Arms of Love - Kelly Long

GENRE: AMISH/HISTORICAL ROMANCE

PUBLISHER: THOMAS NELSON

PUBLICATION DATE: MAY 3, 2012

RATING: 8 OUT OF 10 – VERY GOOD

PROS: Contains Kelly’s trademark edgy romance; good presentation of PTSD; presence of visions and the Holy Spirit is very encouraging

CONS: Initial introduction to the characters feels rushed; a lot of sad events occur at the start of the novel; spiritual message is a bit overwrought

The American Revolutionary War was a time of a great loss, and not just for those who fought for freedom. Lena Yoder’s father has been imprisoned for refusing to give up his livestock for the war effort, and not soon after this her mother dies in childbirth. Alone with just her younger siblings, the only place Lena can think to turn is to her childhood friend, Adam, whom she had always hoped she would someday marry. But Lena’s mother was fearful of the hold that Adam’s father held over him, and made Adam promise not to marry Lena until he was sure Lena would be safely out from under his father’s influence. Adam cannot tell Lena this, but he does know that he would not make a good husband to Lena at present. Continually wrought by troubling dreams, Adam is permanently unsettled, and wants nothing more than to gain freedom from the memories that haunt him. The only way he can see fit to do this is in bearing arms and fighting for the patriot cause. Lena is appalled at Adam’s desire to fight, and turns for solace and stability in his older brother, Isaac. Adam must reconcile himself with the troubling memories that haunt him and with his own desire for freedom before he can begin to fight to win back the love of Lena.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting Kelly’s next book ever since I finished her contemporary romance, Lilly’s Wedding Quilt. But although Lilly’s Wedding Quilt made my list of favourite novels for 2011, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Arms of Love. While a few authors have attempted Amish historical fiction recently and handled the combination well (Murray Pura, Anna Schmidt, Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith), none of them have gone as far back as the eighteenth century, and I wasn’t entirely sure how a novel about the Amish during the American Revolutionary War would turn out. I didn’t enjoy Arms of Love as much as Kelly’s contemporary romances, but I do think that this book is a good start to her Amish Beginnings series and breaks new ground in Amish fiction.

It took me a while to get into this novel, and I’m not sure if that’s just because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the time and was up to my ears in exam revision. The beginning of Arms of Love is incredibly sad, and wracked with numerous tragedies – a father is imprisoned, his wife dies in childbirth and a new widow loses her home. Throwing Adam and Lena’s troubled love into the mix made my initial reading of this book quite depressing, and I kept putting it down so that I could read something lighter. I don’t think that all readers will find this book as sad as I did, and perhaps if I read it at a later date, when I didn’t have so much on my plate, I would enjoy it more. I didn’t really feel like I become properly involved with the story until about halfway through the novel, when the plot pacing really began to pick up and I felt like I’d got to know the characters better. When I first met Adam, Lena and their families there was so much going on that I almost felt like I’d been thrown into the middle of a story that already in progress and that I’d missed some essential details. But by the middle of the book I’d settled into the lives of the eighteenth century Lancaster Amish and felt that I could accurately keep up with their troubles.

Arms of Love isn’t all sadness and tragedy; it contains a good helping of romance and a little bit of humour. One of my favourite scenes is probably one around the middle of the novel, in which Adam tells his brother that he won’t have any time to study or work when he has a wife because she’ll want to do is kiss him all day long. The exchange between the brothers was amusing, and really brought the characters’ personalities to life for me. I really enjoyed watching Adam and Isaac’s friendship develop, almost as much as I appreciated the romance between Adam and Lena.

One of my favourite aspects of Kelly’s writing is how her romantic scenes are just a little bit more edgy than most Amish authors’, showing the importance of physical as well as spiritual and emotional attraction in a marriage. The cellar scene was the one that made me really start to care about Adam and Lena, when I found myself rooting for them to get together, even though Lena was then engaged to Isaac. I won’t say any more than that, but any true romance fan can’t help but root for Adam and Lena after reading the all important cellar scene. Kelly hasn’t neglected her trademark of edgy romance, even in the eighteenth century.

I have to admit that I found Adam far more interesting to read about than Lena, and what made me keep reading this book, even during the tough scenes, was the desire to find out what was behind his disturbing dreams. I don’t know a lot about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but I found the portrayal of Adam’s struggles to be very realistic. Since PTSD wasn’t properly recognised until around the time of the First World War, it made me wonder how men like Adam were treated by society at this time, which made him all the more endearing.

On the topic of dreams, I also loved the way that Kelly incorporated the Holy Spirit into her novel, through visions and healings. It seems that writing about the Holy Spirit in Christian fiction is just as hard as presenting the physical love between a husband and wife. Kelly manages both in this novel, and I was really impressed by the way that she wrote the scenes containing healings and visions. Nothing felt forced, and I definitely got a sense of the characters’ faith in God. However, I will say that I felt that the message of “God is for us” to be a bit overwrought. I liked how Ruth, the non-Amish wet-nurse, mused over this statement as she came deeper into her faith with God, but as I got further into the novel so many characters were quoting this passage that I wanted to ask them if they actually knew of any other verses in the Bible. It fitted Ruth’s storyline, but at times the statement was made to the extent that it no longer seemed comforting and just became repetitive.

Although I have my qualms about some aspects of this novel, Arms of Love is an encouraging start to Kelly’s historical series and I hope that further Amish Beginnings novels are of a similar fare. Readers might be put off initially by the introduction of so many characters at the start of the novel and the presence of so many sorrowful events, but I would encourage readers to persevere, as this novel is definitely taking the time to read. Kelly doesn’t shy away from edgy topics, from romance to spiritual issues, and her presentation of both in this novel reflects what I’ve come to expect from her writing. I hope that other readers are similarly pleased and challenged by Arms of Love.

Review title provided by Thomas Nelson.

