Review: The Wonder of Your Love

The Wonder of Your Love (A Land of Canaan Series)

About the Book:

Katie Ann Stolzfus lives in the small Amish community of Canaan, Colorado. At forty she is widowed and raising her first child. But baby Jonas will never know his father, and Katie Ann wonders if her Heavenly Father hasn't forgotten about her as well. Is it really God's plan for her to be a single parent?

Eli Detweiler has come to Canaan for a wedding and a long vacation. Having raised six children following the death of his young wife, Eli is finally an empty-nester. He's enjoying the slower pace of having no one to care for but himself.

When Katie Ann and Eli meet, there is an instant connection. Yet as strong as the attraction is, they both acknowledge that a romance would never work. He is done parenting, while she has just begun.

But as their friendship slowly blossoms into feelings that are as frightening as they are intoxicating, Katie Ann and Eli question if the plans they made for themselves are in line with God's plans.

Can Katie Ann entrust her heart to another man, and rediscover the wonder of God's love?

My Comments:

This was an enjoyable Amish romance.  Katie Ann and Eli have both been married before.  Her husband left her for another woman before he died.  His wife died giving birth to their youngest child, and despite the Amish tradition of remarrying quickly, he has not.  He has raised a houseful of children, mostly girls, without a wife, but he's ready to move on with life.  After years of trying to get pregnant, Katie Ann finally learned she was pregnant after her husband leaves.  She's just starting the parenting journey; he's glad to be done and looking forward to free time--but is attracted her Katie Ann.  

One character I really liked was Katie Ann's friend and neighbor, Martha.  Martha is "English" but worships with the Amish and is friend with them.  Her wedding was a combination of Amish (for her, even though she's not Amish) and Catholic for her groom.  I doubt such a thing would ever happen, but it made a nice story.  Grade:  B.

Check out what other bloggers have to say about this book.

Beth is celebrating the release of Book 2 in the Land of Canaan series with a Fabulous Facebook party on November 1st. She'll be giving away one of her OWN paintings, several mini prize packs and a sneak peak at the next book in this heartwarming series.

Review: Plain Proposal

Plain Proposal (A Daughters of the Promise Novel)

About the Book:

Miriam Raber takes a bold stand when her Amish boyfriend considers leaving their community. "Whatever he chooses, I'm going with him."

Miriam Raber enjoys life in her Old Order Amish community, and she is hopeful that Saul Fisher will propose to her soon. But when Saul starts talking about leaving the only world either of them has ever known, Miriam imagines what her life might look like as an Englischer. One thing she knows for certain, she loves Saul and feels he's the one God has chosen for her. But Saul's indecision has come at an inconvenient time as Miriam is noticing advances from Jesse Dienner, a man she went to school with, who is committed to marry and live his life in the Old Order community.

Complicating matters is the arrival of Miriam's cousin, a worldly Englisch girl sent to live with Miriam's family following trouble back home.

Who will Miriam choose a life with, and who will choose to stay in the Old Order Amish community?

My Comments:

The summary above makes it sound like Miriam's romance in the focus of this book; yet in many ways it is not.  Beth Wiseman also explores the relationship between Miriam and her family, between Miriam and her cousin and between Saul and his family.  As Amish fiction goes, it is a bit on the religious side and features one of the characters finding God in her life, but I wouldn't call it a preachy book.  I question how realistic it is, but since I've never met any real Amish, I'll leave it at wondering.  

It is clearly a book about the Amish yet I think a lot of young people struggle with deciding how much they are willing to change for a potential spouse--and how much it is reasonable for a potential spouse to change for them.  

I enjoyed this book and think if you like Amish fiction, you'll like this one too.  Thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishers for providing a review copy via NetGalley.  I was not obligated to write any review, much less a positive one.  Grade:  B.

Plain Pursuit by Beth Wiseman

 I enjoyed Beth Wiseman's other two Amish novels, Plain Promise and Plain Perfect (Links are to my reviews), so I was glad to be able to review Plain Pursuit as part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program.  Like the other two books, this one features an outsider finding peace and God in Amish country.  Unlike the other two books, she doesn't find it by becoming Amish.

Carley is an old friend of Lillian, the heroine of Plain Perfect, comes to visit Lillain when her boss gives her a choice between a month-long vacation or losing her job.  Carley is a newspaper reporter whose work has not been up to par since she and her mother were in a car accident that robbed her mother of her life and Carley of something important as well. Carely decides to visit Lillian, who has become Amish, and to write a story about the Amish while she is there.  Shortly after Carley arrives, Lillian's family faces a medical crisis which brings them into contact with Lillian's brother-in-law who was raised Amish but left the church after baptism.  I'd put "Spoiler Alert" in big letters, but I doubt anyone will be surprised to learn that everyone lives happily ever after.

Basically this is a quick easy heartwarming read that uses the Amish culture as a backdrop for a romance between two non-Amish people.  I do have one complaint about the book.  The author, Beth Wiseman makes it a point to say that Carley was "a confirmed Catholic" but that she abandoned churchgoing after high school.  Carley notes that she has only a distant relationship with God, and that it is her fault.  I thought Wiseman would redeem herself on this point, because when Carley finds God again, Wiseman mentions that she returned to her Catholic roots.  However, at the end of the book when Carley marries (I said it was a romance novel; this can't be a spoiler) it is done quickly and not in the Catholic Church.  I don't know whether Wiseman meant the wedding to be an indication that she was leaving the Catholic Church for her fiancee's; or if Wiseman is just ignorant of the fact that Catholics have to marry in, or with the consent of, the Catholic Church, and that, in most places, six month engagements are required.  Grade:  B-

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