Summer Reads: His Guilt by Shelley Shepard Gray

Avon Inspire; 288 pages; $12.99; Buy Link; Blog Tour

Now available from Avon Inspire is the Amish romance-drama His Guilt by New York Times bestselling author Shelly Shepard Gray. It's the second novel in The Amish Of Hart County, which started with Her Secret (read my review here).

His Guilt centers on a young Amish man named Mark Fisher, who has returned home to Hart County in the attempt to put his painful past behind him. Despite being raised Amish, Mark grew up in an abusive household, but somehow found a way to survive. While he always thought of himself as a good person, two years ago he was wrongly accused of assaulting a young Amish woman.

After leaving his home for two years, Mark has now returned to Horse Cove, Kentucky with the dream of fixing up his family's old house. Of course finding a job wasn't easy, as everyone believe he's guilty. The only job he could get is at the Bloom and Berries nursery, which happens to be the same store where Waneta "Neeta" Cain works, a young Amish woman who believes Mark is guilty of assaulting the girl.

Eventually, Neeta''s feelings for Mark changes, and she eventually believes he is innocent of accusations. However, their blossoming friendship becomes in jeopardy when one of Neeta's friends is attacked, and everyone in the community believes Mark is responsible for the crime.

Final Thoughts: Shelley Shepard Gray is one of my favorite authors of Amish fiction, so I was thrilled to receive an advanced readers copy of His Guilt this summer. At only 288 pages, the novel was a quick read for me, which I read in one sitting.

Just like the first book in the Amish Of Hart County series, His Guilt deals with heavy topics that aren't always featured in Amish romances, such as abuse. The author does an excellent job of tackling the subject without ever letting the narration feel too preachy. Both the main characters, Mark and Waneta, are well-written and likeable. The dialogue throughout the novel feels like 'real dialogue' and avoids the typical cliches that appear in similar titles.

Overall, I enjoyed reading His Guilt. I thought it was nicely paced, intriguing novel, and I highly recommend it to other readers.

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




About the Author: Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town's bike trail.