Amish Midwives : Three Stories

GIVEAWAY

CLIPSTON, AMY

GRAY, SHELLEY SHEPARD

LONG, KELLY

AMISH MIDWIVES : THREE STORIES

From bestselling authors in the Amish genre come three sweet stories about new life, hope, and romance.

Bundles of Blessings by Amy Clipston

Lost in grief after the death of her husband, Kristina Byler gave up remarrying and found comfort and purpose in becoming a midwife. She is surprised when Aidan Smoker -- her ex-boyfriend and the man she was sure she'd one day marry -- moves back to the community after living in Ohio for the past eight years. They're both certain there's too much pain in their shared past for them to have a future, but they keep finding themselves drawn together. As Kristina helps other women bring children into the world, she starts to wonder if a family of her own might be possible after all.

A Midwife for Susie by Shelley Shepard Gray

Haunted by secret guilt after a tragic accident, Joanna Zimmerman is sure she's left midwifery behind her. She keeps to herself, certain this is for the best. Her childhood friend Dwight Eicher knows that Joanna hasn't been herself lately, but every time he's tried to talk to her about what's wrong, she's avoided his questions. When his sister, Susie, becomes pregnant, Joanna must decide if she can find the courage to return to the job she once felt so called to. Meanwhile, both Dwight and Joanna face romantic feelings that have the potential to change their friendship forever.

Christmas Cradles by Kelly Long

(also published in An Amish Christmas)

When Anna Stolis takes over for her aunt, the local midwife, Christmas night heats up with multiple deliveries, three strangers' quilts, and unexpected help from the handsome and brooding Asa Mast.

My Review:

There's something for every reader who loves Amish romances in this collection. From reunion romance to insta-love to friends-to-more. I happen to like all of the above so I was a happy reader three times over. :-) And I loved the midwifery thread that's common to them all.

These well-known authors deliver what they do best -- riveting stories with heart and hope and the occasional toe-curl. Each story is a quick, satisfying read and -- hooray! -- this collection comes in trade paperback format (as opposed to the teensy-weensy mass market paperback) so the print's big enough to read! 

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 Amish Midwives, 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 14 2021. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain

GIVEAWAY

LONG, KELLY
THE AMISH BRIDE OF ICE MOUNTAIN

Like most Mountain Amish girls, Mary King has always dreamed of her wedding day. But she never imagined that a sudden, irresistible kiss would result in marriage to the handsome Englischer professor studying her unique community. Or that doing the truly honorable thing means keeping their relationship chaste so both she and Dr. Jude Lyons can someday go their separate ways.

But when Mary accompanies her husband-in-name-only to Atlanta to meet his wealthy, overbearing family, she's tempted more than ever by Jude's kindness, humor--and vulnerability. And when a wrenching misunderstanding causes her to return heartbroken to her remote Appalachian home, she's certain she's lost the real love they have found...and the shared future she's come to want so much. But a crisis of more than faith will work surprising miracles--and show Mary that love is strong enough to make the impossible come true.  

My Review:

Please read the entire review before signing up for the giveaway draw as this book deals with the physical intimacies in marriage in a very frank way. See the last couple of paragraphs for my views on that.

First off, I love Kelly Long's writing. She has a wonderful gift for creating characters that matter. I was quick to relate to both Mary and Jude, eager to watch their 'arranged marriage' story develop into a forever love story.

It's a fascinating tale of two divergent worlds colliding. Mary's is faith-filled and simple while Jude is lost in cynicism and complications. And yet I could see his yearning for more depth and meaning in his life with his fascination with the Amish life style on Ice Mountain. Simplicity versus complicated merge into something both dreadful and wonderful.

Both have domineering fathers who manipulate circumstances to achieve their own desired end leaving Jude and Mary to deal with the repercussions of their fathers' manipulations. What tension! And angst! Raw emotions abound as the pair struggle to navigate the treacherous waters they've been thrown into.

And while I wouldn't classify this as Christian fiction, I will say that The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain has one of the most moving inspirational threads I've ever read. So, why don't I consider it Christian fiction? For one, the publisher is secular -- Zebra (an imprint of Kensington books). Secondly the frank exploration of sexuality, even though in marriage, definitely pushes the boundaries of  Christian publishing as we know it.

