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About the Book
Gregarious Rose Lehman, who’s always the life of the Amish youth singings, is determined to marry the bishop’s son, Reuben Byler–until the handsome Army buddy of her future brother-in-law shows up in Lancaster County. In comparison to Trevor, Reuben seems downright boring. Trevor shares Rose’s sense of fun and adventure, and her easygoing disposition.
When her sister Lila’s buggy is rear-ended and Lila is horribly injured, Rose finds herself with more freedom than she’s ever experienced. Everyone is so concerned about Lila that no one realizes Rose is sneaking out with Trevor. Except for Reuben. But in his usual passive way, he doesn’t confront her, nor does he address the situation with her Dat or anyone else in the district. Rose appreciates Reuben’s discretion, but she also resents it. Part of her relishes the freedom she’s found with Trevor, but the other part of her wishes Reuben would “fight” for her, as much as any Amish man would. Too late, she realizes the foolish choice she’s made. Has she ruined her best chance at love, or is there another path to happiness she just hasn’t seen yet?
My Perspective
Overall I enjoyed reading this novel. If you are a fan of Amish fiction I think that you will too. It has your typical Amish feel with a few extras that will remind you that Amish people are only human. They make mistakes too!
I was a little disappointed in the way Rueben’s character acted. I felt he could have done more to show Rose that he really did love her. It was like he was just there and did not contribute a lot through the first three quarters of the book. Near the end I did warm up to his character and was happy he did what he did. I was just sorry it took so long for me to like him.
The character that struck me the most was Lila. After she had her accident I thought she was a little whiny. Luckily that didn’t last long and I started to have compassion for her. She had been dealing with so much, in true Amish fashion with the help of her community. The relationship between her and Zane was spot on. It was so obvious they loved each other and my original distrust of Zane disappeared pretty quickly. I enjoyed learning about their history, especially Zane’s military background. Who would of thought a military Englischer would want to become Amish! I thought this provided a fresh and surprising storyline.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.