A heart-warming read: "Amish Promises" by Leslie Gould
about the book....
Journey Down a Quiet Lane in Lancaster County Where Love and Heartache and Friendship and Healing Meet
When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home, they're looking for peace. Shani is thrilled to have Joel back from Iraq, but he needs time to heal, and the quiet of Lancaster seems just the place. They can't imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son is involved in an accident that injures one of the Lehman boys.
Eve Lehman has run her brother's household ever since the death of his wife, but Tim's a stern patriarch. Despite his protests, she's drawn to the new neighbor, Shani, and the two begin to form a strong friendship forged on faith and family. Things seem like they've quieted down until Joel's single and handsome army friend Charlie catches Eve's attention--a man unlike any Eve has ever met. Suddenly life for both families becomes more complicated than any of them could have ever imagined.
When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home, they're looking for peace. Shani is thrilled to have Joel back from Iraq, but he needs time to heal, and the quiet of Lancaster seems just the place. They can't imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son is involved in an accident that injures one of the Lehman boys.
Eve Lehman has run her brother's household ever since the death of his wife, but Tim's a stern patriarch. Despite his protests, she's drawn to the new neighbor, Shani, and the two begin to form a strong friendship forged on faith and family. Things seem like they've quieted down until Joel's single and handsome army friend Charlie catches Eve's attention--a man unlike any Eve has ever met. Suddenly life for both families becomes more complicated than any of them could have ever imagined.
my review....
Heart-warming moments abound in Leslie Gould's latest book, "Amish Promises", which provides a truly unique look into the lives of two Amish and Englisch families that become neighbours in the truest sense of the word. I don't think I've ever quite read a story like this one, where we get a glimpse into what it may look like to have people from two very different cultures interact in such a way. Gould has woven together a number of interesting subplots into a unique whole, from Joel's PTSD resulting from his time in Iraq, to the special friendship between Shani and Eve, to the love triangle that Eve finds herself thrust into, and finally to the overbearing Tim who can't seem to relate well to his children or anyone else in his life for that matter. The result is a book filled with tension and drama, but also scenes of healing and forgiveness and hope. At 360 pages the story is fairly lengthy, and I will admit that some of the chapters seemed to plod along a little to me. But I had become so engaged in these characters lives that I soon got caught up in the next twist in the story. I greatly enjoyed the real trials that these characters struggled through, where they faced questions of faith and of love, of overcoming past hurts or learned about sticking to a marriage through thick and thin. There is much about this story that will no doubt resonate with readers.
Overall, I was sad to turn the last page on these family members, and am glad that this is only the first book in the series. I am looking forward to seeing more of these characters! I award this book a solid rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
about the author....
Leslie Gould is the author of the bestselling Courtships of Lancaster County series and coauthor, with Mindy Starns Clark, of the #1 bestselling The Amish Midwife. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Portland State University and has taught fiction writing at Multnomah University as an adjunct professor. She resides with her family in Portland, Oregon.
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