So -- about all that sexual tension....here's my take on it. First off, I should acknowledge that I've been reading Christian books exclusively for five years now. That was a deliberate choice on my part. I love having my faith encouraged through fictional characters. Those inspirational words bring a richer depth to my reading experience. I also appreciate the 'clean' read. In fact, while I have read traditional romances in the past and even tried my hand at writing them, I became increasingly disillusioned with the content of mainstream romance. In my opinion it has pushed the boundaries until there doesn't seem to be any boundaries left.

I have no problems with showing desire between characters. That attraction is God given and blessed under the right circumstances (my opinion). I've been amazed at the derogatory reviews some Christian books have received simply because a hero acknowledged a physical attraction to the heroine or vice versa. I like my romance reads to be well...romantical...but not explicit. That old Christian publishing adage about leaving the bedroom door closed seemed like a good measuring stick to me. In The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain, Kelly Long has left that door wide open -- rocking off it's hinges actually.

To be fair, I bought the book knowing that the content might be challenging. The author has posted a PG disclaimer on Amazon and upgraded it to a PG-13 in an interview on amishwisdom.com. But I also bought the book thinking it was from a Christian publisher. So --- the physical side of marriage is a major part of Jude and Mary's story. And while tastefully done -- there's no hiding that physical attraction is definitely a major plot point. I will say that at times I found the intimacy came across as the cat, "Jude" playing with the mouse, "Mary". Sometimes it seemed to impede the love story rather than enhance it. There were two scenes that I was uncomfortable reading and I think part of the problem was that Jude and Mary had become such real, living, breathing people to me that I felt like a voyeur.

This definitely isn't the right read for everyone but it is a wonderful, emotional and truly inspiring story. Only you can decide if it's the right choice for you.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday December 28 2014. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

An Amish Kitchen

GIVEAWAY

LONG, KELLY
CLIPSTON, AMY
WISEMAN, BETH
AN AMISH KITCHEN

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 time also provides unexpected visitors, new love, and renewed hope for three women.

Fern has a green thumb for healing herbs and flowers, but longs for love to bloom in her life. 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 an incident threatens to end their 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.

My Review:

A stellar lineup of authors creates a memorable read for Amish fans. Each story expertly weaves love and romance within a riveting, tightly-woven plot that delivers excellence right down to the very last word. These authors compliment each other beautifully. I love the common thread of the kitchen being the heart of the home and the way each story has pursued that idea in such a different way. This is a brilliant read with the added bonus of multiple Amish recipes at the end.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of An Amish Kitchen, please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday December 23 2012. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

Arms of Love

GIVEAWAY!!!!

LONG, KELLY
ARMS OF LOVE

The year is 1777. America is in turmoil and Amish life is far different than today.

Pennyslvania in the late 18th century, once called William Penn's Woods, is populated with an assortment of different faiths living together for the first time in American history. Included in this tapestry is a small and struggling group called Amish.

Surrounding this peaceful people are unavoidable threats. Both Patriots and the British are pillaging land and goods for the sake of the war. Young Amishmen are leaving the faith to take up arms and defend freedom. A simple walk in the untamed forests could result in death-from bullet, arrow, or wild animal.

Amid this chaos, Adam Wyse is fighting a personal battle. To join the war efforts and leave his faith would mean walking away from the only woman he's ever loved: Lena Yoder. But because of his love for her, he's made a promise that may keep them apart permanently.

When Adam withdraws from Lena, she's forced to turn to his brother, Isaac, for support. Must Lena deny her heart's desire to help Adam's soul? and will life in this feral and primitive New World be more than this peace-keeping people can withstand?

My Review:

A complex, stunning novel that took me to unexpected places. Though set during the revolutionary war, I found the character's inner battles far more treacherous. Long did an excellent job of creating angst from both without and within while including fascinating historical facts into the mix. Historical lovers who aren't Amish fans will still enjoy Arms of Love while Amish connoisseurs will relish spotting the similarities and differences in the roots of this much-loved faith.

Life was hard. Complicated. Impossible in ways it's hard to imagine. Thankfully Long has enough imagination for all of us and she takes her characters (and her readers) on a fascinating journey of self-discovery. There were places where I read voraciously and other spots where I just wanted to close the book and not go on! Thankfully the story was too compelling to let go of and I persevered through the angst.

