An Amish Miracle

About The Book:  An Amish Miracle is a collection of three novellas, by three different authors, all set in the same Amish community: Always Beautiful, Always His Providence, and Always in My Heart.  The first story, Always in My Heart introduces us to Hope Bowman and her family.  Hope is dealing with grief stemming from giving up her firstborn son.  This grief shadows the young mother's happiness  after she and her husband have their fourth daughter. Hope finds herself questioning God and wondering if God would grant her desire for a son?  In Always His Providence we are introduced to widow Rosa Hostetler who is facing losing everything. As she struggles with the possible loss of her farm and her chickens she learns to rely on God to provide and to wait on his will, yet she almost misses the biggest blessing; the possibility of loving again. Beth Wiseman's contribution, Always Beautiful, is about young Becky Byler and her struggle with her weight and self-image.  Is beauty only skin deep and can only skinny girls experience true love? 

About The Authors:  Award-winning, best-selling author Beth Wiseman is best known for her Amish novels, but her most recent novels, Need You Now and The House that Love Built, are contemporaries set in small Texas towns. Both have received glowing reviews. Beth's highly-anticipated novel, The Promise, is inspired by a true story. Twitter: @bethwiseman Facebook: Fans-of-Beth-Wiseman
Ruth Reid is a CBA and ECPA best-selling author of the Heaven on Earth series. She's a full-time pharmacist who resides in Florida with her husband and three children.
Mary Ellis grew up close to the eastern Ohio Amish community, Geauga County. Before “retiring” to write full-time, Mary taught middle school and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate. Mary is a CBA and ECPA best-selling author as well as an ACFW Carol Award finalist and runner-up for the 2010 Holt Medallion Award.

My Thoughts About The Book:  I was excited when I realized that the stories were all set in the same town and I would be visiting with the same characters in each of the books. Each novella was well-written, the characters pop off the page and you find yourself wishing for success for each of them. These were not your run of the mill Amish romance stories where boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl marry.  There are several twists and turns and you find yourself wondering if things are going to work out for the three key women characters.  I loved everything about these novellas.  I loved the recipes at the end of the story.  I will definitely give them a try.  Especially the pineapple cake of Hopes. If you like Christian romance, or like to read about the Amish culture, you will not regret reading this book.

Statement of Disclosure: I received this book to review from Thomas Nelson Publishing Group's Book Sneeze Blogging Program for an honest review.  Thank you so much for this opportunity.  Reviews are published on Goodreads and Amazon too.

An Amish Kitchen

About The Book:  The Amish Kitchen is the Heart of the Home – and the Ideal Setting for Stories of Love and Hope.

Fall in Paradise, Pennsylvania, always brings a brisk change in the weather. This season also ushers in unexpected visitors, new love, and renewed hope for three women.

Fern has a green thumb for growing healing herbs, but longs for love to bloom in her life. Then the next-door neighbor’s oldest son, Abram, comes running into Fern’s kitchen seeking help for his little sister. The crisis soon leads to a promise of romance—until mistrust threatens to end the growing attraction.

Nearby, Hannah runs her parents’ bed and breakfast, Paradise Inn—but her life feels nothing like Paradise. She longs for a man of integrity to enter her life, but never expected him to knock on the front door looking for a room. Will she be able trust Stephen with her future once she discovers his mysterious past?

When a storm blows a tree onto Eve’s farmhouse, she has little choice but to temporarily move her family into her parents’ home. Outside of cooking together in the kitchen, Eve and her mother can’t agree on anything. But this may be just the recipe for hope in healing old wounds.

Three Amish stories—each celebrating love, family, and faith—all taking place in a tight-knit community where the kitchen truly is the heart of the home.

The book also includes a Reading Group Guide and 45 Old Order Amish Recipes.

About The Authors: 
Amy Clipston:  Amy is a native of New Jersey who began her writing career unofficially when she was a child.  She loves writing about the Amish, and has an Amish friend in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who reads her  manuscripts for accuracy. She has always been fascinated with the Amish. Clipston remembers visiting Lancaster County, and her father, who was a German immigrant, told her that the Amish speak the same dialect of German as her relatives. She was drawn to their simplicity and faith. Due to her German heritage, she felt a loose connection to the Amish and their culture.  Her plots come straight from the  heart and all involve family issues intertwined with faith.

