About the Book
Book Title: Priscilla’s Escape
Author: Diane Craver
Genre: Amish Romance, Contemporary
Release date: March 23, 2018
When faith and freedom collide, mistakes made in the past may decide the future.
Twenty-year-old Priscilla King is unsure about joining the Amish Church and wants to use her rumspringa freedom to paint beach landscapes. She’s been offered a two-month-long nanny position in Siesta Key, Florida by an author on a tight writing deadline. The opportunities presented are more than a little tempting for Priscilla, even if it means disappointing her parents and leaving her new boyfriend.
Stephen Hertzler grew up in an Amish family, but, like Priscilla, he’s undecided about joining the church. He loves Priscilla and wants to marry her, though he knows she’s not ready to decide about anything other than her summer plans. His biggest worry is that she’ll meet someone else in Florida and forget him.
When Priscilla’s parents sabotage her part-time job at a local fabric store to dissuade her from following a “worldly lifestyle” in taking the nanny position in Florida, Priscilla is distraught. She knows she would regret not taking this chance. Leaving a note, she sneaks out in disobedience of her parents’ wishes.
Free to paint, dreams she’s never fully envisioned before seem within reach…but at what price?
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My Perspective
Priscilla King is not your average Amish girl, and I think that is what I enjoyed most from this story. Anyone who has read Amish fiction, or know about Amish communities knows how strict the rules can be. Here is a girl who loves to paint, and truly believe it is a God given talent, which I totally agree with. So what we see in this story is the difficulty one faces when trying to do what the Lord wants us to do, even when our family is against it. At the same time you have a story about trusting the Lord with your future. Stephen was so worried about losing Priscilla once she went to Florida, that he at times forgot to take a moment and see what the Lord had for Him. And isn’t this something we’ve all done a time or two in our lives? I found both characters to be easy to relate to.
What I didn’t expect to see was a Jewish character. That was a nice twist for me, and I enjoyed seeing Priscilla’s interactions with this character. This character to had to follow his/her heart, and follow the Lord’s leading rather then what was expected from his/her family. Craver does a wonderful job of weaving similar themes throughout all the characters in the book, and leaves you contemplating how you would handle the situations. Priscilla’s Escape has romance, mystery, family, faith, and art. It is a book that even non Amish-fiction fans will enjoy. Although it is book three in a series, I do not feel it is necessary to read the first two in order to read this installment. I would, however, recommend reading them, as Craver is a wonderful author that I will be reading for a long time!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
About the Author
Diane grew up on a farm outside Findlay, Ohio, and she often acted out characters from her own stories in the backyard. In high school Diane would read during classes and hide a novel in front of her in a propped-up textbook. After her high school graduation, she attended Ohio State University. Then Diane became a schoolteacher and play director. She met her husband while teaching at an orphanage, and they married three years later. It took her that long to convince him she was the one for him! While raising their family in southwestern Ohio, Diane started writing nonfiction and was published. Later she decided it would be a nice escape to write fiction. Diane was blessed with five daughters and one son. Two daughters were born with Down syndrome and live with Diane and her husband. Their other children live close by in Ohio so that’s wonderful. They also have four precious grandchildren. Diane published through a variety of houses. Several years ago, she decided to self-publish her books, so requested the rights back to her previously published stories. From the beginning, she enjoyed self-publishing her Amish romances. Diane gives thanks to God daily for her many blessings.
Guest Post from Diane
Hello, Reader Friends,
Priscilla’s Escape is Book 3 in The Bishop’s Daughters Series. This story features Priscilla King, and she is the fourth child born to Amos and Lillian King. You may remember meeting Priscilla in my Dreams of Plain Daughters Series. After I finished writing this series, I decided to continue to write about the Amish and English characters living in Fields Corner, Ohio. They became family and real to me.
The King family have six children with only one son. That is like our Craver family because we have five daughters and one son. Through the years, our family has faced certain challenges with two daughters being born with Down syndrome. Although Priscilla doesn’t have any siblings with special needs, she feels overlooked in her family. It’s like she’s invisible to her parents, especially to her father. He doesn’t understand her passion for painting but favors Molly’s talent for quilting. Everyone needs a cheerleader in their corner at times, and Priscilla is no different. Fortunately, her new boyfriend, Stephen, listens to her dream to paint beach pictures. He even understands her desire to wait to join the church.
