At Lighthouse Point by Suzanne Woods Fisher - a book review

 

A winner!  This book is a heartfelt story about the dynamics of a closely knit family. It is the third in the Three Sisters Island series but is truly a stand alone book.  This book centers around one of three sisters, Blaine, and her return to the island after her success at a prestigious cooking school in France.  She has big plans but finds obstacles at every turn. She finds her home greatly changed and isn’t pleased about it. Her former beau acts coldly towards her, her sisters have made decisions that affect her without her input, her father has made bad business decisions and everyone assumes untrue things about her.

This book doesn’t have a big mystery and very little suspense but it portrays a family, with all it’s faults, that loves each other and holds each other up when they need it.

The author helps us better understand Blaine by cleverly inserting memories from her past.

This story is wonderfully written as we would expect from this author. 

The author includes a list of characters in the front of the book which I always find helpful.

This is from the publishers website:

“Blaine Grayson returns to Three Sisters Island with a grand plan--to take Camp Kicking Moose to the next level. Her dream starts to unravel when she discovers Moose Manor's kitchen has been badly remodeled by her sister, Cam, who doesn't know how to cook. Added to that blow is the cold shoulder given by her best friend, Artie Lotosky, now a doctor to the unbridged Maine islands.
 
As old wounds are opened, Blaine starts to wonder if she made a mistake by coming home. Little by little, she must let go of one dream to discover a new one, opening her heart to a purpose and a future she had never imagined. “

Go HERE to read an excerpt 

 

Go HERE to learn more about Suzanne Woods Fisher

 

 

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell and Baker
Publishing Group 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 Return by Suzanne Woods Fisher - blog tour and book review

This is the third book in the An Amish Beginnings Series.  The series focuses on the early Amish and the hardships they faced in their new and wild country in what we now call Pennsylvania.  This particular book begins in 1762.  Many of the characters are carried over from the other two books.  The author includes a list of characters and their relationships at the front of the book that was very helpful. 

The story begins with a love triangle. Tessa and Betsy both love Hans, but Hans only has eyes for Betsy.  Unfortunately, Betsy and her brother are taken captive by a tribe of Indians after her parents were brutally killed.  As the story unfolds we learn more of the details. The author does a good job of conveying the horrible brutality without being overly gruesome.

While the Amish community live a pacifist life, the neighboring Mennonite community does not.  One man stirs the emotions of many and encourages revenge.  So, while Betsy and her brother are battling with coming to terms with their situation, their friends and families are battling amongst themselves.  

This is from the publisher's website:

"In a wild country, the true cost of love may be more than they can bear

Beautiful and winsome, Betsy Zook never questioned her family's rigid expectations, nor those of devoted Hans--but then she never had to. Not until the night she's taken captive in a surprise Indian raid. Facing brutality and hardship, Betsy finds herself torn between her pious upbringing and the feelings she's developing for a native man who encourages her to see God in all circumstances.

Greatly anguished by Betsy's captivity, Hans turns to Tessa Bauer for comfort. She responds eagerly, overlooking troubling signs of Hans's hunger for revenge. But if Betsy is ever restored to the Amish, will things between Hans and Tessa have gone too far?

Inspired by true events, this deeply layered novel gives a glimpse into the tumultuous days of prerevolutionary Pennsylvania through the eyes of two young, determined, and faith-filled women."

This is a story filled with emotion, suspense, danger, sorrow, love and hope.  Through it all, the faith of the characters holds them and carries them through some seemingly impossible situations.

The author does a great job acquainting us with the customs and lifestyles of the early Amish, Mennonites and Native Americans.

I wish the author had included a map, showing the communities, towns and Indian settlements and camps.  That would have been helpful.

You can learn more about the author, Suzanne Woods Fisher, and her award winning novels GO HERE

You can read and excerpt of The Return HERE

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Books and Baker Publishing Group 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.”