Need You Now - Beth Wiseman

GENRE: CONTEMPORARY/WOMEN’S FICTION

PUBLISHER: THOMAS NELSON

PUBLICATION DATE: APRIL 10, 2012

RATING: 8 OUT OF 10 – GOOD

PROS: Approaches difficult issues respectfully and realistically; relatable characters

CONS: Some storylines and characters could have been developed further; one character took an unpleasant turn

For Darlene Henderson, life in Round Top, Texas feels much more safe and secure than it did in Houston. Her teenage son has been removed from the rough crowd he was spending time with in the city, and she and her husband are making plans to renovate their old farm house. Darlene’s so comfortable with her family life that she’s given up being a stay-at-home mum and started working at a school for disabled children. So she’s entirely unprepared when a series of catastrophes hit her family. Her seemingly perfect teenage daughter is revealed to have been self-harming for quite some time, a secret her brother was keeping from their parents. No one understands the enormity of what Grace has been going through, least of all Darlene. Her husband, Brad, is determined to sweep this situation under the carpet and deal with it without any outside help that might damage the reputation of their family. Brad’s reaction stuns Darlene, and his insinuations that Grace wouldn’t have been so destructive if Darlene spent more time at home drives an unexpected wedge between them. To complicate matters further, the father of a child at her school is starting to pay Darlene a lot of attention, at a time when she most needs someone to lean on. Darlene is struggling to stay strong and make decisions about Grace without the support of her husband, and needs all the help she can get to stay away from the open arms of another man.

Having recently become a fan of Beth Wiseman’s Amish fiction, I couldn’t help but be intrigued when I heard that she was releasing a contemporary novel, and a non-romantic one at that. Contemporary women’s fiction is a genre that is slightly lacking in the Christian market. There are some writers who approach this genre very well, but I’ve yet to encounter anyone who can rival Barbara Delinsky or Diane Chamberlain in their complex plots and family dynamics. While Beth’s debut into this market didn’t excite the same reactions in me that Barbara’s most recent instalments have, I will admit that it was incredibly compelling. I devoured it in two days straight, and I honestly think I need to go back and reread the last few chapters as I was struggling to keep my eyes open at the end, but determined not to go to sleep until I’d finished the book!

I didn’t have any major expectations for Need You Now, as I imagined it would be very different from Beth’s Amish fiction. But she has lived up to her trademark of complex, realistic characters with believable struggles, even in a contemporary setting. I was even more impressed by the way that she approached her teenage protagonists. Some brilliant authors have let me down in their portrayal of teenagers – notably, Jodi Picoult’s The Pact, which I repeatedly wanted to throw across to the room when I read it as a sixteen-year-old – but Beth does not join their ranks. While I never suffered to the extent that Grace did, I did struggle with unexplained feelings of depression throughout my teen years, which has now been diagnosed as Seasonal Affective Disorder. Even now, I can’t put my emotions from this stage of my life into words. Somehow, Beth has managed to explain how overwhelmingly confusing teenage depression can be, making Grace an incredibly relatable teenage character. Grace’s older brother, Chad, was equally realistic, although I felt that Beth could have developed his character a little more. There are hints that Chad is possibly going to head down the wrong route, like he did in Houston, and although he makes some positive choices towards the end of the novel, his character never had the depth that Grace’s did. Likewise, I did mostly enjoy the storyline about their neighbour, Layla, but she sometimes felt a bit caricatured. Her relationship with Darlene was very touching, but I think the fact that this novel attempted to focus on so many different characters meant that some of them – particularly Layla and Chad – were a little neglected and didn’t seem quite as fleshed out as Darlene and Grace.  

Some readers may find it difficult to read about the struggles Darlene and Brad’s relationship faces, and the temptations that Dave presents her with. Need You Now illustrates how dangerous a seemingly innocent relationship can become when it starts to provide that which your marriage cannot. I will admit that I got a bit annoyed at Darlene towards the end of the novel. She overhears a phone conversation with her husband and makes several assumptions, but takes a long time to confront him about it. I know that this is probably the way that many women would react, but I’m not that kind of woman. But although I couldn’t relate to Darlene in this particular incident, I will say that for the majority of the situations she found herself in, I could emphasise with her. I do wish that Dave’s character had taken a different turn. He was painted so sympathetically at the start of the novel – a widower with a challenging daughter who just wanted to find love again – but I felt he almost became somewhat of a villain, and Darlene the victim. Of course he was wrong in coveting a married woman, but if Darlene can be forgiven for her mistakes, so can he. I wanted some hope for Dave at the end of the novel, but there wasn’t any. Perhaps Beth will write another novel about Dave’s redemption?

Beth’s debut into the contemporary market is strong, and hopefully a sign of better things to come. Her characters are just as realistic and relatable as those in her Amish novels, and she continues to address controversial issues that some authors shy away from. While perhaps the number of topics that come up in this novel might seem a little overwhelming – self-harm, adultery, death – the novel ended on a hopeful, uplifting note. I think the only major pitfall of Need You Now is that the novel has a large cast, and some of the characters seemed less credible than others. A few characters could have benefited from some further development, but perhaps this had to be sacrificed for the sake of the main storylines. But hopefully this is something that Beth can improve on in later novels, of which I’m sure there will be many. Fans of Beth’s Amish fiction will likely enjoy this foray into a new genre, and those who can’t bear to pick up a novel with the bonnet on the front will now also get the chance to enjoy Beth’s challenging yet uplifting stories.

Review title provided by Thomas Nelson.

A Vision of Lucy - Margaret Brownley

GENRE: HISTORICAL ROMANCE
PUBLISHER: THOMAS NELSON
PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 28, 2011
RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

Photography may not seem like a popular career choice in 1882, particularly for a woman, but Lucy Bradshaw is determined to make a living with her camera. However, all of her attempts to impress the owner of the local paper fail drastically, the final one culminating in her falling from a tree on to a stage-coach, which happened to be in the process of being robbed. Following her disastrous shenanigans, no one in Rocky Creek, including Lucy’s own father, is convinced that photography is an aid to journalism or a fitting pursuit for a woman. Her father would much rather that Lucy cultivate the hobbies and interests more appropriate for a young lady and stop getting herself into scrapes that bring embarrassment on him and the other residents of the town.

