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Monday, August 27, 2018

Fascinating! ' The Amish Quilter' - The Women of Lancaster County 5 - by Mindy Starns Clark & Leslie Gould

About the book:

A gifted young quilter… a successful artist… the life-changing revelation that threatens to tear them apart…
Linda Mueller lives an orderly, uneventful existence, content to divide her time between creating the beautiful quilts for which she is known and working at an Englisch fabric shop.
Idealistic to a fault, Linda has never found a man worth marrying—until she meets Isaac Mast, a newcomer to Lancaster County and a talented painter. As they bond over their respective crafts, Linda is drawn to Isaac’s kind ways, humble spirit, and intriguing personality, and soon the seams of her carefully-constructed world begin to loosen.
With Isaac’s help, she explores the story of her late grandmother, also a gifted artist. But when an astonishing truth comes to light, Linda faces a grave decision, one that could destroy any hope of a future with Isaac. Will their dreams of a life together completely unravel? Or can she find some way to stitch them back together again?

My review:

This was a fascinating book that was hard to put down! I love anything to do with genealogy so following Linda on this journey as she tries to find out about her grandmother's past, her art and why she stopped painting was so interesting. I love that family members Linda's family has been out of touch with for years or that Linda's never even met come back into their lives. I liked Linda for the most part but I did feel she was somewhat immature and I felt a little impatient and frustrated with her for how she treated Isaac. Isaac seemed like a wonderful guy, maybe a little too perfect. The story was told in the first person from Linda's perspective so we get to know her a lot better than Isaac; the first person style isn't used nearly as often as the third person so it was a refreshing change, though I did miss Isaac's viewpoint. I really liked that grace was emphasized and the gospel was explained. It's also pointed out how unforgiveness and skewed theology can damage a person. I liked that depression was addressed. It was also interesting to see characters with autism and how the Amish view that. There was a little bit of romance. This worked well as a stand-alone, though characters from previous books do show up. Overall, this was a wonderful story if you like Amish or genealogy stories!

I received a copy of this book from Harvest House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review and have not been compensated for this. This is my honest opinion.

Meet the authors

Mindy Starns Clark

Mindy Starns Clark is the bestselling author of more than 20 books, both fiction and nonfiction, with over a million copies sold. Mindy and her husband, John, have two adult children and live in Pennsylvania. www.mindystarnsclark.com

Leslie Gould

Leslie Gould, a former magazine editor, is the author of numerous novels, including Beyond the Blue and Garden of Dreams. She received her master of fine arts degree from Portland State University and lives in Oregon with her husband, Peter, and their four children. www.lesliegould.com

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Enjoyable! 'As the Tide Comes In' - by Cindy Woodsmall & Erin Woodsmall

About the book:

When an unthinkable loss sends Tara Abbott's life spiraling out of control, she journeys from North Carolina to Georgia's St. Simons Island. Although confused and scared, she hopes to find answers about her past - her life before the years of foster care and raising her two half-brothers as a young adult. Will she find steady ground on the island, surrounded by an eccentric-but-kindhearted group of older women called The Glynn Girls and a determined firefighter? Or will the truth splinter what's left of her identity into pieces?

My review:

I really enjoyed this quirky story set on a charming southern isand. I have enjoyed every Cindy Woodsmall book I've read in the past and this was no exception! I loved Tara, who I met in the Woodsmalls' previous book together called "The Gift of Christmas Past." I was glad we got to know her better here as I really admired her for raising her half-brothers and for the person she became after all of the loss and hardship she'd endured from childhood. She seemed like a fun person in normal life, however for much of the book she's grieving and confused. I really felt for what she was going through. I also liked going on the journey with Tara as she tried to understand why God let the tragedy happen and what her purpose is now. There were some great spiritual truths to digest. Gavin was amazing as he was so understanding and patient as she tried to figure things out. He was another great character who really took care of the people he loved. A really cool element you don't see often in fiction is a glimpse into Heaven and that was a very cool part in this book. One thing I thought was odd was that Luella, one of the Glynn Girls, did ghost tours, yet apparently didn't really believe in ghosts. It just seemed like doing those would feed the whole misconception that ghosts are real. I did really like Luella because of her love of history and travel and for her humor. There were some sweet romantic moments for two couples. I would recommend this story if you're looking for a book with a little more meat to it, yet still has humor, romance and charm.

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah. I was not required to write a positive review, and have not been compensated for this. This is my honest opinion.