Book Review: An Amish Man On Ice Mountain

Author: Kelly Long
Title: An Amish Man Of Ice Mountain
Publisher: Zebra
Publish Date: April 28, 2015
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley

Book Blurb:

Joseph King has good reasons to work an oil rig far from his beloved Ice Mountain . . . and to mind his own business. He hopes to protect his younger brother Edward from worldly influences. And maybe he can finally forget how yielding to temptation forced him to leave home in disgrace. Still, no honorable Amish man would let Priscilla Allen and her four-year-old daughter remain homeless, living out of their car. And how can he not be drawn to the feisty waitress's bravery and hidden strength . . .

Offering Priscilla a home on Ice Mountain as his wife-in-name-only gives her a place to start again. For Joseph, it's also an unexpected chance to regain his reputation and standing in the community. But Priscilla's warmth, caring, and determination to adjust to Amish society are renewing Joseph's long-buried hope. Now as his guilt and her wrenching secrets threaten the fragile trust growing between them, they will need the riskiest of miracles to put the past to rest--and fulfill a promise only love and renewed faith can bring.

Review: I have a love and hate relationship with this series. There's a lot of thing that set this series apart from the typical Amish romance, some are good, some aren't so good.

Likes:

1. I like that we see the Amish portrayed as sexual beings. I realize that they are a very religious people but they do have the same desires the rest of us have, and it is nice to see them portrayed as such.

2. I love that these books aren't set in the usual settings. (It is also cool that the ice mine is real)

3. Each book has a real world issue that the Amish people are dealing with. In this book it is domestic violence and sexual abuse.

4. I really love the characters and how the characters from the first book still figure prominently into this story, without making things difficult to understand.

Dislikes

1. Joseph's father's cancer/heart attack/illness whatever you want to call it. I like miracles where they can be believable, but in this case it was laughable. A stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis usually doesn't happen in the ER either and PET scans don't usually happen that way either.

2. The bishop letting all the Englischers into the faith. To the best of my knowledge about this faith, it is not that easy, even if they are a mountain people. The bishop seemed a little too easygoing.

3. This story seemed to go on much longer than it should have. I felt it should have wrapped up after the drama with Priscilla's ex or even after the business with her father.

The book was enjoyable but there was way too much that didn't feel quite right for the Amish

Rating: 3 flowers

Book Review: The Amish Bride Of Ice Mountain

Author: Kelly Long
Title: The Amish Bride Of Ice Mountain
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publish Date: Nov 14, 2014
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: 

The Amish Bride

Like most Mountain Amish girls, Mary King has always dreamed of her wedding day. But she never imagined that a sudden, irresistible kiss would result in marriage to the handsome Englischer professor studying her unique community. Or that doing the truly honorable thing means keeping their relationship chaste so both she and Dr. Jude Lyons can someday go their separate ways.

But when Mary accompanies her husband-in-name-only to Atlanta to meet his wealthy, overbearing family, she's tempted more than ever by Jude's kindness, humor--and vulnerability. And when a wrenching misunderstanding causes her to return heartbroken to her remote Appalachian home, she's certain she's lost the real love they have found...and the shared future she's come to want so much. But a crisis of more than faith will work surprising miracles--and show Mary that love is strong enough to make the impossible come true.

Review: The Amish Bride Of Ice Mountain isn't your typical Amish fiction. This book deals with real issues and even intimacy between a man and his wife. Because most Amish fiction falls under "Christian fiction" you don't get much beyond a kiss in those books.

Don't get me wrong, there's no hot and heavy Amish sex scenes going on here, but Kelly does allow you to see that Amish people have romantic/and sensual feelings too.

It wasn't always an easy read, because the Amish in this community aren't like the Amish you read about from places like Lancaster, PA or Sugarcreek, OH. These people are mountain people and some of their ideas are very backwards. Mary and Jude are married because he had the audacity to kiss her.

Mary was really a unique character. She embodied innocence in most things,except her feelings for Jude.

The story itself is full of family drama for both characters, from a near rape to strange family issues with both mother and father and ex girlfriends.

That in itself should prove to you that this isn't your typical Amish setting. So if you are looking for a book where everything is peachy keen, then you might want to look elsewhere. Some might describe this book as edgy, but I don't really think so. In more ways it is real or at least the blinders are taken away. Not all Amish people are nice and Long portrays that well with the scene with Isaac, even though things change at the end.

Some things are wrapped up to easily for me though. I felt that some drama could have been cut back or more explanations given. I found this to really be the case with Josh's father Ted, and even his ex, Carol. I would have also enjoyed getting to know Mary and Jude's families a bit better.

I did love the Ice Mountain setting, which is a real place in PA, and one that I hope to visit at some point in my life.

This was an enjoyable read for those that want a little more from their Amish fiction. I look forward to reading Joseph's story next.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: Arms Of Love

Author: Kelly Long
Title: Arms Of Love
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publish Date: April 3, 2012
Buy:Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: Pennsylvania in the late 18th century, once called William Penn's Woods, was an assortment of different faiths living together for the first time in American history. Included in this tapestry was a small and struggling population called Amish.

Surrounding this peaceful people were unavoidable threats: both Patriots and the British were pillaging land and goods for the sake of the war, young Amishmen were leaving the faith to take up arms and defend freedom. A simple walk in the untamed forests could result in death, if not from bullet or arrow, then from an encounter with a wild animal.

Amid this time of tumult, Adam Wyse is fighting a personal battle. To possibly join the war efforts and leave his faith, which would mean walking away from the only woman he's ever loved: Lena Yoder. But for that love he's made a promise that may keep them apart permanently.

When Adam withdraws from Lena, she's forced to turn to his brother, Isaac, for support. Must Lena deny her heart's desire to save Adam's soul? And will life in this feral and primitive New World be more than this peace-keeping people can withstand?

     
  

Review: Kelly Long's Arms Of Love is a different kind of Amish novel. It takes place during the Revolutionary War. The Amish weren't considered backward then, they were just different, much like the Quakers. (Only the Quakers allowed a little bit more adornment on their clothing)

I have mixed feelings about this book. In some ways it is really fantastic. Kelly does a great job of giving us a glimpse of what the Amish were like when they first settled in Pennsylvania. It wasn't all a bed of roses, especially when you are a pacifist during war time.

Surprisingly enough, Kelly shows Adam and Lena as sexual beings. They don't have sex, but they have desire for one another. That's something you won't see in a lot of Amish fiction, because they keep it too Christian. (And you know Christian people don't do that) Sex is naughty...those babies are delivered by the stork!

Makes you wonder how those Amish people have all those kids!

But back to the story.  Adam and Lena made a great couple. The historical detail was wonderful. The story was well written but a little bit lacking. Too much of what happened just seemed too easy or too unbelievable.

1. The resolution of the conflict between Adam and his father. This is just way too crazy to deal with.

2. Lena's snakebite! She was bit by a rattler and she recovered remarkably fast...On her wedding night, no less.

3. Samuel and Ruth's courtship. He didn't grieve for his wife very long.

4. Isaac, Adam's brother just didn't seem human to me, at all.

This isn't the greatest story about the Amish, but it is a good one that is worth reading if you are a fan of the genre.

Rating: 3 flowers