Lucy’s last failed attempt at taking a photograph for the newspaper brings her into contact with David Wolf, an aptly named supposedly “wild” man living on the outskirts of Rocky Creek who has been shunned throughout his life because of his mixed race. In the confusion between Lucy witnessing a robbery and running into David, her new friend ends up arrested and badly harmed, but not capable of receiving medical aid in a town that believes him to be a half-breed criminal. Carefully, Lucy and her younger brother hide David in the storeroom of the church and nurse him back to health. Lucy has no idea what brought David to Rocky Creek in the first place, but she is determined to help him, even if it endangers her reputation further. But will David accept her help?

I expected this book to be a standard historical romance, but was pleasantly surprised to discover how much action and mystery it contained. Not to mention a colourful array of secondary characters and a vividly described town. I came into this book completely fresh, not having even heard of this series before, but managed to catch up with the characters from the previous books very easily. In fact, although the protagonists from the first two Rocky Creek novels did feature briefly in A Vision of Lucy, very little was revealed about the events in the earlier books, meaning that I can still go back and read the previous novels without having the outcomes spoiled. So if, like me, the beautiful cover of this book catches your eye but you’ve not read the others in the series, it is entirely possible to jump in and be swept away by the wonderful characters of Rocky Creek with little confusion.

When I initially started reading A Vision of Lucy, I only intended to read the first chapter before going to bed. This plan proved to be entirely impossible once Lucy fell out of a tree on to the stagecoach below that was in the process of being robbed, frightening the horses and causing them to gallop off, dragging the stagecoach behind them – with Lucy still hanging on. Like the horses, this book sped along at a fair sped with never a dull moment, making it very difficult to even put down for a moment. Margaret inserted an appropriate amount of mystery and adventure into the book, which kept it from being a standard romance. There was also a fair amount of mischief and trouble on Lucy’s part – from falling out of trees to burning down buildings –and her antics kept me very amused and I found myself giggling all the way through this book.

Lucy has to be one of the most original female protagonists I’ve had in a while, and provided plenty of humour without her escapades seeming at all forced. Sometimes it can seem as if accident-prone characters are being pushed to provide amusement for the readers, but I never felt this about Lucy. Her endeavours to improve her town, help David and achieve something through her photography were always well-meant, even if the outcomes were less than successful. I loved her relationship with David and the chemistry they had together, starting with him kissing her to make her stop talking. He was a bit of a distant character, due to the problems he’d encountered throughout his life which he allowed to affect his present situations and relationships. But ultimately I think their very different personalities ended up working well together. Their romance was made more unusual by the fact that Lucy and David had to stand against those who disapproved of interracial relationships. Both of them faced adversity from some members of the town, which hindered their relationship from progressing as both of them would have liked. I don’t think I’ve read many romances that address issues of interracial relationships in the nineteenth century, so this was a particularly interesting aspect of the novel.

The third Rocky Creek Romance is an absolute delight, even for someone who hasn’t read the rest of the series. The relationship between an accident-prone photographer and a “wild”, mixed-race carpenter unfolds to a background of intrigue and mystery. Readers of historical romances won’t be disappointed by A Vision of Lucy, and those who are looking for something a bit more unconventional should definitely be on the lookout for more from Margaret Brownley.

Review title provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

Spring for Susannah - Catherine Richmond

GENRE: HISTORICAL
PUBLISHER: THOMAS NELSON
PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 14, 2011

RATING: 7 OUT OF 10.

Heading to the barren and sparsely inhabited Dakota Territory as a mail-order bride for her pastor’s brother may not have been the most appealing plan for Susannah Underhill, but it was her only option. Following her parents’ deaths and a mentally and physically scarring incident that she’d rather not think about, the offer of marriage from Jesse Mason was like an answer to a prayer – if Susannah still believed in God, that is. Homesteading is a far cry from the city-life Susannah is used to, but the skills learned from her veterinarian father help her to prove to her new husband that she is capable of surviving the harsh prairie life. But it’s going to take more than delivering calves to help Susannah open up to Jesse and let him see her true personality. Shy and previously resigned to being an old maid, Susannah is convinced that Jesse will never be satisfied with her, while Jesse himself just wishes that his new wife would talk to him and let him express his newfound love for her. Can their blossoming marriage survive grass-hopper plagues and snowstorms brought by the tough seasons of prairie life and bring them into a fuller and deeper love for each other?

I’m always a sucker for mail-order bride stories, so I was immediately drawn to this book when I first saw it being advertised, and it was made all the more appealing by the gorgeous cover. This novel had a few quirks that definitely made it stand out from the other historical romances dominating the Christian fiction market right now. I was particularly fond of the little prayers at the start of each chapter, expressing how Jesse was feeling about his marriage to Susannah. While I never felt that I completely got inside Jesse’s head the way that I did with Susannah, I really appreciated the little insights at the beginnings of the chapters. I also enjoyed the way that Susannah would talk to the family dog about her feelings and worries. To some this may seem like a plot device, designed purely to pass information on to the reader that hadn’t come up in normal conversation. But I found that it actually worked really well and illustrated how nervous Susannah was about talking about such matters with her husband, and how she yearned to have someone to discuss her problems with. Sadly, life on the lonely prairie yielded only a dog as a companion, at least until Susannah’s Swedish neighbour leant to speak English.

