Love's Dwelling

GIVEAWAY

IRVIN, KELLY

LOVE'S DWELLING

Cassie Yoder loves her job as housekeeper for elderly couple Job and Dinah Keim. Their only children, a son and daughter, left the Haven, Kansas district and their faith more that twenty years earlier with no contact. Cassie feels for the Keims because her own parents' infertility struggles left her an only child in a community where big families are a blessing.

When Child Protective Services shows up on the Keims' doorstep with their five grandchildren, their quiet lives -- and Cassie's -- are turned upside down. Mason, the oldest grandson at twenty-two, believes his siblings should be his responsibility and struggles with giving the Keims authority.

Moving in with Keims, Cassie jumps in with both feet and is happy for the challenge of caring for these English-raised children.

Mason and Cassie strike up an uneasy alliance that turns into friendship, and then something more, but neither dares to admit it. Can an English man and an Amish woman find common ground and a home together?

My Review:

"Gott didn't say it would be easy. Only that He would be with us during hard times. Don't you feel Him moving here today?"

Wowzers -- Love's Dwelling is all about God moving in the lives of both Amish and Englisch characters and I was riveted! Can't tell you when I've enjoyed an Amish novel more. I was actually reading it in snippets during breaks in the Olympics coverage so imagine my surprise when I finally looked up from the book to discover I'd missed both the gymnastics and swimming competitions. Like I was totally unaware the two events I tuned in to watch had come and gone without me even noticing! So, yes, riveted, enthralled, captivated...obsessed. :-)

While Irvin writes from only two points of view -- Cassie's and Mason's -- she still manages to convey all the emotions and reactions of multiple secondary characters. The far reaching effects the children's arrival has on so many people made this book unputdownable. It's a ripple effect of emotional turmoil and challenging changes that reach beyond their cloistered community.

Cassie's at the heart of it all -- devoted to the Keims, it doesn't take much to fall for their kinnskinner. There's such joy and zest in the way she embraces the challenge of integrating five confused, grieving Englisch children into plain living. That she's inexplicably drawn to the their older half brother is definitely a problem. 

Mason is shell-shocked. He's spent most of his life on the outside looking in. He's done his best to shelter his siblings from a broken home and parental neglect. And he doesn't think twice about taking on the responsibility of raising them after the untimely death of their mother. But he's also a product of the same environment and he doesn't have a clue about what a functioning family looks like. But, oh, how he tries! He tugged at every one of my heart strings and then tied them up in knots!

Mason's journey, both personal and spiritual, touched me the most. There are layers upon layers upon layers to this guy and his backstory and I hung on every word. Felt every emotion. Hoped as fervently as Cassie that he would find a way to come in from the fringes and fully experience life and family and faith the way God intended him to. Sniffle. This one left me a tad teary-eyed and infinitely hopeful.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice 

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Love's Dwelling, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add your email to a 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 August 7 2021. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!