Kelly Long:  Kelly Long is the author of Sarah's Garden, the first novel in the Patch of Heaven series. She was born and raised in the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania. She’s been married for nearly 25 years and has five children.

Beth Wiseman: When a personal crisis tested and strengthened her faith, award-winning journalist Beth Wiseman was advised by her agent to consider writing a Christian novel, particularly an Amish one. Encouraged by her agent’s urging, she began exploring the Amish lifestyle and soon developed a great appreciation for the more peaceful way of life. In 2008 Wiseman wrote her debut novel, Plain Perfect, featuring the Amish lifestyle within the context of a fictional love story. It was a bestseller, as have been all of the full-length novels and novellas she has written since.

My Thoughts On The Book:  All three of the authors are some of my favorites.  Their take on the life of the Amish is amazing.  All three novelas are filled with faith, love, and the culture of the Amish.  Having grown up in a family where the kitchen is the heart of the home and women bonded within its walls I was delighted to see that there are some amazing recipes at the end of the book and a reading guide if you would like to do a book study on the book.  It is the kind of read that makes you want to shut the world out and just submerge yourself into a world of simplicity.  A great read and would be a wonderful gift.  I plan to add it to my Amish library of keepers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing Booksneeze Program for bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review. All they asked for was an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Beth Wiseman's Need You Now

Need You Now

 Beth Wiseman

 (Thomas Nelson)

 ISBN: 978-1595548870

 April 2012/320 pages/$15.99

About The Book:  When big-city life threatens the safety of one of their children, Brad and Darlene Henderson move with their three teenagers from Houston to the tiny town of Round Top, Texas.
Adjusting to small-town life is difficult for the kids, especially fifteen-year-old Grace who is coping in a dangerous way.  Married life hasn’t always been bliss, but their strong faith has carried Brad and Darlene through the difficult times. When Darlene takes a job outside the home for the first time in their marriage, the domestic tension rises.  While working with special needs children at her new job, the widowed father of one of the students starts paying more attention to Darlene than is appropriate. Problem is, she feels like someone is listening to her for the first time in a long time.
If Darlene ever needed God . . . it’s now.  Experience a family’s triumph over lies, betrayal, and loss while still clinging to the One who matters most.
“You may think you are familiar with Beth’s wonderful storytelling gift but this is something new! It’s a story of how God can redeem the seemingly unredeemable. It’s a message the world needs to hear.” —Sheila Walsh, author of God Loves Broken People

About The Author:  Beth Wisman is a Carol Award Winner, Inspirational Readers Choice Winner, INSPY Winner, and the best-selling author of the Daughters of the Promise series and the Land of Canaan series. All of her books have held spots on the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller list and the CBA (Christian Book Association) bestseller list. She grew up in Houston, Texas and now resides in a small town west of Houston with a population of around 300. She lives with her husband, two dogs, two cats, two pot bellied pigs, two chickens and a pygmy goat. Her two grown sons also live in Texas.  Beth has been writing in some capacity for most of her life. She's a former award-winning journalist with eleven honors, including 'First Place News Writing' for The Texas Press Association. However, writing love stories with a spiritual message is where her heart is.  When Beth isn't writing (which is seldom these days) she enjoys traveling, cooking, fishing, reading, or just settling in for a good movie. Her best times are spent with family and friends!
MY THOUGHTS:  After I discovered Beth Wiseman a year ago, through Amish fiction, I have waited for each new book to make an appearance.  I was surprised when I realized that this book ventures from the Amish fiction genre to a Contemporary genre and she does it beautifully.  As I high school teacher I felt a strong connection with the issues depicted in this book.  These issues are relevant to families no matter where they are. The family from the story live in a tiny town, yet you can find this same story happening in a large city.  It was the kind of book I could not put down once I started reading.  I actually wanted life to just stop and let me be a part of the book.  The message and the outcome are so very important and help the reader see just how important God is in their lives.  I give it a four star rating and would encourage all my readers to go grab a copy today.  I promise  you won’t regret it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from B & B Media and Thomas Nelson  as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

