Book Review: An Amish Cradle

Author: Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston, Kathleen Fuller & Vanetta Chapman
Title: An Amish Cradle
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publish Date: Feb 10, 2015
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: 

In the Father's Arms by Beth Wiseman
Ruth Anne Zook is excited that she and her best friend are due with their children the same week. But when Ruth Anne's baby is born with Down Syndrome, she and her husband struggle to understand God's plan.

A Son for Always by Amy Clipston
Carolyn and her husband Joshua are thrilled to be pregnant with their first child. A teenager when she had her son Benjamin, Carolyn still feels obligated to work to secure Ben's future, even though Josh adopted Ben. She struggles to realize that Josh will love and protect both of their children equally.

A Heart Full of Love by Kathleen Fuller
Ellie's mother loves to meddle in her personal life-especially now that Ellie's pregnant. Since Ellie is blind, her mother worries that she won't be able to handle the baby. When Ellie gives birth to twins, her mother insists on moving in. Just as everyone reaches the breaking point, a miracle draws them closer to each other and to God.

An Unexpected Blessing by Vannetta Chapman

At 42, Etta thought her time of having children was over, but she's pregnant again. She goes into labor during a blizzard, and complications with the delivery raise fear. Etta struggles to accept Gotte's wille for the baby and her son, David, who moved away two years earlier in search of what he would do with his life.

Review: An Amish Cradle is a wonderful collection of stories of Amish couples becoming parents, some for the first time and others a welcome addition to the family

Each couple has some hardships that go along with the arrival of the boppoli (baby).

In The Father's Arms is the first novella, and it is my favorite of the four.  Ruth Anne and Levi have their first child and he has Down Syndrome. This story details a woman coming to terms with a child's disability as well as with a husband that his struggling with it. There are many times during their journey as new parents that you'll want to cry

A Son For Always is Amy Clipston's offering here, and it is a novella that is part of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series. Carolyn has found love with Joshua, and they are expecting their first child together, but she has doubts about him accepting her son Ben, that she had out of wedlock as a
teenager.

I love that this story tackles an issue that you don't usually see in Amish fiction. It shows that the Amish have the same problem as the rest of the world

I did think that Carolyn's worries about Joshua were a bit excessive, but it also showed her deep love for her son.

This was an absolutely beautiful story that reminded me I have to get some more of Amy's books.

A Heart Full Of Love had my nerves on edge. I loved this story, but I wanted to reach into the pages and shake Ellie's mother most of the time. Ellie is blind and the mother of twins and Edna really steamrollers her after their birth with her over protectiveness.

There is a reason for her behavior and it will break your heart for her.

More than that, it shows what a strong, capable woman Ellie is.

The final story in the book is Vanetta Chapman's An Unexpected Blessing. I love Vanetta's books, and this was really a sweet story of a couple having a child later in life. Etta is 42 and her husband is 45, so there are challenges with her pregnancy.

I didn't quite feel that Mose should be acting as old as he was. OMG he was only 45!!!

There was more to this story than the new baby, there was also the return of their son, who was away on his rumspinga.

I liked the different family dynamic in this novella. I loved how the cradle was being passed back from Etta's son to his mother.

Four wonderful stories to warm your heart. Highly recommended to those of you that can't get enough Amish fiction

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: A Hopeful Heart

Author: Amy Clipston
Title: A Hopeful Heart
Publisher: Zondervan
Publish Date: June 7, 2013
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Booksneeze

Book Blurb:

In A Hopeful Heart, the first novel of the new Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series from best-selling author Amy Clipston, Hannah finds herself at a crossroads in her life. Her community offers her love and support after the untimely death of her husband, but an Englisher offers her the chance of a new life after her unexpected tragedy. Wealthy businessman Trey Peterson is surprised by his attraction to the gentle Amish woman who works as a housekeeper in the Lancaster Grand Hotel. They share a common bond of loss and are able to offer each other comfort and support as they journey through their grief.

Joshua Glick wants nothing more than to offer his friendship and love to Hannah and her family. Not only is he her late husband’s brother and business partner, he has always been in love with Hannah.

A Hopeful Heart is filled with surprising twists as Hannah tries to balance her life in the Amish community and her growing love for an outsider.

Review: Hannah Glick is a widow who finds two men vying for her love, a handsome Englischer  widower and her late husband's brother.

