Life, Love and Books

An Amish Christmas Bakery by Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller and Kelly Irvin Sorry I am a little late on sharing this review, but I think we need a little Christmas Cheer at the beginning of this new year.  Cookies and Cheer by Amy Clipston Alyssa Byler has amazing ideas for the bakery store display window, for this Christmas season she comes up with the idea of a Sugar cookie Nativity scene. She reaches out to the local blacksmith's son, Kyle Smoker to make the much needed cookie cutters. When the display brings in more customers than the bakery can handle, Alyssa starts to put in more hours at work then she has time for. While Kyle is starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount of orders that are coming in for the cookie cutters. Will Kyle and Alyssa be able to put aside the craziness of the holiday rush to see what it is right in front of them? Will they be able to see the beauty of Christmas and the love it bring to us?...

. Always Look Twice by Elizabeth Goddard In the second installment to the Uncommon Justice series, we return to the wilderness of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It opens with a bear, a camera and a eyewitness to a murder! Harper Reynolds is on a sabbatical from her job, when in the midst of getting a award worthy shot  movement catches her eye. Now she is running from the killer that she just witnessed shooting a unknown woman. Heath McCade is now a reserve sheriff deputy in his home county, but he did not expect to have a witness fall right into his path. While he is out with a wilderness group from his ranch retreat;  something catches his attention in the woods. His dear childhood friend, Harper; was back in his life as fast as she had disappeared years before. Harper is devastated to hear that all the evidence of  the crime that she has witnessed has  disappeared. Now she is determined to ...

Listening to Love by Beth Wiseman   In the second installment of the Amish Journey series, we find englischer Natalie Collins and Lucas; the older brother of Levi Sheltar having friday night suppers together. As time passes, the two have become very much best friends to the concern of their family and dear friends Levi and Mary. The opinions of those around them, starts to frustrate Natalie, who adamantly says that it is friendship only. But deep down she is realizing that her feelings have grown toward love for Lucas.  Lucas loves getting to talk with Natalie in the late night hours, but time has come that he has to face the truth of the struggle between their two ways of life. To leave would cause so much pain for his family. Also he knows that asking Natalie to walk away from her plan to become a veterinarian, would break her heart. But the more time they spend together the truth starts coming out that they have feelings for each other When Natal...

Amish Celebrations by Beth Wiseman In the newest addition to the books written by Beth Wiseman is Amish Celebrations. Four stories in one that brings hope to all of us who love a good story.  The Gift of Sisters , We meet a set of Twins getting ready to enjoy their rumschpringe together. Both are different as night and day, but when they meet a new guy in their community things start getting hairy. With each young women falling for the same guy, it drives the sisters apart from each other. Will they see that the bond between them is the love doe each other? A New Beginning A young couple in love and ready to be baptized into the church, when one night out on his rumschpringe makes his beloved question their future. As they navigate the turns and twists of the road of relationships, will they be able to see the hope and light at the end of the tunnel.  A Perfect Plan When her beloved pops the question on her 19th bday, Priscilla starts planning her w...

Under a Cloudless Sky by Chris Fabry The present and the past meet in this book about a Southern Coal mining town fighting to survive in a time where the big companies rule. We meet several very interesting characters in this storyline. Two of them are  Hollis Beasley, a landowner who is fighting to keep the land that his family had owned for years. Also feisty Ruby Handley Freeman whose children think that she is need of some fresh direction her life. Two very different people both taking a stand for something in their lives, paths that have crossed in the past. The storyline goes back and forth from 1933 to 2004, telling a story from the childhood of dear 83 yr old Ruby.   A story that has been hidden for years and is now begging to be told to her loved ones. The truth that has been kept quiet of what happened the day of the Massacre of 1933. Hollis's granddaughter has a interest in writing a article for the memorial that is being set up for the victi...

The One True Love of Alice Ann  by Eva Marie Everson This is the first book I have read by Eva Marie Everson, the thing that drew me to the book was the story line based during WWII. When I picked up the book and started to read it, I was drawn in to the story about a young girl during a time that was in a upheaval. I went thru a time period where like Alice Ann, I had a crush on a guy who had no interest in me. As the story progresses Alice Ann corresponds with her elder brothers friend Mack, that has been shipped overseas to fight the war. Letter writing was one of the ways to share news from home to the guys on the war front during that time period. Which compared to now days we have email, social media, cell phones, where we can just share news at the drop of a hat. The boys on the war front loved getting mail and packages from back home. In this story the letters that passed between Alice Ann and these two young men shared so much news of life on the front and at home...