Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Review - Amish Promises by Leslie Gould


 
Amish Promises
Neighbors of Lancaster County, book 1
by: Leslie Gould
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0764215087
Pages: 368
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

With all the Amish fiction titles that get read each year, you would think I would get bored with the genre. While there have been a few duds here and there, most of them that I've read have been pretty decent reads. Any time an Amish title is available, I typically sign up to review. I received a copy of Amish Promises back in late April, but I didn't get a chance to read it until later in July, and as you can see, I'm just now getting to around to writing the actual review for it.

Amish Promises is set in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and centers on Joel and Shani Beck moving into their new home near the Amish country. Joel had recently returned from serving in Iraq and is trying to heal his emotional wounds, while at the same time he is trying to reconnect with his wife and son. Their closest neighbors are Amish, the Lehman family.

After their son has an accident that injures one of the Lehman sons, it causes a rift between Joel and Tim, the patriarch of the Lehman family. Despite the families' problems with each other, Shani, befriends Tim's sister, Eve, who has been running the household ever since Tim's wife died.

There seemed to be peace between Joel and Tim, well, until Joel's army buddy, Charlie, comes for a visit and falls in love with Eve, which launches a storm of trouble between the families.

I hate to say this, but sometimes your neighbors should just mind their own business instead of stirring up trouble. While the premise of the novel isn't exactly new (Ever heard of Romeo and Juliet?), Lesile Gould unleashes her storytelling magic to create an intriguing story involving an English family and Amish family, whom must overcome their differences, so they can live in peace. I enjoyed all the characters, except for Charlie as his character and his romance with Eve seemed a little forced at times. Overall, for me, Amish Promises wasn't exactly a perfect read, but it wasn't a letdown either. The author's writing skills kept the story moving, therefore, I kept turning the pages.



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



About the Author:

Leslie Gould is the author of the bestselling Courtships of Lancaster County series and coauthor, with Mindy Starns Clark, of the #1 bestselling The Amish Midwife. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Portland State University and has taught fiction writing at Multnomah University as an adjunct professor. She resides with her family in Portland, Oregon. 

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