Married to A Stranger

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RANDOM RETRO READ DAY!

 

HILTON, LAURA V.

MARRIED TO A STRANGER

He marries her out of need. She marries him to escape. What does love have to do with it?

When her father falsely accuses a stranger of dishonoring her, Bethel Eicher finds herself promised in marriage to a man she's never met. Not exactly a dream come true, but since she has spent several years caring for her handicapped mother, she's already considered an old maid at twenty-five -- and she longs to escape her lonely life as permanent caretaker.

When newly-called Amish preacher Gideon Kaiser learns he's been accused of a dishonorable act, he's horrified. But his wife died in childbirth and his baby needs a mother, so he figures marrying a woman he's never met could be beneficial. 

How can Bethel and Gideon possibly make their marriage work -- especially when the truth behind the accusations is revealed?

My Review:

published in 2019

What an interesting take on the marriage of convenience trope! Love the Amish angle, of course, but there's so much more going on in this story. Like Gideon's slow, deliberate courtship of his wife! Oh my! Their romance just smolders off the pages in a slow burn of readerly bliss. 

And there's a surprising twist to their romance that still has me grinning. :-) But enough hair-pulling angst to leave me partially bald. :-) Along with just enough humour to soothe my emotional turmoil. This is what I love about Hilton's storytelling. She's a master at drawing out emotion, coaxing her readers into feeling every nuance of the story. 

And she's always full of surprises. Just when you think the plot is heading in a predictable pattern...it's not. She likes to challenge her characters and her readers with the unexpected and there's a surprising mystery twist in this one.

Married to a Stranger is the third book in the Amish of Mackinac County series and I'm hoping it isn't the last because I feel like the author has set things up very nicely for Gideon's sister to star in her own story. Mercurial doesn't begin to describe Naomi so that book is sure to be full of frazzle-inducing mayhem! Plus, I've been left with some unanswered questions so I need another chance to travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and check up on all these characters. 

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Married to a Stranger, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday October 10, 2020 . Offer open to International Readers. Good luck