Amish and the holidays-Book reviews, Amish Christmas Kinner and Thanksgiving Blessing

270 pages October 24,2023 publish date Berkley publisher buy link

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Promise Glen is struck by a vandalism spree around the Thanksgiving holiday, a community’s values—and two weathered hearts—are put to the test.

As a widow with two-year-old twins and a struggling orchard, Rebecca King’s dreams of expanding her business seem near impossible. To make matters worse, a troublesome string of destructive acts around Promise Glen threatens her roadside fruit and vegetable stand, forcing Rebecca to accept the help of her condescending new neighbor, Nathan Mueller.

Nathan didn’t intend to offend Rebecca with his offer to share the stand, especially since he’s a widower and single parent himself. He admires Rebecca’s strength and kindness in the face of adversity. If only they hadn’t started off on the wrong foot…

Despite their best efforts to shield their hearts, working side by side through the busy harvest plants the seeds of a budding friendship. But when the vandalism spreading through Promise Glen escalates to arson and rumors blaze through the town, they’ll have to learn to rely on each other more than ever. As Thanksgiving approaches, Rebecca and Nathan are forced to reconcile with their own grief, forgive what can’t be changed, and come to truly understand the core values of the holiday: love and gratitude.

MY THOUGHTS

This is the third and final book in the Amish Holiday series with the others being a holiday Easter and Christmas book.
I enjoyed reading this Thanksgiving book so close to Thanksgiving. Filled with pumpkins, harvests, apple cider and a farmers market stand the book is seasonally appropriate.

We are once again back in Promise Glen, a rural area with widowed Amish woman Rebecca King and her twin babies. The twins are rascals but utterly adorable as they babble In Pennsylvania Dutch. She dreams of expanding her orchard, but the babies take her time. Accepting help from her neighbor, who doesn’t always have the kindest things to say isn’t what she wants but she may have to take it.

I’m always pleased to see how the Amish come together to help each other. The community works as one, no matter what needs done they are there for each other.
The story has a bit of a mystery to it and an unexpected romance for one of our characters.

The romantic characters each have problems that they are experiencing but they work through it together and help each other heal.
The author writes a realistic Amish story, family, faith and love are strongly shown.

Publish date October 24, 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

I realized I wanted to be a writer at age eight, when I read my first Nancy Drew novel, The Secret of the Old Clock. Most little girl reach the end of that book wanting to be Nancy. I wanted to be the person who created the story!

The dream lay hidden for years while I became a teacher, married, had children…all the usual things. But eventually it re-surfaced, and I began to write, beginning with short children’s stories for Sunday school take-home papers. It seemed a long time until that first acceptance, but eventually I began to sell. After some three hundred published short stories, I finally found the courage to work on the novel I’d always wanted to write.

Sixty-some published novels later, I still feel the same excitement every time I begin a new book–a mix of not believing I can do it combined with an overwhelming urge to see the story on the page.

A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and my own Pennsylvania Dutch roots eventually led me to the books I’m writing now about the Amish. The Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books are longer, more complex emotional stories with Amish main characters, while my forthcoming HQN suspense novels are more adventure-filled books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I’m also writing a Love Inspired series about the Amish, The Brides of Lost Creek.

When I’m not writing, I’m busy with church activities, traveling, and spending time with my three children and six beautiful grandchildren.

274 pages September 26,2023 publication date Kensington publisher buy link

ABOUT THE BOOK

This trio of heartwarming, inspirational Amish holiday stories, each connected to its bestselling author’s Amish romance series, captures the blessings of family, faith, and the magic and childlike joy of Christmas.
 
CHRISTMAS EVE BABY * Lenora Worth
It’s a Christmas Eve to remember when a laboring mother-to-be shows up at the King sisters’ Shadow Lake Inn amid a snowstorm. Midwife Sarah King and her three daughters go into action, while the men of the family search for the woman’s husband. And with faithful hearts and helping hands, this magical night may unite a brand-new family just in time to share a Christmas blessing. 
 
BEST CHRISTMAS PROGRAM EVER * Rachel J. Good
On Emily Flaud’s second day of work at the Green Valley Farmer’s Market, two hungry children in tattered clothes snitch some cheese samples—and Emily’s heart. Her co-worker, Hosea King, is less beguiled. He is still grieving the loss of his wife and daughter two years before, especially as Christmas approaches. But when the children are in need of adoption, Emily longs to become their mother—in a prayer that includes Hosea . . .
 
LOVING LUKE * Kelly Long
Wanted: Amish Mail Order Groom. Must be excellent with kinner.Recently widowed,Grace Fisher must be practical. She has a general store to run and needs a gentle man to help raise her kinner. But when Luke King appears, Grace sees a scruffy man who looks far from husband material, while Luke sees a woman who deserves better than he. Yet with faith, each may gain the courage to see beneath the surface—and create a family for many Christmases to come . . .

MY THOUGHTS

The cover of this book is very appealing, and I was immediately drawn to it.
This book is by 3 popular authors of Amish fiction and each of the 3 stories are novella length.

The stories are full of faith and feel-good Christmas stories. These stories feature children and show the importance of family especially during the holiday season when many feel so alone. These are heartwarming and will touch your soul during this holiday season.

Pub Date: 26 Sep 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks for stopping in. Have you read any holiday books yet?