01 April 2021

The Amish Newcomer

 

PATRICE LEWIS

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Love Inspired, 8/29/20.

How acquired: Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss subscription

First line: Leah Porte clutched her suitcase and climbed out of the dusty Subaru in front of a white farmhouse several miles outside the tiny hamlet of Pikeville, Ohio.

(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)

My thoughts: I’ve only read a handful of Amish themed romances, all Love Inspired I believe, and I find that I don’t really remember any of them particularly well. I don’t think the subject has ever especially appealed to me, but I do enjoy the Love Inspired line so when one would fall into my hands I didn’t mind reading it. That being said, I went into this book not really knowing what to expect, other than a fish out of water story, which does appeal to me. The heroine is placed into witness protection after witnessing a murder, and finds herself moving into the home of an Amish family.

Well, it was much more than I expected, and I feel I have a deeper understanding of the Amish after reading this.

...One of the problems we experience is outsiders tend to romanticize our way of life. We’re seen as throwbacks to a happier time when people lived in harmony with each other, with Gott, with the earth...”

I can’t imagine not having electricity, a washing machine, TV. For Leah, it’s not easy in the beginning. She was a high profile television journalist, and suddenly she’s learning how to make homemade laundry detergent and cheese, how to garden, to cook, to skim milk. The work and the chores are never ending. But her hosts have a completely different attitude about the constant busyness.

It is a romance book, and there is a handsome man who is taken with Leah. She’s quite surprised when one of her hosts tells her he is courting her, when she’s only known him a very short time and of course, she isn’t Amish so the only way they could be together would be for her to convert or him to leave the Amish community. I won’t tell you which one happens, though I suspect you already know.

I picked this book up because I wanted something light to counter my recent reads, a steamy series about former military men and their women. I got much more than I bargained for. A character study about a woman rediscovering faith while confronting an uncertain future and the possibility of never being able to return to her former life. I still would not want to live an Amish life, but I have a greater respect for the Amish people.

Goodreads synopsis: Television journalist Leah Porte never imagined her career would end with her witnessing a murder. Now she’s temporarily living among the Amish in witness protection. Instead of feeling alone and adrift, Leah is warmly welcomed by the close-knit community—and Amish bachelor Isaac Sommer. But caught between two very different worlds, choosing love would mean leaving her Englisch life behind forever…


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