book in case you hadn’t read the first one. This was very helpful because without it you are kind of thrown into the story midstream.  The main characters are portrayed very realistically, flaws and all. 

From the publisher:

“The tornado that devastated Kings’ Orchard pushed Rhoda, Samuel, and Jacob to make a new start in Maine. Are they strong enough to withstand the challenges of establishing an Amish community—and brave enough to face the secrets that move with them?

 On the eve of their departure to begin a new Old Order Amish community outside of Unity, Maine, Rhoda Byler is shocked to discover that choices made by her business partner and friend, Samuel King, have placed her and her unusual gifts directly into the path of her district’s bishop and preachers. She is furious with Samuel and is fearful that the Kings will be influenced by the way her leaders see her, and not what they know to be true—that Rhoda’s intuition is a gift from God.

 Jacob King won’t be swayed by community speculation. He loves Rhoda, believes in her, and wants to build a future with her in Maine. But when the ghosts of his past come calling and require him to fulfill a great debt, can he shake their hold before it destroys what he has with Rhoda? Samuel has a secret of his own—one he’ll go to great lengths to keep hidden, even if it means alienating those closest to him. Throwing himself into rehabilitating the once-abandoned orchard, Samuel turns to a surprising new ally.

 Book 2 of the Amish Vines and Orchards series asks: can the three faithfully follow God’s leading and build a new home and orchard in Maine? Or will this new beginning lead to more ruin and heartbreak?”

This book is clearly written to be read in succession with the first and third books.  As much as I love her books, I was disappointed in how Woodsmall ended this one, or rather, how it didn’t end.  The reader is left hanging, with nothing much being resolved.  We still don’t know who Rhoda really loves, what all of her ‘visions’ mean, if the new community will survive, or what will happen with Jacob and his troubles from his past.  It does, however, leave you wanting to read the next one. Which, when you think about it, is probably the plan.  To be continued......when I read book three.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Press  through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Letters to Katie by Kathleen Fuller - a book review

Kathleen Fuller has done it again!  Letters to Katie is a heart touching tale of secrets, unrequited love, family struggles and relationships.  This book is part of the Middlefield Family series. We are reacquainted with characters from the previous two books.  It was nice to see them again.  Here’s what the publisher says about it:

“Everything changed between them the first time he called her Katie.

Katherine Yoder has loved Johnny Mullet since they were children, but he never actively returned her affections. Like so many things in their world, he assumes Katherine will always be there. Once his horse farm is a success, then he will court her in earnest.

For several weeks, Katherine has been plagued by severe headaches and dizziness. While resting at home, Johnny unexpectedly visits, but when dizziness strikes, she loses consciousness. She awakens hours later in a hospital bed, unable to remember how she got there.

Seeing Katherine injured and vulnerable stirs something in Johnny, and his guilt compels him to spend time with her while she heals. Soon his heart begins to stir with questions: Does she even remember why he'd come to her house that day?

As Katherine struggles to recall recent memories of Johnny, a surprise visitor arrives in her already unsteady world—a man named Isaac who claims they had been writing letters to each other, even considering marriage, before her illness.

With two men vying for her attention and her memory still elusive, Katherine has never felt so divided. The answer may lie behind a door she never considered opening.”

 Of course, as with most romance novels, we always have a happy ending, so this one was no surprise.  But the journey to get there was very engaging.  Actually, there could have been a couple of endings that would have still qualified as happy,  so we aren’t really sure which is going to come about.  I liked the dialog between Katherine and Johnny.  The tension between Sawyer and his englisher grandmother was portrayed in a very respectful manner.  Will they learn to accept each other? 

Fuller also gives a glimpse of how some unscrupulous people try to take advantage of the Amish, who they perceive as uneducated and easily fooled. 

You’ll have to read it to find out how the letters fit in to the story. But I will tell you it is very sweet.
Go HERE to read an excerpt.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for anyone who likes reading Amish romance.
Go to the Amazon search box in the right column to find it if you'd like to purchase it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

His Love Endures Forever by Beth Wiseman - a book review

Beth Wisemen's 'His Love Endures Forever' is a story about two young people, one Amish, one an englisher , and how their lives and cultures collide.  Most stories about interaction between the two cultures involve an Amish girl falling for an englisher boy.  Leave it to Beth Wisemen to turn that around.  She brings us a story of a young girl who falls in love with a young Amish man.  The girl, Danielle, has suffered abuse at the hand of her mother and is taken in by an older couple, Martha and Arnold.  I loved these two characters!  Martha is a quirky, odd but loveable woman and Arnold is her tender and sensitive husband.
Danielle discovers that she is pregnant, but her Amish beau, Matthew, wants nothing to do with fatherhood.  In fact, he plans to leave the Amish and doesn't want to be tied down.  Danielle is prepared to raise her baby on her own but her best friend, another Amish young man named Levi, has his own suggestion. 
This story is about forgiveness, mercy, grace, faith, decisions, consequences and love.  As with most of Wisemen's books, once I started it I didn't want to put it down.  I love the way she draws you into the emotions of the characters.

From the publisher's website:
"An unplanned pregnancy. An absent father. Can love really endure all things?
Danielle Kent is anything but Amish. But as destiny would have it, she has fallen in love with an Amish man.
Now she’s 18, pregnant, and hopeful that the child’s Amish father—Matthew Lapp—will do the right thing and marry her. She knows Matthew plans to leave his Colorado settlement for a life in the Englisch world. But that plan never included a baby.
When Matthew walks away from her and their unborn child, she has nowhere to turn. Her unlikely friendship with Levi offers some comfort—yet they have so little in common. This wasn’t the plan she had for her life, and she has never felt so alone. She doesn’t want to be pregnant. Doesn’t want to be Amish. Doesn’t want to trust God.
And yet.
God has plans beyond what her mind can imagine . . . loving plans to show a lost young woman that His love never fails but endures forever."

This is the third book of the Land of Canaan series and I was glad to become reaquainted with some of the characters for the first and second books.

To learn more about BethWiseman and her books, go to her website.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall - a book review

This book is more of a novella than a full novel, and while it is not technically a sequel to the Christmas Singing, it does reacquaint us with some of the characters from that novella.  Cindy Woodsmall does a fantastic job of portraying the Amish community with insight and sensitivity.  Many people think that the Amish are governed by a strict set of rules with no consideration for feelings.  While that is true to a certain extent Woodsmall shows us that they experience many of the same feelings, hurts, sadness, disappointments and heartaches that the rest of us face. 

This book is about an Old Order Mennonite girl, Annie and an Old Order Amish boy, Aden, who fall in love. While both sects are friendly with each other and share certain beliefs and practices, there are strict rules about not intermarrying.   If they decide to pursue their love, one must sacrifice not only their faith, but risk being shunned.

They secretly meet in Annie’s grandfathers cherry orchard.  The cherry orchard plays an important part in this story with a history of its own.

As is common with novellas, there isn’t as much time to deeply develop plots and characters like there would be in a full sized novel and it seemed like the ending was very abrupt. It does, however, leave us with a hint of another ‘sister’ novella with Aden’s brother, Roman, as a central character.
Cindy Woodsmall is one of my favorite Christian authors and I can't wait for the next peek into the lives of the people of Apple Ridge and Zook'z diner.

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books and WaterBrook Press  through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”