An Amish Wedding

About the Book:  An Amish Wedding is a charming book which consists of three novellas.  It includes A Perfect Secret, by Kelly Long, A Perfect Match, by Kathleen Fuller, and A Perfect Plan, by Beth Wiseman.  Each one of the stories is about an Amish couple, their families, and the struggles they endure.
In A Perfect Secret by Kelly Long we meet Rose and Luke who are an Amish couple who have been best friends since childhood.  When Luke asks Rose to marry him Rose accepts his rather matter of fact proposal, knowing that it will be beneficial to both families.  Since she has known Luke since they were children she accepts feeling satisfied with choice since she knows all there is about her future husband.. She eventually realizes that she does not know him as well as she thought and the journey from discovery to wedlock is a difficult one.
In Kathleen Fuller’s novella, A Perfect Match, we meet another couple, Naomi and Zeke.  Zeke is swept off his confirmed bachelor feet when he  meets Naomi.  He has just arrived in town to help his cousin and attend his wedding.  The attraction between the two is mutual, but Naomi tries to pair with her good friend, Margaret.  When the friend and Zeke turn the table on Naomi she discovers a lasting love.
Beth Wiseman’s, A Perfect Plan is the story of  Priscilla and Chester. Their wedding has been perfectly planned since Priscilla was a child, but everything that can go wrong does, causing them to wonder if they should go through with it.  The story is about how two young people discover God’s will for their life and learn to trust in God to handle all the details. 

About the Authors:

Kelly Long is the author of Sarah's Garden, the first novel in the Patch of Heaven series. She was born and raised in the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania. She’s been married for nearly 25 years and has five children.

Kathleen Fuller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now makes herhome in beautiful Geneva, Ohio. She has been married to husband, James for 15 wonderful years.  They have three terrific children, three dogs, and an overwhelmed cat. They have also raised cattle, pigs, and chickens at various times over the years.. Fuller started writing in 2000, and published her first short story a year later. Since then she has authored several short stories, novellas, novels, and has done a lot of freelance non-fiction work

Beth Wiseman is the best-selling author of the Daughters of the Promise series — Plain Perfect, Plain Pursuit, Plain Promise,  Plain Paradise and Plain Proposal.  Her new series–Land of Canaan– debuted in the fall of 2010 with Seek Me With All Your Heart which has been selected as the 2011 Women of Faith Novel of the Year.  She is contracted with Thomas Nelson Publishing and is currently working on her first non-Amish novel due for release in the spring of 2012.  All of her books have held spots on both the CBA (Christian Book Association) bestseller list and the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller list.
My thoughts: This was a wonderful book and I could not put it down once I started reading it. I enjoyed having the entire story to read in one sitting. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys reading Amish fiction.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Wonder of Your Love - Beth Wiseman's Newest Book

About the Book:  Katie Ann lost the love of her life. Then God offers her a new beginning in Colorado.  Katie Ann Stolzfus lives in the small Amish community of Canaan, Colorado. At forty she is widowed and raising her first child. But baby Jonas will never know his father, and Katie Ann wonders if her Heavenly Father hasn't forgotten about her as well. Is it really God's plan for her to be a single parent?  Eli Detweiler has come to Canaan for a wedding and a long vacation. Having raised six children following the death of his young wife, Eli is finally an empty-nester. He's enjoying the slower pace of having no one to care for but himself.  When Katie Ann and Eli meet, there is an instant connection. Yet as strong as the attraction is, they both acknowledge that a romance would never work. He is done parenting, while she has just begun. But as their friendship slowly blossoms into feelings that are as frightening as they are intoxicating,   Katie Ann and Eli question if the plans they made for themselves are in line with God's plans.  Can Katie Ann entrust her heart to another man, and rediscover the wonder of God's love?

About the Author: Beth Wiseman is the best-selling author of the Daughters of the Promise series — Plain Perfect, Plain Pursuit, Plain Promise,  Plain Paradise and Plain Proposal.  Her new series–Land of Canaan– debuted in the fall of 2010 with Seek Me With All Your Heart which has been selected as the 2011 Women of Faith Novel of the Year.  She is contracted with Thomas Nelson Publishing and is currently working on her first non-Amish novel due for release in the spring of 2012.  All of her books have held spots on both the CBA (Christian Book Association) bestseller list and the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller list.

My Thoughts:  This book is a message to readers that we must trust God's wisdom as well as His time-line for our lives, rather than our own.  The Wonder of Your Love is wonderful read for for any Christian who struggles with trust.  I loved how Wiseman unfolded her characters and developed them although I felt as if the book rushed the story line between Martha and Danielle (Katie Ann's Englisher friend and a troubled teen) and it was left somewhat unfinished.  After seeing that this was the second in a series I realized that we may see more from Martha and Danielle in the future.  I give the book 5 stars.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255