The secondary characters in this novel are wonderful and really come to life. I was reminded a lot of the cast of the Little House on the Prairie TV show, but not in a plagiarising way. The entire book struck me as a mixture between Little House on the Prairie and a Janette Oke novel. Far more than your conventional romance, Catherine Richmond has packed her debut full of essential details about homesteading and farming in Dakota Territory during this period. The harshness of Jesse and Susannah’s life really resonated throughout the story, with the seasons and elements truly controlling their day-to-day lives. Spring for Susannah was as much about Jesse and Susannah falling in love as it was about Susannah finding herself and coming to terms with her new life. It reminded me a lot of Janette Oke’s When Calls the Heart, in which the romance became secondary to the main character’s personal development due to their separation. When a grass-hopper plague causes Jesse to leave his home with Susannah and head off to find work to support them, the focus of Spring for Susannah shifts to how Susannah manages to look after the homestead on her own and how this helps her to grow as a person as she waits for Jesse to return.

While I did find the detail that Catherine put into her writing fascinating – a sure sign that she had put a lot of thought and research into her novel – I will admit that I missed the conventional plot structure. Generally when I’m reading a novel I can easily detect the beginning, middle and end of the book, but with Spring for SusannahI didn’t feel that it had this structure, and in places I felt that the plot needed reigning in or was a bit strained. Initially I really enjoyed the mixture of romance and every-day-life events, but during the section of the novel where Susannah is on her own it felt a bit unstructured, flitting from one event to another without any sort of explanation. This final section just felt a bit too strained, and while we did get to witness Jesse’s perspective occasionally, these parts didn’t seem as detailed and sometimes felt a bit flat. I’ve read other reviews which have commented that the ending felt a bit rushed, and I’ll have to agree with this – I would have loved to have read a little more about Jesse and Susannah together at the end, after waiting so long for him to return.

Spring for Susannah is an excellent debut effort from Catherine Richmond, and she brings a lot of promise to the genre with her attention to detail and commitment to presenting a realistic portrait of a historical place and period. Her characterisations also bear evidence of her desire to bring realism and completeness to her writing, although I would have liked to have heard more from Jesse’s perspective in places. While the structure of the novel and the continual jumping from one event to another did irritate me on occasion, it in no way deterred me from enjoying this book. I hope to read more from Catherine in the future, and would definitely recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, particularly those who are looking for something new in terms of both contextualisation and structure.

Review title provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

The Promise of an Angel - Ruth Reid

When her younger brother falls off a barn while in her care, Judith can't help but feel guilty for not keeping a closer eye on him. So she's relieved when a mysterious, English stranger tells her not to worry and that her brother will walk again. Throughout the tiring journey her family take to keep the farm running while waiting for hospital updates on her brother, this stranger continually appears to encourage Judith's hope in God and her brother's recovery. But when she tells her friends and family about this man, whom she believes is an angel, she's surprised to be met with animosity. No one believes that this angel exists, instead thinking that she's created another one of her stories or is going mad over her grief and guilt. Even Levi, the man she hoped to marry, makes fun of her suggestion that she has been convening with angels. The only person to believe her is Andrew, the son of the bishop, who could destroy his relationship with his father if he was seen conversing with Judith about celestial beings. Accused of telling lies and fostering false hope in her younger brother by talking about healing, Judith is close to being shunned by her community. Can she ever convince anyone that there really is an angel watching over her?

When I heard that an Amish book about angels was being released, I was initially a bit sceptical. Even an avid fan of Amish fiction like myself is starting to wonder when the market will become fully saturated, and the synopsis of this book sparked the thought that perhaps publishers were pushing the boat a bit too far in an attempt to maintain the genre's popularity. Fortunately, I was entirely wrong! This was one of the best Amish novels I've read in a long time and I would not have known that this was Ruth Reid's debut novel. She brings something entirely new and refreshing to the full-to-bursting genre, yet also had something about her writing that reminded me of Beverly Lewis, the original Amish author.

The hostility that Judith received from her community for her belief in angels and miracles could have been set amongst any Christian group, making this a novel that transcends its genre. Those wary of Amish fiction may be persuaded to read this book in order to understand the problems that a church or community can face when its leaders deny principles that are scripturally sound. I'm sure that many readers of this book will have experienced or heard of situations where healing or miracles have been dismissed as non-existent, or only being present in Biblical times. It's hard to hang on to your faith when experiencing such adversity, especially when you know in your heart that what God and his Word say are true. Judith's difficulties in her Amish community represent this so perfectly. She hangs on to her belief that God will heal her brother and allow him to walk again, despite her family and friends trying to convince her that it is God's will for him to lose the use of his legs.

Not only do Judith's family turn against her, but also Levi, the man she had been planning to court when she came of age. While I immediately dismissed Levi as being unworthy of Judith's time, I can remember being a teenager and hanging all my hopes on a boy whose faults I just couldn't see. Any woman who remembers the pains of teenage heartbreak will sympathise with Judith's anguish when Levi makes fun of her belief in angels and continually embarrasses her in front of friends and family. Her younger sister makes matters worse by continually flirting with Levi, despite her parents' warnings that she's too young to court. It was strange to see such mean-spirited, selfish behaviour from an Amish teenager, but Ruth seems intent on breaking down any stereotypes about the Amish! Martha and Levi's behaviour eventually reaches a stage where Judith can take it no more and decides to wash her hands of Levi. His cousin, Andrew, has been becoming increasingly angered by Levi's mistreatment of Judith, yet it takes her a long time to trust him after the attitudes she has been met with by Levi and other members of the community. The relationship between Judith and Andrew is slow to develop, but his unconditional trust in her was heart-warming.