This book is so full of surprising revelations that it's hard to review for fear of posting spoilers so I need to tread carefully. Let's just say that Adam's love is deep and irrefutable even when it's impossible. There's something so alluring about a man who is willing to sacrifice for the woman he loves. By contrast, Lena's innocent, enthusiastic, for-sure-we're-forever faith is sorely tested many times over. And yet their romance is larger than life from the very first page -- even before we see them together.  Long's masterful storytelling allows for incredibly intimate scenes that have nothing to do with kissing and everything to do with a connection so much deeper. But when they do get to kissing....wow!

Let's just say that this is well worth the read. A story that will satisfy your heart and your soul and leave you with lots to think about. In fact the author has actually included a four-week Novel Bible Study at the end of the book which looks fantastic. I'm excited to get started on it since I've long been applying gospel truths I read about in fiction into the reality of my life.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Arms of Love please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. Please put the title in the subject line so your entry is easy for me to spot. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday April 8 2012. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

An Amish Wedding

 FULLER, KATHLEEN
 LONG, KELLY
WISEMAN, BETH
AN AMISH WEDDING

Priscilla King has dreamed of being married to Chester Lapp since she was sixteen. With the help of her sister Naomi's matchmaking skills, Chester proposes to Priscilla on her nineteenth birthday. As the wedding day approaches, problems emerge: an attendant with poison ivy, a failed celery crop, and a torn wedding dress.
At the same time, Priscilla's best friend Rose is convinced her fiance is hiding something and she is intent on discovering the truth at any cost.

Naomi remains hopeful that she, too, will soon find her perfect match. When Chester's cousin shows up, there's an immediate attraction between him and Naomi-as well as an obstacle that may just as immediately derail their blossoming love.

Is God sending a message to stop the wedding? What is certain is that the hearts of these three women will be forever transformed by this touching Amish wedding.

My Review:

A brilliant job was done by each author to make their individual work flow seamlessly into the others. Each story was skillfully interwoven so that it was hard to tell where one left off and another began. Each novella makes a satisfying read on its own, but together they make the perfect escape read. Funny, dramatic, romantic -- triple threats for a triple-authored book.  A definite winner for Amish fiction lovers.

Lilly's Wedding Quilt

GIVEAWAY!!!!

LONG, KELLY
LILLY'S WEDDING QUILT

Handsome, headstrong Jacob offers Lilly his hand in marriage, but his heart belongs to someone else.

While Lilly Lapp has loved Jacob for years, she wouldn't compete with Sarah King, the woman Jacob was determined to marry. But when Sarah marries another, Jacob spontaneously agrees to wed Lilly.

Lilly divides her time between teaching the local Amish children and caring for her widowed mother who suffers from depression. Lilly's faith comforts her, but her heart still longs to be the sole object of Jacob's affection.

As the days slip by, Lilly decides that hoping is too risky and vows to protect her heart. But God is subtly as work, and as winter turns to spring, their hearts awaken.

The furthest thing from Lilly's mind is her Amish wedding quilt, a traditional gift for new brides. And the person she'd least suspect is the one making it. Like stray pieces of fabric quilted into a new design, Jacob and Lilly's marriage begins to bind them together in ways neither expected

My Review:

I think Long fried my brain with her sizzling passages so I'm not quite sure I can make this review a coherent one. It was emotionally engaging from the very first page. We hurdle into Lilly and Jacob's story in a powerful way. Long doesn't ease us into their story, she catapults us into the middle of it! And from then on it's an emotional roller coaster ride with an incredible deep layer of faith to support it.

What will melt your heart (and a good number of your bones as well) is the interplay between Lilly and Jacob as they get to know each other. I have never read anything quite like it! Their growing desire goes deeper than mere physical need. They strive for an intimacy of both heart and mind surrounded by a solid faith structure and that's what increased the emotional rewards of this read for me. I'm near speechless over how good it was. In fact, I read the last bit twice! Let's just say that Jacob is a romantic with a capital R!!!!!!

Masterfully told, Long has captured every nuance of a developing relationship while peppering her story with wonderful comic relief along the way. I particularly adored the play-by-plays between Jacob and his brother, Seth! And I'm desperately hoping that she's sown the seeds for the next book which will hopefully be Seth's love story. He definitely deserves one!

