Sunday, August 24, 2014

Review - The Healing Quilt by Wanda E. Brunstetter


The Healing Quilt
Return of the Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club
by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Publisher: Barbour Publishing Inc
Pub. Date: August 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1616260873
Pages: 320
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I think I have said more than once on this blog that I like reading Amish fiction. My two top favorite writers of the genre are Beverly Lewis and Wanda E. Brunstetter, in which I either buy each new book by the authors or I sign up to review the books. Arriving earlier this month on paperback is Wanda E. Brunstetter's latest novel, The Healing Quilt, which is the second book in the Return of the Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club; well actually it is the third book if you count 2012's The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club. I have to admit that I have never read the other books in the series, though I do own The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club on paperback and I have  The Healing Quilt on my Kindle; I just never got around to reviewing them yet.

That being said, I still jumped at the opportunity to review The Healing Quilt, which follows the same main characters from the previous books, Lamar and Emma Yonder Miller, an Amish couple who purchased a winter home in the Pinecraft community of Sarasota, Florida. After settling into their new home, the couple decide to start another 6-week quilting class.

A wide variety of characters sign up for the quilting class. Erika is an angry teenager who was injured during a diving accident and is now wheelchair-bound; she doesn't want to take a quilting class, but her father signs her up anyway. Noreen joined the class, as she was just looking for something new to do; her husband passed away awhile back and her son and daughter-in-law lives in Texas. Jennifer is soon to be a mother for the very first time and she would love to learn how to make a quilt for the baby, but she doesn't have the money because her husband lost his job. Out of nowhere, an unknown stranger pays for the quilting class. B.J. is a widow artist with terminal-cancer taking one final vacation; he signs up for the class so he can make a wall hanging to leave behind for his granddaughter. Mike's charter boat business takes an unwanted hiatus when his boat's engine need to be repaired; leaving him spare time to take his wife's spot in the class after she had to leave to take care of her injured sister. Kim left her life in North Carolina behind to live in Florida with her boyfriend, but after they broke up, she finds herself looking to make new friends, which is the reason why she joined the quilting class.

Lamra and Emma are well aware that the class will have their fair share of emotional baggage, as this has occurred in the other classes they taught back home in Shipshewana, Indiana, but they weren't prepared for what situations occur this time around, especially when their former quilting student, Jan Sweet arrives for a visit and takes a romantic interests in Kim. Then there is the past revelation between Noreen and B.J. that startles the class the most.

Honestly, I wasn't really in the mood to read  when I picked up The Healing Quilt yesterday afternoon, but I found myself being hooked into the story by the start of the third chapter. The author cleverly introduced a handful of different characters within the first two chapters and I became intrigued by each one, especially B.J., since my that is my first and middle name initials; plus, I instantly cared for what he character was going through. The other characters in the quilting class were interesting as well. Overall, The Healing Quilt is a charming and heartfelt novel about hope and forgiveness, which I read in one sitting. It is definitely one my favorite reads from 2014. I do hope the author writes another installment in the series. In the meantime, I'm going to have to read the first two books in the series sometime soon.


*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.


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