I would encourage all readers of Amish fiction, and those who have been tempted to read the genre but have been put off by the typical, romantic plots, to look out for Ruth Reid's Heaven on Earth series. If The Promise of an Angel is anything to judge by, it looks like she's going to become a favourite amongst Amish fans. 10/10

Review copy provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

Beyond All Measure - Dorothy Love

Daughter of a prosperous Bostonian family, Ada Wentworth never thought she’d find herself travelling south with all of her worldly belongings packed into a single trunk. But when her family fell on hard times and she found herself orphaned and penniless, Ada was forced to take up a position as a companion to an elderly woman in the flourishing town of Hickory Ridge, Tennessee. Despite her reservations about residing in the South so soon after the end of the Civil War, Ada needs to escape Boston. She doesn’t plan to put down roots in Hickory Ridge, merely stay there long enough to acquire money to start her own millinery business and support herself through the talent that her dying mother taught her. But soon Ada finds herself swept up into the daily life of this small town, and even coming to care for Lillian, the aging woman who isn’t ready to let go of life just yet. As she and Lillian slowly come to live with each other’s faults and forge a friendship, Ada also opens up to Lillian’s nephew, Wyatt, who also plans to leave Tennessee as soon as possible, dreaming of starting a farm back in his native Texas once his lumber mill becomes prosperous enough. Both Ada and Wyatt know that it would be inconvenient to become too attached to each other, but events conspire to bring together. Particularly when someone appears to be targeting Ada and Lillian. Is it the Klan, concerned about Ada’s treatment of the local African-American community, and keen to make the Northerner leave their town? Or is someone jealous of Ada’s relationship with Wyatt, the most eligible bachelor in Hickory Ridge? Just when Ada starts to think about settling in the town she’s come to feel at home in, disturbing occurrences make her wonder if she’s really welcome there at all.

As soon as Ada stepped off the train in Hickory Ridge I knew that I was going to enjoy this book. Dorothy described the town so vividly that I could imagine every shop and house. Once the scene was set, the inhabitants of the town were added to the picture, creating a wonderful backdrop for the story. There aren’t a lot of books where I can really engage with the setting as I did in Beyond All Measure, and it’s definitely a sign of a good author to be able to evoke the feel of a place without detracting from the plot of the novel.

It took me a few chapters to warm up to Ada, whose background and reasons for moving to Hickory Ridge remained mysterious, but once the friendship between her and Lillian developed her story made for an engaging read. Ada’s ambitions to open a millinery shop and support herself made her a very unique character, in a period when women mainly desire marriage and families, and the descriptions of her hat-making were fascinating.

The relationship between Ada and Wyatt is slow to develop, and hindered by Wyatt’s scepticism over how much Ada truly cares for Lillian. Believing that Ada is prioritising her hat-making business over looking after his aunt, Wyatt initially has no desire to develop any sort of relationship with Ada. But despite this, the two end up bonding over their fondness for the aging Lillian and the fact that they’re both technically outsiders in Hickory Ridge, with neither of them planning to remain in the town once Lillian has passed away. Their relationship brought up interesting questions about compromise and what you would be willing to sacrifice for the one you love. While I initially felt that the growth of their relationship was a bit disjointed and perhaps got sidelined by other events in the novel, there was a conversation between the two of them at the end of the novel which injected a lot of realism into their romance and really evoked what I feel a loving relationship is about.

Alongside her developing romance with Wyatt, Ada encounters problems with the Klan, who are keen to evict the local black population and claim their land for themselves. Ada upsets them when she tutors a mulatto orphan and is seen fraternising with other people from the black settlement. Some of the locals already dislike her because she’s from the North, and she doesn’t improve her reputation by her attitude towards their African-American neighbours. I felt that Dorothy was able to paint a realistic picture of post-Civil War Tennessee without making it seem as if all Southerners were racist slave owners, but also without falling into the other trap of every character being a secret abolitionist and everyone embracing racial equality. Instead, she created a believable image of the occupants Hickory Ridge: some were members of the Klan, some merely wanted the land that the black community lived on, and others were apathetic. Ada herself, while wanting to help Sophie to get an education in spite of the difficulties her mixed-race parentage caused, did not express any other feelings about abolition or racial equality, which I felt was quite realistic.

I read this book well over a week ago, and in hindsight I’d have to say that what stuck in my memory most was the way that Dorothy painted a picture of the town and its inhabitants. She certainly has a way with describing locations and allowing them to interact with her characters. But I can’t help but realise that although I can clearly remember the setting, the characters and the subplot about Sophie, I’m struggling to recall the details of Ada and Wyatt’s romance. Even as I was reading the book, it felt disjointed in places and it didn’t seem to flow entirely naturally. I did thoroughly enjoy this novel, but I feel that it is strongest in its descriptions and characterisations, but perhaps a bit lacking in the romance department. However, this is Dorothy Love’s debut, and when that is taken into consideration, I think it’s an excellent into the historical fiction genre. I hope that her writing continues to improve as she creates more tales about Hickory Ridge. 8/10

Review copy provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

Fairer than Morning - Rosslyn Elliott

The lives of farmer’s daughter Ann Miller and indentured apprentice Will Hanby collide in the first novel in the Saddler’s Legacy series, igniting early nineteenth century Pittsburgh with adventure and romance. When Ann travels to Pennsylvania with her father and younger sisters, she doesn’t expect to experience anything more exciting than travelling on a boat and shopping in a busy city. But as she and her sisters embark on their trip to visit their father’s business associate in Pittsburgh, Ann begins to realise that they’re being followed. But why would anyone wish to stalk her father, a mere saddle-maker and travelling preacher? It is only when she sees her father arguing with their mysterious stalker that Ann begins to wonder whether her father is doing more than preaching on his trips away from the family farm. But when Ann arrives in Pittsburgh, a chance encounter with saddler’s apprentice Will takes her mind off her father’s troubles, as she sees someone riddled with abuse and physical and emotional turmoil at the hands of a merciless master. Ann vows to help Will and enable him to escape from his life of neglect and maltreatment. Will himself has long given up on plans to leave his master, and has settled for living out his indenture, but gradually finds himself retreating into his pain-riddled mind, no longer able to see any beauty in the world. Will Ann be able to rescue him, or is he beyond redemption?

Expecting another standard historical romance, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Rosslyn Elliot combined various elements into her novel that aren’t commonly found in Christian historical fiction. While romance did have a part to play in the story, I felt that it was secondary to the development of the characters and other aspects of the plot. This is definitely a book for those who like their historical romances to delve deeper into the contemporary issues of the period and witness characters engaging with them.

