Friday, May 22, 2015

Amish Promises by Leslie Gould - My Review

Amish Promises by Leslie Gould

My Book Review


Description
When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home, they're looking for peace. Shani is thrilled to have Joel back from Iraq, but he needs time to heal, and the quiet of Lancaster seems just the place. They can't imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son is involved in an accident that injures one of the Lehman boys. Eve Lehman has run her brother's household ever since the death of his wife, but Tim's a stern patriarch. Despite his protests, she's drawn to the new neighbor, Shani, and the two begin to form a strong friendship forged on faith and family. Things seem like they've quieted down until Joel's single and handsome army friend Charlie catches Eve's attention--a man unlike any Eve has ever met. Suddenly life for both families becomes more complicated than any of them could have ever imagined
My Review
I always enjoy Leslie Gould's books - I recently finished the The Courtships of Lancaster County Series - and love her style of writing. This book was a little different since it not only featured Amish people as main characters, but brought an 'Englischer' family into the story. Another twist I liked was the fact that the Englisch father had been in the war, bringing more complexity to the chapters where the strict Amish father next door had to deal with befriending a soldier - not something most Amish look highly upon. It brought out a lot of emotion and added a lot of interesting layers to the book.

I also liked that the book wasn't only following one storyline. It follows both families though their own struggles and emotions, while still keeping the whole story in context and interesting.
So, all in all I definitely enjoyed the book, and would happily recommend it!

You can pick up a copy of the book here on Amazon here:
Or on the Baker Publishing Website here:

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Love Letters - By Beverly Lewis - an Amish Fiction Book

My review of The Love Letters by Beverly Lewis.



Synopsis
Marlena needed time to let things sink in. It was beyond her how all this could possibly work out--adding the care of an infant to her daily routine. Fortunately, it would just be until Luella returned home from the hospital and was stronger. 
No more than a couple weeks, surely.
Marlena Wenger's life takes an unexpected turn on the day she learns she must care for her estranged sister's baby. Spending the summer in Brownstown, Pennsylvania, to assist her Mennonite grandmother, and miles from Marlena's Old Order Amish beau, she feels out of her element in nearly every respect. Yet Marlena determines to do her best and stay focused on her future, even as those hopes become drastically altered.

My Review
Beverly Lewis is one of my favorite authors, and being a big fan of Amish fiction books I always enjoy her novels. Her characters are always so well described I can picture them, their mannerisms and their personalities in my mind. I really love it when a book comes alive like that!
This book was no different. Marlena is a character you want to both love and shake some sense into! Caught between joining her parents in their new found faith that brings them so much joy, and the old order Ordnung ways of her beau, it's so nice to see the way she develops through the story, becoming more of a woman, less of a girl.
The story with the baby is a wonderful one too and literally had me in tears at the end of both sadness and joy.
As always, this one was hard to put down and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The characters, settings and problems all came alive, as did the stories that intertwined them all. A really great, clean read that you can enjoy and feel okay putting on the bookshelf for your teen to pick up too :)

You can get a copy for yourself in paperback or an ebook copy on the Bethany House website here, or by visiting Amazon here

Happy Reading!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Super Simple, Super Moist Chocolate Fudge Brownies Recipe



If there is one thing in this world I cannot resist its chocolate. Oh, and coffee! Mmm, and maybe some nice, fresh date squares too - just to complete my favorites list :) But chocolate is certainly at the top. Along with chocolate comes brownies - one of my favorite desserts! And I just love those super dense boxed brownies from the grocery store - you know, the ones with all the bad kinds of ingredients ! They are sooo good!

But whenever I set out to make my own batch of brownies at home, I always find that they come out too fluffy, like a cake more than a brownie. So after trying loads of recipes over the years, I came up with one myself that I think takes the cake - or at least takes the cake out of the brownie :)



If you love those little brownies that I'm talking about, then you're going to loooove these as much as I did! They are dense, choclatey, moist...



and best of all, easy to make! Plus I have a super simple frosting recipe to go with it! Follow the recipe below and make sure to let me know how they turn out :) I've made them twice now but am trying not to make them too often - shorts season is right around the corner.

Enjoy!!

To print recipes, just right-click the images below and open in a new tab :)