Restless Hearts - Marta Perry

Fiona Flanagan's mother left the community during her running-around years to marry an Englisher, but died soon after her daughter's birth. As a result, Fiona has never known anything about her mother's Amish relatives, and harbours hurt that they never tried to get in contact. Yet despite her claims that she doesn't feel the need to delve deeper into her Amish heritage, Fiona jumps at the opportunity to open a midwifery clinic in Pennsylvania Dutch country - where she immediately runs into her mother's family. Both parties are hurt by what has happened in the past, and Fiona finds herself leaning more on local police office, Ted Rittenhouse, to guide her regarding how to build bridges with her newfound relatives. Meanwhile, Ted may need Fiona's help in solving a case involving vandalism against the Amish locals. Will these problems come between their blossoming relationship?

As with all of Marta Perry's novels, this was a thoroughly enjoyable story. While not directly about the Amish, the countryside and characters still came alive and gave the book a content, soft tone that I often find in Amish romances. And as Marta herself lives near the Amish in PA, the details felt authentic, and not thrown in to make the romance more interesting. I enjoyed seeing Fiona learn about the ways of her mother's family through her friendship with Ted, even if they did have many stumbling blocks. This was a very soft, slowly blossoming romance, and didn't quite have the same sizzle and chemistry that I've felt in other Love Inspired novels, but it did make me grin from ear to ear in places! And as with all of Marta's stories that I've read, it contained a little mystery that helped the characters to learn more about themselves as they went about solving it.

This is #6 in the Flanagan series but can be read as a standalone book. From the hints dropped about other characters, I'd be interested in reading more from this series. A sweet romance with some calming Amish detail, which was just what I needed after a hard day's essay-writing! Thanks as always to Marta Perry for a wonderful story! 8/10

Murder in Plain Sight - Marta Perry

There are secrets buried in Amish country...

Did a sweet-faced Amish teenager brutally murder a young woman? To save her career, big-city lawyer Jessica Langdon is determined to defend him—against the community's bitter and even violent outrage. Yet without an understanding of Amish culture, Jessica must rely on arrogant businessman Trey Morgan, who has ties to the Amish community… and believes in the boy's guilt.

Jessica has threats coming from all sides: a local fanatic, stirred up by the biased publicity of the case; the dead girl's boyfriend; even from the person she's learned to trust the most, Trey Morgan. But just when Jessica fears she's placed her trust in the wrong man, Trey saves her life. And now they must both reach into a dangerous past to protect everyone's future—including their own.

While so many of the Amish novels that are currently saturating the market are focused on love and romance, Marta Perry tackles an entirely different subject - can the Amish kill? When a local English woman turns up dead in a barn, along with an unconscious Thomas Esch clutching a hammer, the residents of Lancaster don't doubt for a second that he committed the crime. But his English neighbour, Geneva Morgan, is convinced of his innocence. Trey Morgan doesn't share his mother's opinion but grudgingly decides to shadow the big city lawyer that she hired in order to protect his mother's involvement in the case. Jessica Langdon isn't pleased with Trey's presence, merely wanting to settle the situation in order to keep her job in Philadelphia, but a series of disturbing threats and incidents cause her to look to Trey for help. Was the murder more than a drunken mishap? Are Jessica and Trey getting themselves involved in something sinister and dangerous?

This is only the second novel of Perry's that I've read, but I'd definitely recommend her to any fans of romantic suspense or Amish fiction. Marta certainly understands the Amish and portrays them accurately, and she's also excellent at getting your heart thumping. I was reading this late at night but couldn't bare to put it down in case something exciting happened in the next chapter! While I did suspect the murderer early on in the story, this didn't detract from my interest. I was intrigued by the connections between the threats made against Jessica, and wanted to know how everything somehow linked back to the Morgan family. Geneva Morgan was a wonderful character, as was Leo Frost. I always appreciate having well developed secondary characters in the background to move the story along. Geneva held the story together, much like the grandmother in Perry's Hide in Plain Sight (#1 in the Three Sisters Inn series from Love Inspired Suspense), and I thought it was realistic that Jessica have Leo aid her with her legal work, as she couldn't possibly handle such a complicated case on her own.