Ann struggles with the same problems that many young women in her position in the period would have encountered, particularly that of a suitor who appears to have lost interest. And just when he begins to pay more attention to her, Ann finds herself given the opportunity to escape to Pittsburgh with her family, where she will decide whether to pursue the path of marriage or wait until her motherless sisters are older before she leaves the family farm. I found Ann to be a very relatable character, although she is younger than I typically prefer my heroines to be.

Will was a slightly more distant character, and while I praise Rosslyn for allowing her readers to witness the true brutalities that mistreated apprentices suffered, I didn’t feel quite as connected to him as I did to Ann. Will suffers greatly under his master, not only physically but also mentally, and he retreats into dark places in his mind in order to escape his abuse. More sensitive readers may feel uncomfortable in a few places in this book, but I did feel that the details were necessary in order to express the truth of the characters’ situations.

I would have to say that the aspect of this novel that I felt wasn’t quite as developed was the romance between Ann and Will. Perhaps this is an error in the marketing, as I got the distinct impression that this book was a romance, yet the characters didn’t meet each other until over a third of the way into the novel, and even then they barely speak to each other. Ann is courted by two other men; a suitor from her home town and a man that she encounters while in Pittsburgh. While Rosslyn clearly made the first beau unappealing, so that the reader would root for Will instead, I actually quite liked the second one, especially when he fought to protect Ann’s honour. While Ann evidently dislikes the idea of a man fighting on her behalf, I really felt that any attacks on the second suitor were a bit weak, up until the end of the novel when he makes a derogatory remark about belief in God. For a decent part of the novel, when Will was going through his dark period and engaged in an act which would make any Christian romance reader dislike the apparent hero, I actually found myself wondering why the author had made a secondary character so appealing at a point in the novel when Will was making himself less attractive. I may be in the minority with this opinion, but the romance just didn’t develop in the way I’d prefer. Will did eventually redeem himself and the romance between him and Ann gently develops, but not until close to the end of the novel.

Despite my qualms about the romantic aspect of this novel, it is still a wonderful story about redemption and freedom, exploring so many issues that I’ve not yet encountered in Christian historical fiction. Rosslyn Elliot’s debut already sets her apart in the genre, and I encourage historical fans to look out for her work. I fear that her novel may merely have been marketed wrongly, in which case, those expecting the hero and heroine to encounter each other on the first page and swoon because of their passion-filled chemistry may be disappointed. This is not merely a romance peppered with history, but a character-driven novel that will enlighten even the most dubious of readers. 8/10

Review title provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

What the Heart Sees - Kathleen Fuller

Fans of Kathleen Fuller will be delighted to discover that three of her novellas have been repackaged into one volume. The stories, which previously appeared in An Amish Christmas, An Amish Gathering and An Amish Love respectively, are romantic tales of young Amish men and women discovering and rekindling love and healing past hurts.

In A Miracle for Miriam, Miriam must reconcile her memories of Seth, the boy who teased her as a teenager, with the young man he has become. Seth is in for a culture shock, returning to his Amish family after he was seriously injured in a car accident. But his near-death experience has made him to rethink his life, causing him see everything in a different light – including Miriam. In order to pursue a relationship with her reformed would-be-suitor, Miriam has to learn to forgive and let go of past grudges, or miss out on the chance of falling in love.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, especially as it was the first time I’d read about an Amish woman who was insecure about her appearance. It made me rethink my expectation that all Amish are able to focus purely on inner beauty. After all, everyone strives not to be vain and to focus on what cannot be seen, but our human flaws cause us to be concerned with the physical. Miriam’s self-consciousness combined with the hurt she had experienced as an impressionable teen made her a very relatable heroine. Seth also had his own difficulties, regarding the injuries he suffered in a car accident, but he’s such a gentleman that it’s impossible not to fall for him. While I did struggle to believe that one isolated incident – Seth had only teased her about her looks on one occasion, so it wasn’t as if she experienced repeated bullying – would cause Miriam to be so self-conscious about her appearance, I did find it refreshing to read about an Amish woman who struggled with insecurity and low self-confidence. Those who think that the Amish are romanticised will be pleased to find such a realistic and character-driven story.

Amanda is surprised to discover that her childhood best friend, Josiah, has returned from Indiana to fix up his old family home in A Place of His Own. But she’s shocked that Josiah doesn’t want her company, and is keen to sell his old house and leave Paradise as soon as possible. Slowly, Amanda begins to draw Josiah out of his shell and make him face the long-buried wounds that are still causing him pain. Can this healing process rekindle their friendship, and maybe even spark embers of love?

While I found Amanda and Josiah’s story to be the weakest in the collection, I did end up enjoying it once it really got started. Unfortunately, I felt that the plot didn’t really begin until several chapters in, which can be annoying in such a short novella. Other reviewers have commented that they think A Place of His Own would be stronger as a full-length novel, and I’m inclined to agree with them. There was so much potential and a lot of unexplored areas in this novella, so I think Kathleen was just restricted by her word count. And while I warmed up to Josiah after a while, I really struggled with the character of Amanda, who no matter what she said or did, still seemed very two-dimensional and shallow. I hope that readers don’t judge Kathleen based on this story, as it’s still a good effort and is sandwiched by two other excellent stories.

The last novella also shares its name with the collection, What the Heart Sees. This story is my favourite out of the three, and tells the tale of a prodigal son who returns to the Amish for his sister’s wedding and ends up befriending a blind girl. I was fortunate enough to read this story earlier in the year, so please check out my review of An Amish Love to read my thoughts on it.