This was definitely a story that turned out to be different from what I expected. Most Amish stories I've read deal with finding love in the Amish community or the youth finding love and deciding whether or not to stay with the faith.

Hannah is not the typical Amish heroine, she's older and she's questioning her community.

While I loved the story there were several things that bothered me that could have been rectified if the book were a little bit longer. Her relationship with Trey Peterson developed into a marriage proposal without much of a courtship...and her decision regarding that proposal left me a little shocked.

I know romance novels require a happily ever after, but somehow this one didn't quite work for me. I think it had to do with how intensely unlikable Josh was, as well as her mother-in-law Barbie, who seemed downright evil and not at all Christian in her treatment of Hannah.

I commend Amy Clipston for going against the norm with her resolution, I just wish we could have seen more of why they were falling in love. It was hard for me to fathom how losing a spouse could be the basis for a loving relationship.

But like all good Amish novels there are more characters involved then just the hero and heroine. I loved Hannah's daughters, Amanda and Lillian. These girls are twins but polar opposites, especially in their beliefs. I hope we get to see what becomes of them in later books, especially Lillian, whose relationship with her mother is strained because of Trey Peterson. Her young son Andrew is sweet too.

This was a good introduction to a new series, yet it was also somewhat unsatisfying.

Rating: 3 flowers

Book Review: A Life Of Joy

Author: Amy Clipston
Title: A Life Of Joy
Publisher: Zondervan
Publish Date: January 31, 2012
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: Take a trip to Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, where you'll meet the women of the Kauffman Amish Bakery in Lancaster County. As each woman's story unfolds, you will share in her heartaches, trials, joys, dreams ... and secrets. You'll discover how the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle can clash with the 'English' way of life---and the decisions and consequences that follow. Most importantly, you will be encouraged by the hope and faith of these women, and the importance they place on their families. In A Life of Joy, the fourth installment in the series, eighteen-year-old Lindsay Bedford has reached a crossroads. Should she stay in the small Amish community she's known and loved for four years or return to the English life in her hometown in Virginia where her older sister is a college student? An extended visit to Virginia might just tip the scales as Lindsay reconnects with friends, joins a new church, works on her GED, and is pressured by her sister to stay and 'make something of herself.' Will Lindsay leave her aunt Rebecca and become English or settle in Bird-in-Hand and join the Amish church? Legions of Clipston fans want to know. Full of well-researched Amish culture, Clipston's book is true to form, delivering the best of the Amish fiction genre wrapped around a compelling story, with characters who will touch the hearts of loyal fans and new readers alike

Review: A Life Of Joy is quite different from most of the Amish fiction out there. Why? The main character, Lindsay, grew up English, and came to Lancaster County to live with her sister and aunt when her parents died. Her older sister Jessica, left the Amish way of life behind, but Lindsay embraced it. This story revolves around Lindsay and her struggle to decide whether she wants to join the Amish church.

This story has a lot of family struggles. Lindsay and Jessica don't see eye to eye on how they want to live their lives. Jessica is very much a worldly girl and she often foists her view on her sister, who is very comfortable living the "plain" life.

Linsday has many challenges to face. Her parents good friend is hurt in a fall, and she is sent back into the "English" world for a summer. This is really her rumspringa (running around time), for those familiar with the Amish Culture.  Her aunt Rebecca discovers she's pregnant shortly before she leaves, and she almost successfully keeps the difficult pregnancy from her, so she can enjoy Virginia. I can understand why Rebecca would do that, though at times I struggled with the reasoning of the Amish to not tell people when they are "In the family way."

There are times when you aren't sure if Lindsay is going to return to Pennsylvania, but her heart belongs in Bird-In-Hand. She no longer fits in with her old friends in Virginia, but she does take the time to explore things when she is there. What she learns is not very surprising, because she really seems to have embraced the Amish way of life.

I really enjoyed Clipston's characters. They seemed more real than some in other Amish fiction. Their struggles where more "real life." This is Book 4 in the Kaufmann Amish Bakery series. I haven't read the other 3 books, but I definitely want to go ahead and find them. I love books set in Lancaster County. It is a place I'm familiar with from family vacations. Reading books set in this location always makes me feel like I'm back there.

If you like Amish fiction and are looking for an author besides Lewis or Brunstetter, Amy Clipston's series will delight you.

Rating: 4 flowers