So if you want your toes curled and your hair frizzed, don't hesitate to grab a hold of Lilly's Wedding Quilt anyway you can and one of those ways can be:

Giveaway Opportunity:

Here's your chance to win a copy of Lilly's Wedding Quilt by Kelly Long. Just leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. Please make sure to put the title in the subject line. Draw will be held and the winner announced on Sunday November 13. Offer open internationally. Good luck!

An Amish Love

WISEMAN, BETH

LONG, KELLY

FULLER, KATHLEEN

AN AMISH LOVE

HEALING HEARTS by Beth Wiseman

He left to find himself. She found her way without him. Now Levina and Naaman Lapp are together again, feeling miles apart. Although coming home was the right thing to do, Naaman must regain the trust and respect of his wife who, in his absence, has learned to trust God like never before. Could it be that their prior years together have simply been a preface to a greater love than they have ever known?

VERY CLEVERLY DONE. I WAS CAPTURED FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE -- FIRST BECAUSE I WAS FUMING AT NAAMAN AND ACHING FOR LEVINA BUT NAAMAN EVENTUALLY WON ME OVER. THEN I WAS CELEBRATING RIGHT ALONG WITH THE LAPPS AS THEY REDISCOVERED THEIR LOVE.

WISEMAN HAS ADDED AN INTERESTING SECONDARY THREAD TO THE PLOT LINE WHICH IS BY TURNS INTRIGUING AND FUNNY AND CULMINATES INTO A SURPRISE ENDING.

A MARRIAGE OF THE HEART by Kelly Long

Abigail Kauffman is looking for a way out; Joseph Lambert is seeking a way in. Since her mother's death, Abby has lived alone with her father and longs to escape the emptiness of the farmhouse that has never felt like home. Joseph Lambert is a newcomer in their close-knit community. Only after they find themselves suddenly married to each other do they begin to understand the tender truths of life-long love.

I'VE FOUND A NEW FAVOURITE AUTHOR! I LOVE LONG'S WRITING VOICE -- HER ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT IS STELLAR AS IS HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. ABBY IS AN UNLIKELY AMISH HEROINE. WE MEET HER IN THE MIDDLE OF A DECEITFUL PLOT OF HER OWN MAKING. SHE EMBELLISHES THE TRUTH AND RISKS RUINING ANOTHER'S REPUTATION. WHAT WOULD DRIVE HER TO DO SUCH A THING? AND STICK TO IT WHEN THINGS GET SO OUT OF HAND? I HAD TO KEEP READING TO FIND OUT.

LONG HAS TAKEN AN OVERUSED PLOT DEVICE (MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE/ARRANGED MARRIAGE) AND WORKED IT INTO SOMETHING FRESH, CAPTIVATING AND BELIEVABLE. I ENJOYED WATCHING ABBY'S TRUE CHARACTER SHINE THROUGH ALL THE EMOTIONAL LAYERS IT HAD BEEN HIDDEN BENEATH. I LOVED JOSPEPH'S WIT, HIS STRUGGLE, HIS INNATE DESIRE TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND RELY ON HIS GOD TO SEE HIM THROUGH.

WHAT THE HEART SEES by Kathleen Fuller

When Ellie Chupp loses her sight in an accident -- and then her boyfriend shortly after that -- she believes love will never be in her future. But Christopher Miller has returned home, five years after fleeing from the tragedy that broke his heart. When Ellie and Chris meet again, sparks fly. Could true love be a matter of seeing with new eyes?

THIS IS A POWERFUL TALE OF FORGIVENESS -- ON SO MANY LEVELS. FORGIVENESS BECAUSE IT IS WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF US. FORGIVENESS OF THOSE WE PERCEIVE TO HAVE WRONGED US IN SOME WAY. NOT TO MENTION THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVING OURSELVES.

FULLER HAS DUG DEEP TO REVEAL SOME OF THE EMOTIONS THAT KEEP INDIVIDUALS SHACKLED BY UNFORGIVENESS. AND IN THE MIDST OF THIS EMOTIONAL ANGST, SHE MANAGES TO WEAVE A TENDER LOVE STORY.