The only minor setbacks to the mystery that I'd have to mention would be being able to spot the killer early on (although maybe I just read too much Nancy Drew as a child!) and the semi-monologue that he gave at the end of the novel when he revealed himself. Like I commented in my review of Hide in Plain Sight, it just seemed a bit cheesy and predictable. I can't really put my finger on what I didn't like about what he said or the way he said it, but it irked me in some way. And while I enjoyed the romance between Jessica and Trey, there were a couple of the typical "I touched him and felt a spark shoot up my arm" moments that you always get in romance novels that I wish authors would get rid of; they're just too over-used. Their Happily Ever After ending also seemed a little bit rushed.

But despite the minor issues I had with this book, I did throughly enjoy it. If I don't get a review copy of its sequel, Vanish in Plain Sight (June 2011), then I'll probably end up purchasing it myself as I have a feeling that the loose ends that weren't completely tied up at the end of this novel will be explained in #2 in the series. Although a bit rusty in places, this is an excellent addition to the growing Amish genre and a pleasant (or perhaps not!) break from the typical baking escapades and romantic picnics. 8/10

Many thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

Hide in Plain Sight - Marta Perry

She couldn't turn her back on her family in their time of need.

So when her sister was injured, financial expert Andrea Hampton traded the big city for Amish country to help turn her grandmother's house into an inn.

But life with the Plain People took a treacherous turn when a string of accidents and pranks threatened her family. Someone didn't want the secrets the old house harbored to come to light. Trusting anyone— even the handsome carpenter who seemed so genuine—was a battle for Andrea, but her life depended on her ability to find the truth.

This was a first in many ways for me - my first novel by Marta Perry, my first book from the Love Inspired line at Harlequin and my first foray into the world of romantic suspense. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Don't let the cheesy blurb fool you - this is a lovely, simple romance that will keep your attention but not require a lot of brain power.

Andrea has a prestigious job in the city and is cautious about leaving it to come home to her family in Lancaster County when her sister, Rachel, is injured in a car accident. She loves her job - but her boss and colleagues don't take too kindly to her putting family matters before her work. But it's undeniable - her grandmother and sister need her help setting up their family home as a B&B, even more so now that Rachel is out of action. Further difficulties arise when there appears to be a prowler on the lose. Is this person simply a troublesome teenager or is something more sinister going on?

Thankfully for Andrea's family, grandmother Kathryn has rented out her barn to a carpenter named Cal. Cal is only too happy to help out the family in their time of need, although Andrea is suspicious about his intentions. Is he the prowler? Is he trying to take advantage of her grandmother's generosity? Or is Andrea simply too worried to take notice of what is right in front of her, and the attraction she has for this man?

I liked how Marta interwove the mystery of the troublesome prowler and Andrea's internal battle over whether to leave her family in the comforts of the country and return to her high-flying job in the city, thus leaving behind any chance she had with the handsome new stranger she'd just met. While I guessed that Andrea and Cal would hit it off (a bit obvious as this is, after all, a romance novel), I'm afraid that my years of reading Nancy Drew did not detain me from following the red herrings in this story. I thought I had the whole mystery figured out, but there was a little twist towards the end that I didn't see coming.

As someone who has never read a Love Inspired book before I'd have to say that I enjoyed it more than I expected. While the blurbs, and sometimes the covers, can be incredibly cheesy, the story itself was quite well written and very compelling. This novel was only 250 pages long so obviously there were not dozens of intricate sub-plots, but considering the word-limit and the restrictions of this particular Harlequin line, I think that Marta has created a rather good novel. I liked that the characters sought help from God in times of need, but the references weren't overdone to the extent that they were unbelievable. At each time that Andrea prayed for guidance or help I found myself thinking that I would have done the same in her position. I also liked the fact that Marta made it obvious that there was chemistry between Andrea and Cal. I'm under the impression that some Christian authors like characters to form good friendships then suddenly fall in love, but never experience attraction or romantic feelings - this isn't how it works in real life! Andrea and Cal clearly had chemistry between them, even if they did to try hide it, and this made them all the more realistic as characters.

My only real complaint would have to be that the "bad guy" gave a rather cheesy monologue at the end of the novel, when their identity was revealed. I have to admit, I cringed a little. One other thing that bugged me was that the characters' clothing was often described, and I didn't really see the need for this to be commented on time and again, but I suppose that other women might be more interested in this.

All in all, I was pleased with my first attempt at Marta Perry, Love Inspired and Romantic Suspense. This was a nice, easy read, perfect for sandwiching in between the books I've been reading for my university courses. I'll definitely be reading more books by Marta Perry. 7/10