Amish Promises by Leslie Gould is book one in the Neighbors of Lancaster County series. The book is about two families. One English and one Amish. Shani's husband Joel injured his leg in Iraq and has come back to America a completely different man. In hope to salvage her marriage and help her husband heal they move to Lancaster County to live in the home that Shani's grandfather once lived in. No sooner than they arrive Joel hurts his leg worse. On top of that their son Zane has wandered over to the Amish neighbor's home and accidentally scared a horse and injures one of the Amish boys.
Eve lives with her brother Tim and has been taking care of his children ever since his wife and Eve's best friend Arba died of cancer. Eve has accepted her life and know she will never marry and has even made a vow to herself to never marry an Amish man. Tim is a very stern man and does not make life for Eve easy.
When Eve and Shani meet an instant friendship forms between them and even though their worlds are very different they enjoy each others company. Charlie is a family friend of Shani and Joel's and comes by every weekend to help with the things that Joel is not able to do. Despite their differences Charlie and Eve are drawn to each other. Tim does not want his sister or his children to have contact with the English family and feels that they will draw them to the lifestyle that the Amish has turned from. Gideon, the Bishop also has his sites set on Eve. He is a good man, but Eve does not have feelings for him. Will she do what her brother wants and start a life with Gideon? Will she be able to fight her feelings for a man she should not love? Or will she choose to continue to raise her brother's children without the interference of love?
I was a little disappointed with Amish Promises. It was an okay read. I honestly found it a little boring. There were several times that I wondered if there was a series or a book before this series that featured the same Amish family, because at times I felt like I was missing something. There was not enough background on some of the characters and I was a little lost with some of the things that was written. Mainly with Abra. Abra, Tim's wife, died from cancer and the author kept referring to her and her past with Eve, but I had no idea what that past was in the first part of the book and frankly I found it irritating that something I didn't know anything about kept being referred to.
I also didn't care much for Joel, Shani's husband. I did however like how the author featured two different families from two very different worlds and the friendship that formed between them. I also enjoyed reading about the Amish children and how they interacted with an English friend. I loved Eve and Charlie and would of loved if the book would of stayed focused more on them.
It seemed like so much of it was drawn out. Every little detail was written about an event and for me, it seemed to take away from the event itself. The book could of been a whole lot shorter if it was not so drawn out in this manner and I possible could of enjoyed it more.
I'd have to give this book 3 out of 5 stars and I'm not really sure if I will be continuing on with this series or not. I guess that will depend on what else I am reading at the time.
***This book was provided to me by Bethany House Publishing as a part of their blog review program in exchange for my honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment