Faithful to Laura: A Middlefield Family Novel

About the Book:  Laura’s Amish faith requires her to forgive, but she can only think of revenge.  Laura Stutzman leaves her Kentucky community for Middlefield, Ohio, with one purpose: to find Mark King, the man who pledged his love to her, then left. She can’t move on with her life until he explains why.  Sawyer Thompson wasn't born Amish, but has lived in their community for years. Now he must commit to the Amish church or return to the Yankee world. Having suffered loss at a young age, he understands Laura’s anger, but is determined to follow God’s will and forgive. As their friendship grows, Laura begins to let her guard down.  But new information surfaces about Sawyer’s past and threatens the couple’s budding relationship. Both Laura and Sawyer will need to release the anger in their hearts and forgive the people who’ve harmed them. As Laura struggles to trust God, can Sawyer remain faithful to Laura?

About the Author:  Fuller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now makes her  home in beautiful Geneva, Ohio. She has been married to 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.  She started writing in 2000, and published her first short story a year later. Since then she has authored several short stories, novellas, novels, and have done a lot of freelance non-fiction work. She has also worked as an editor, has a Masters degree in Special Education, emphasis on teaching the blind and visually impaired, and a Bachelors in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and has taught all age groups ranging from age 4 to age 18. A few of her favorite things: her relationship with Christ, chocolate (of course!), autumn, a satisfying book, good friends, a sense of humor, people who don’t take themselves seriously, haunting melodies, and NFL football.

My Thoughts About The Book:  I love Amish fiction.  I must confess that I have an addiction for  reading about this hardworking, God fearing group of people.  I love the language, I love the customs, I love it all.  This book was your typical Amish love story. Our main character girl has something she would rather forget in her past, the unlikely stranger comes into her life(also has something shadowing his past), and the guy chases girl down and wins her heart. The story line was easy to follow and I enjoyed this book tremendously. This was a great book for me to add to my library of books and I definitely will be recommending this to my Amish fiction loving friends.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishersas part of their Book Sneeze Blogging 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.”  Truthfully, I loved it!

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.