I’ve yet to read any of Kathleen Fuller’s full-length novels, but if her novellas are any clue, I’m sure they’re an excellent addition to the Amish genre. Although I enjoyed each of the stories in this collection, I think their weakness is that they share very common themes. Seth, Josiah and Chris are all returning from the English world, and all three of the women are late into their courting years and worried that they’ll never find love. I’m sure these novellas worked very well in their original collections, but bound together I felt that they were rather repetitive with their tortured heroes and insecure heroines. This is a storyline that Kathleen does very well, but after reading it three times I couldn’t help but wondering if I should have left a larger gap between reading each of the novellas. I do recommend this collection, especially if you’re a fan of Kathleen Fuller, but I’d suggest spacing your reading of these stories. 8/10

Review title sent courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

Lilly's Wedding Quilt - Kelly Long

If there’s such a thing as edgy Amish fiction, Kelly Long is undoubtedly the queen of it. The second novel in her Patch of Heaven series features the conventional “marriage of convenience” plot that many romance readers adore, transported into the world of the Amish. After a convoluted series of events, Lilly Lapp finds herself married to the boy she’s adored since childhood, Jacob Wyse. But Jacob is still pining after his childhood love, Sarah, and Lilly isn’t keen on competing with the image of her husband’s lost love. Riddled with heartbreak and misunderstanding, it seems as if their marriage is never going to work. Lilly and Jacob must work together and learn to trust each other, all the while hoping that someday their convenient situation might just turn into true love. But that day may be closer than they think...

I could not stop singing this novel’s praises when I finished it. When I wasn’t pestering my fiancé to read out my favourite quotes, I was avoiding coursework in order to read another chapter. Kelly Long brings something new and exciting to the Amish genre, and I do hope that she gets the recognition she deserves. While I loved her debut novel, Sarah’s Garden, I absolutely adored Lilly’s Wedding Quilt. Maybe it’s because I’m getting married in 2012, but the story of two newlyweds falling in love under unusual circumstances really struck a chord with me. I remember the early days of my relationship, where both of us were unsure about expressing our feelings and getting into anything emotional. Although Lilly and Jacob are clearly in a very different situation, Kelly truly captured the early stages of romance: wanting to make the other person love you but being scared to share your true feelings; the hurt and confusion at unexplained silences or misinterpreted speech; the undeniable attraction but not knowing how to act upon it.

But wait, you ask, isn’t this an Amish novel? Shouldn’t this be strictly hand-holding and longing glances, resulting in a marriage with nine children and not a moment to yourselves once the first Boppli is born? Well, I have to admit that all of the Amish romances I’ve read so far have barely acknowledged anything other than a chaste kiss. And until I discovered Kelly Long, I was happy with this idyllic, sweet style of romance. But there’s something refreshing about Kelly’s writing, in acknowledging that the Amish have the same feelings as everyone else, even that of attraction. I’m not suggesting that Kelly’s writing is in any way explicit or inappropriate, but I appreciated immensely the way that she showed that physical attraction is just as essential as emotional and spiritual when it comes to making a marriage work. Just as Kelly utilises the traditional romance plot of a marriage of convenience, she also features strong character chemistry and plenty of romantic scenes that’ll encourage any readers who wonder whether it’s realistic for Amish characters to never engage in anything more than a fleeting peck on the cheek.

Of course, this novel isn’t all kissing-in-the-rain and pounding hearts. Lilly and Jacob have a lot of emotional ground to cover before they reach this stage. I particularly connected with Lilly’s struggle to get over her husband’s first love. This is something which I understand first-hand as being a horrible emotional cocktail of betrayal and jealousy, especially when you aren’t ready to talk about your feelings with your partner. And Jacob, like most men, is uncomfortable expressing his feelings and admitting his worries to Lilly. They both have physical fears to overcome – Lilly is scared of horses and Jacob is embarrassed that he can’t read – and the journey they take together to overcome these difficulties runs parallel to the growth of their emotional relationship. It was simply wonderful to see these two newlyweds developing a deeper knowledge and understanding of each other, culminating in the sweetness of Jacob’s gift to Lilly. I don’t want to spoil anything for those who have yet to read the book, but when Jacob started planning her present I felt convinced that he had truly come to understand his wife.

Building on the foundation that the Amish have the same problems and difficulties as the rest of the world, Kelly includes some brilliant secondary characters. From gossipy neighbours to rebellious teenagers, no one that Lilly and Jacob encounter is truly perfect. Sometimes novels can present the Amish as flawless, as if they were as sinless as Christ himself, but fortunately Kelly doesn’t fall into this trap. I also applaud her portrayal of Lilly’s mother’s struggle with depression. This was the first time that I’d read about an Amish character suffering from a mental illness, and it was incredibly encouraging and insightful to learn about how the community helped Lilly’s family through this difficult time.

Full to bursting with realistic characters, sizzling chemistry and a pinch of passion, Lilly’s Wedding Quilt brings something new to the world of Amish romance. Readers will find themselves nodding sympathetically at Lilly and Jacob’s problems, sighing over their romance and dying to flip to the final page to discover how it all works out. Whether you’re a committed fan of this genre or a newcomer, I’d highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. 10/10

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review purposes. Lilly's Wedding Quilt is due for publication on the 29th of March 2011.

This review is also posted at The Christian Manifesto, which will be running a giveaway of Lilly's Wedding Quilt on the 21st of March.

An Amish Love - Kelly Long, Kathleen Fuller & Beth Wiseman

Best-selling authors Kathleen Fuller and Beth Wiseman are joined by Kelly Long, who entered the Amish genre last year with her debut Sarah’s Garden, in this romantic novella collection. An Amish Love features three interlocking stories of love, starting with an accidental marriage in Kelly Long’s A Marriage of the Heart and moving on to broken hearts embarking on a new relationship in What the Heart Sees by Kathleen Fuller. The anthology finishes on an optimistic note for the future with a late in life couple falling in love all over again in Beth Wiseman’s Healing Hearts.

From a glance at the front cover and the synopsis of this collection, one can be forgiven for assuming that this is a light, predictable selection of stories about the Amish. Even I expected this, and I’ve been an avid reader of Amish romances for almost two years now. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that each author was bringing something new and original to the genre.

