The Bachelor - A Book Review

I get  so aggravated at myself when I request a book to review only to find out it is the second in a series and I have yet to read the first.  I really need to pay more attention to this!  Sometimes this is not a problem, but more often then not it is better to read a series in order.  So, with that being said, that is what happened to me with The Bachelor.

The Bachelor by Stephanie Reed is book two in the Plain City Peace Series.  As I mentioned, I did not read the first book in the series and I feel like this really took away from the book for me.  I felt lost and unconnected to the characters, especially at first.  It seemed as if I was missing the first part of the story and I guess I was, I think this book picked up right where the first one left off.  The end of The Bachelor is a bit of a cliff hanger so I am sure that book three is going to pick off where this one ends as well.  Even though I started with the second book it did peak my interest enough to make me want to go back and read The Bargain, which is the first book.  I think I'll wait till the third book comes out though. The Bride is not to be released until 2016 so I will wait till closer to that time and read book one for the first time and then book two again to refresh my memory.

There were several things about The Bachelor that I liked.  It was different than a lot of the Amish fiction stories I have read in the past.  It is set in the 70's and I have read very few books from that time period and I really enjoyed that.  I also liked that it gave a more realistic view of Amish life and their beliefs.  I would definitely recommend reading it, but be sure to grab The Bargain first and start from the beginning!

More about The Bachelor:

Betsie Troyer is back home in her Amish community after her parents have left for the English world.  Her parents have been shunned by the community and Betsie is now caring for her siblings.  Betsie is happy with her life and feels like she is getting everything "back on track".  Her and  Charley Yoder have made promises to each other and she is looking forward to a future with him, but when her English neighbor asks Betsie to care for his 12 year old daughter Sheila, Betsie's life gets turned upside down once again.  Between trying to keep peace with Charley, taking care of a 12 year old, and her friendship with Sheila's brother..the draft dodging, hippy Englisher named Michael, Betsie begins to question what God's plan is for her life.  Will God make the choice clear?

More about the Author:

Stephanie Reed lives on the outskirts of Plain City, Ohio, the site of a once-thriving Amish community.  She gleans ideas for her novels from signs glimpsed along the byways of Ohio.  To check out her other books and learn more about her you can go to her website HERE.

***This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.