All families suffer some type of hardships. It does seem like some more than others. A family’s faith in God gives them hope in their daily lives. Whatever the level of the pain, staying close to God and listening to his voice, gives us the strength to survive. The King family have their share of tragedies, but their faith reminds steadfast. When Priscilla leaves their close-knit unit, they all reach out to her by letter and phone calls. Her siblings even tell their father that he needs to share his secret with Priscilla.
I hope you will enjoy reading Priscilla’s Escape. There is a lot happening in the King family, so you can catch up with your favorite romantic couples in this novel. If you love going to the beach as much as I do, I think you’ll love reading about Priscilla’s beach experiences – some are good, and others are not.
Blog Stops
The Becca Files, September 22
The Avid Reader, September 22
Vicky Sluiter, September 23
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 23
D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, September 24
Mary Hake, September 24
God’s Little Bookworm, September 25
Splashes of Joy, September 25
Because I said so – adventures in Parenting, September 26
Inklings and notions, September 26
Maureen’s Musings, September 27
Luv’N Lambert Life, September 27
KarenSueHadley, September 28
Quiet Quilter, September 29
proud to be an autism mom, September 29
Bibliophile Reviews, September 30
Not Enough Time for Books, October 1
Carpe Diem, October 1
Blogging With Carol, October 2
A Baker’s Perspective, October 2
Texas Book-aholic, October 3
Janices book reviews, October 4
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 5
Bigreadersite, October 5
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Diane is giving a grand prize that includes a $25 Amazon Gift Card & The Bishop’s Daughters: A Three Book Collection – Amish Baby Snatched, A Plain Widow, and Priscilla’s Escape (paperback or eBook)!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d35a/priscilla-s-escape-celebration-tour-giveaway
Jessica,
Thank you for having me here on your terrific blog! I love your review for my book. I’m glad you mentioned the Jewish character, Mitch, in Priscilla’s Escape. I enjoyed writing about the interactions between Mitch and Priscilla. I’m off to post your blog on my groups. Thanks again!
Thank you for your review on ” Priscilla’s Escape” by Diane Craver and for being part of the book tour.
Very pretty book cover! Love Amish stories and this author’s books. I’m waiting with great anticipation for the opportunity to read this book which is on my TBR list.
Hi Kay,
Thank you for stopping by on Jessica’s blog! I love the cover and Melody Simmons is the cover designer. I appreciate you taking the time to comment and to mention looking forward to reading Priscilla’s Escape. I hope you get the opportunity soon. 🙂
Pricillas Escape was a really good book..
It was the first book of Diane’s that I’ve read and I’m sure I’ll be reading more before long.
This is an awesome giveaway. Thanks for the opportunity to enter.
Hi Kim,
Thank you for reading Priscilla’s Escape and I’m glad you liked it. I appreciate you stopping by here and taking time to comment.
New author for me exciting.
Hi Kim,
Thank you for visiting here! I’m glad you learned about my book, Priscilla’s Escape. I hope you get a chance to read it.
I love reading Amish fiction and Priscilla’s story sounds like one I would enjoy.
Merry,
I’m glad you stopped by Jessica’s blog. I hope you get a chance to read Priscilla’s Escape. I love writing Amish fiction. Thank you for commenting!
Sounds like a wonderful series. I look forward to reading it. Thank you for sharing about Priscilla’s Escape.
Hi Anne,
I’m glad you stopped by here! I hope you get to read Priscilla’s Escape. Part of the story takes place in Fields Corner, the same location for my Dreams of Plain Daughters Series. I think you read JUDITH’S PLACE from this series. Thanks for commenting.
This sounds like an interesting story!
Hi Emma,
Thanks for your comment. I hope you get an opportunity to read Priscilla’s Escape. I loved writing about Priscilla, her family, and her boyfriend.
I so want to read this.
Hi Lucy,
Thank you for your interest in Priscilla’s Escape! I hope you get a chance to read it. I am giving away a paperback of it in November to a newsletter subscriber.