Kelly Long, whose debut novel I absolutely adored, places her protagonist, Abby Kauffman, in an unusual situation and shows us how love can blossom in the most unexpected places. After a newcomer to the community, Joseph Lambert, fails to give Abby the attention she believes she deserves, she accuses him of misbehaving with her. But the joke is on her when her father forces them into a marriage of convenience in order to protect her honour – and much to her shock, Joseph agrees to this arrangement! While I’ll freely admit that the premise of this novella is a bit unbelievable, I loved watching Abby and Joseph’s relationship develop. Kelly brings something unexpected but most welcome to the Amish genre with the undeniable attraction and chemistry between her characters. As much as I’m a fan of “sweet” romance, I’m often disappointed by inspirational authors who fail to acknowledge this important aspect of relationships – bravo to Kelly for doing the opposite! 9/10

Kathleen Fuller’s story is definitely my favourite in this collection, especially as she shows us the flawed side of the Amish. While we uphold the Amish as being people of forgiveness, Kathleen dares to admit the obvious – that forgiveness doesn’t come easily or painlessly. Christopher Miller left the Amish after his fiancée was killed in a car accident, and he still holds a grudge against the driver of the car when he finally returns five years later. So it doesn’t sit well that his younger sister is engaged to be married to this man. Through the help of Ellie Chupp, who lost her eyesight in the same accident, he slowly learns to let go of his deceased fiancée – and to forgive and ask for forgiveness himself. While this story focused more on the developing relationship between Chris and Ellie, rather than romance, there was something simple and beautiful about the flawed nature of all of the characters that really appealed to me. Kathleen is a new author to me and I will definitely be looking out for more of her work. 10/10

I wasn’t quite so fond of Beth Wiseman’s addition to the collection. I found that it became a bit over-the-top and cheesy towards the end, but I truly appreciated the fact that Beth decided to focus on an older couple. Too many romance novels focus on young couples in their prime, and it often makes us forget how important it is to keep romance alive within marriage. Levina and Naaman Lapp have been married for over thirty years, but once all their children have left home they realise that they’ve drifted apart. Naaman takes a trip to visit family in Ohio and doesn’t return for almost a year – and when he does, their relationship needs even more work. Slowly, they learn to fall in love again, and Naaman is able to regain his wife’s trust. As someone who is currently reading a pile of marriage-preparation books, it was encouraging to see someone acknowledging the strain that raising a family can put on marriage and how important it is to set aside some time just for the two of you. However, there was a subplot about the possibility of Naaman being in trouble with the law that just didn’t seem to fit with the feel of the novella and spoiled this story a bit for me. 8/10

This collection is perfect for anyone who is already a fan of Amish fiction, but would also suit those who want to experiment with this genre but don’t know where to start. An Amish Love features three of the best authors of this popular genre, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to discover new stories about our beloved Plain folk. Overall rating: 9/10

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed 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.”

Where Hearts are Free - Golden Keyes Parsons

The odds are stacked against Bridget and Philippe reuniting. But God has a plan for them if they'll only believe.

It’s 1687, in the burgeoning town of Philadelphia, and for seven years, Bridget Barrington has watched with growing affection as Philippe Clavell worked as an indentured servant for her father, a wealthy landowner.

Her father rejects her request for Philippe to be a potential suitor as he has none of the qualities Mr. Barrington hoped for his daughter's future husband, the least of which is a respectable income.

Heartbroken, Bridget accedes to her parents’ wishes and gets engaged to a man she does not love. However, Bridget's husband-to-be does not love her, but only her wealth.

But there's always light in the midst of darkness for those who have faith. This stunning historical romance concludes the gripping Darkness to Light series.

The love that Bridget and Philippe have for each other is not respected by their society, she being the heir to a promising plantation and he a mere indentured servant. Philippe is well aware that their relationship cannot go anywhere, so when he is offered his freedom in return for separation from Bridget he leaves the Barrington estate without a second glance. But little does he know that this will plunge Bridget into a marriage of convenience to a disreputable man. Will Philippe discover this in time to rescue her from the clutches of her husband-to-be? Will God provide a way for these star-crossed lovers to be together? 

This lovely historical romance definitely surpassed my expectations! I'm a history geek and a romantic at heart but I will admit that the blurb sounded a bit cheesy, even for my standards. However, once I was a third of the way into the story I became entirely immersed and didn't want to put it down. I wanted to find out whether Bridget and Philippe would ever get together, and if Edward would be outed for being the scoundrel that he truly was. I will admit that it took me a while to warm up to Bridget and I would have preferred more interaction between the couple before they were separated to fully convince me of their love for each other. Because of this, it took me a while to be come completely interested in their conflict, but by the end of the novel I definitely thought that it was worth the read.

This is the third in a series about a noble Huguenot family from France who escape Catholic persecution during the 17th century, but it can easily be read as a standalone book. And as I've studied this particular period of history at university I can say that Parsons has clearly done her research and produced an authentic novel. Bridget's marriage of convinience, I felt, was particularly appropriate for the period and the conflicts she encountered were probably quite common for a woman in her situation. I was also impressed that the author dared to deal with the historical conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, and did so without favouring either side. This is an issue that few authors dare to attempt in the Inspirational genre, for fear of offending people, but Parsons was incredibly delicate yet honest with her examination of the topic. I will caution that this is definitely a Christian novel, and the characters frequently seek God's guidance and pray to him in difficult situations. I thought her portrayal of faith was excellent, but non-Christians may find this unappealing.

I would definitely read more from this author and I'm interested in the rest of the Darkness to Light trilogy. This is more than your typical inspirational historical romance, dealing with some difficult situations and a time period that's not commonly featured in romantic novels. If this is a genre or topic that you're interested in then be sure to put Golden Keyes Parsons on your wishlist! 8/10

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.