Healing Love by Laura V. Hilton

  Enjoyable romance about an Amish woman and an English man who fall in love, but can they ever be together?  This is book one in a new series called "The Amish of Webster County."

When Shane Zimmerman saves Kristi Lapp after she's in a buggy accident, he never could have predicted how his life would change.  Their friendship quickly blossoms into attraction, but can they have any hope of  a future together? Besides their obvious lifestyle difference, they have many more obstacles to overcome.  Shane still blames the Amish midwife who was watching over his wife for her death and that of their child; though the doctor said cause of death was an aneurysm, he believes the herbs she gave her contributed to it.  When he discovers Kristi is a midwife, he doesn't know if he can trust her or live with her career choice.  Kristi now has a limp from the accident and doesn't know if any man will want a wife who has trouble performing daily tasks.  She wonders if she will have to settle for an arranged marriage. Though Shane tries to keep his distance, they keep getting thrown together. What do their futures hold?

This was an interesting story that had unique aspects to it.  I learned some about midwifery and more about shunning and how it might work.  I've only read a couple of other Amish books and the story of people from different worlds and how they might bring those worlds together made for an interesting read.  I liked that she used Amish terms in the story and that she had a short glossary of them so you knew the meanings.  Sometimes it did seem like there was a bit of confusion over what a character was thinking, with Shane and Kristi each flipping back and forth quickly on an opinion.  I was also a bit frustrated with Shane sometimes for not talking to Kristi about what was going on.  The author does a good job of showing how different their lives are and the feelings they have for each other.  I wasn't sure up until the end how they could possibly make it work and who would have to give up their lifestyle to be together. Anyone who likes Amish or romance stories will like this book!

I received a free copy of this book from Whitaker House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.