A Stranger's Wish

ROPER, GAYLE

A STRANGER'S WISH

Englischer Kristie Matthews' move to an Amish family farm in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, couldn't have started on a worse note. The young schoolteacher is bitten by the farm dog, and on her trip to the local ER, she has a strange encounter with a man who has just had a heart attack...

Suddenly he raised his head and looked at me with an intensity that made me blink. "Will you do me a favor, Kristie Matthews?"

I leaned close to hear his weak voice. "Of course."

"Keep this for me." He fumbled in his shirt pocket...

"But tell no one -- no one -- that you have it." He slipped a key into my cold hand and folded my fingers over it.

When her life is endangered, Kristie suspects a connection to the mysterious key. While solving the mystery (and trying to stay alive), Kristie must decide whether her lawyer boyfriend, Todd Reasoner, is right for her...or if Jon Clarke Griffen, he local man she's met, is all he seems to be.

I AM SO GLAD THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK IN THE AMISH FARM TRILOGY BECAUSE I'M ADDICTED AND I NEED MORE! NOW!!!!

THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK. ROPER HAS INTRODUCED SOME SPIRITUAL TRUTHS THAT REALLY CAPTURED MY ATTENTION. THEY ARE WOVEN THROUGH THE STORY, IN NO WAY 'PREACHY', BUT TOUCHED MY HEART AND SET ME TO THINKING. I LOVE WHEN I FIND A BOOK THAT HELPS ME DRAW CLOSER TO GOD'S TRUTH AND THIS ONE CERTIANLY DID.

KRISTIE'S FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT IS SHARP AND WITTY AND HEARTFELT. WE LEARN ABOUT THE AMISH CULTURE THROUGH HER EYES AND ROPER IS AN AUTHOR WHO HASN'T ROMANTICIZED THE PEOPLE AND THE RELIGION. SHE PORTRAYS THEIR STRUGGLES TO LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EVER ENCROACHING ENLISCHER WORLD AND THE EFFECTS IT HAS ON THEIR COMMUNITY WITH HONESTY AND COMPASSION.

THE MYSTERY HAS SOME SURPRISING TWISTS AND TURNS THAT BUILD TO A PAGE-TURNING ACTION SEQUENCE. AND IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL KRISTIE PICKS HER WAY AROUND A COMPLICATED LOVE LIFE. ANGST ON ALL SIDES!

ROPER HAS CREATED MEMORABLE CAST OF CHARACTERS WHO BRING LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA TO LIFE AND MAKE ME EAGER TO RUSH OUT AND GET TO THE NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES. I'M HOPING IT'S JAKE'S STORY.