Imposter - A Review

Published - October 2015, Revell Books
Series - The Bishop's Family Book 1
Author - Suzanne Woods Fisher
Title - The Imposter
Format - ebook, paper
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About the book (from Amazon):
Katrina Stoltzfus thought she had life and love all figured out: she was going to marry John and live happily ever after. Those plans started to crumble when her father moved the family to Stoney Ridge, then completely collapsed when John decided to marry someone else. Katrina is devastated. How could she have felt so loved, yet been so deceived?

As she struggles to face a future without him, a widow asks for her help to start a new business and Katrina quickly agrees. She needs time to heal her broken heart, to untangle her messy life, to find a purpose. What she doesn't need is attention from Andy Miller, a farm hand who arrives at the widow's farm just when help is most needed--and who always seems to say the right thing, and be in the right place, at the right time. Is Andy
for real, or too good to be true? Deceived once before, Katrina is determined to keep her feelings in check. 

When a cascade of events is set in motion by some surprising information, the little Amish church is turned upside down. Soon, everyone has a stake in the outcome, and the community struggles to find the best response to an imposter in their midst. Can they forgive even the most deceitful deeds?

My thoughts or rather my coworker, Bonnie's thoughts:
Dawn here: Every once in a while I'll accidentally request a book that I didn't want to review. That's what happened here. Amish fiction is not one of the genres I enjoy reading, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to give an honest review. So I asked one of my co-workers, Bonnie, if she'd like to read the book and review it for me this month. You see, Amish fiction is a genre that she enjoys. She was happy to do so, and asked me when the review had to be posted by. I told her the end of October. What follows is her review of the book. The thoughts and opinions expresses are that of Bonnie and not me. I did receive the book for free from Revell Books for the purpose of reviewing. In order to provide a truly honest review, I passed the book along to Bonnie.

Widowed David Stolfus feels that he has come to the Garden of Eden as a minister in Stoney Ridge, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Amish community. He is fulfilling his calling as a minister and running a little store. Little does he realize that things are not well in the garden. For one thing, the new bishop, Freeman Glick, enjoys power too much. Freeman and his brother, Levi use their influence to intimidate the members of the church. When David resists, Freeman tries to split the community. It does not help when David’s children have problems of their own that are embarrassing.

David’s oldest daughter, Katrina, is still struggling with the  loss of a relationship with a boy she knew before they moved. Jesse, David’s 16-year-old son is trying to find an interest while he deals with a desire for lots of money. Of course, his greed gets him into trouble. Ruthie, David’s 14-year-old daughter, is trying to protect her younger sisters, Molly, 11, and twins Lydie and Emily, 8. Molly struggles to learn to cook for the family.

Freeman and Levi’s sister, Birdy, has recently started teaching and has found her niche. Loving nature, especially birds, she is able to help the children appreciate God and His world. Molly finds Birdy a great deal of help in her endeavor to learn to cook properly.

Katrina finally finds that she loves helping Thelma, the widow of the last bishop, with her moss business.

The author, Suzanne Woods Fisher, paints such great descriptions of the characters, that they come to life from the pages. From the very beginning of the book, I felt a desire to keep reading to find out what happened to each character. The story has some unique twists that make is even more delightful.

Rating - 5 stars

Dawn here again: This book would be recommended to fans of Amish fiction, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beverly Lewis. 

No compensation was given for this review. It expresses the honest thoughts and opinions of Bonnie. 

When the Soul Mends - A Review

A message from her sister, Sarah, draws Hannah Lapp back to the Amish community that she fled in disgrace three years ago. As she gets pulled into her sister's problems, secrets come to light and answers are given. Hannah also finds herself being pulled towards her first love again. She's got a comfortable life outside of the Plain community with a family that loves her. Will she choose to stay in the Amish world or leave it all behind to continue to live as an Englischer?

This the third and final book to Cindy Woodsmall's Sister of the Quilt Series. It is the conclusion to Hannah's story. I've not read the other two books, but I didn't find that by not reading them, I couldn't follow the storyline. On the contrary, I was able to follow the story and even figure out what had happened in the previous two books. Forgiveness is something that Hannah struggles with. And I loved how the incidents from her past allowed her to actually forgive those who had wronged her. The characters are all very strong and while it's Hannah's story, it's not just about her. The plotlines of the secondary characters also followed the theme of forgiveness.

Overall, I'll give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah for the purpose of an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

Three years ago, Gideon Beiler broke Mattie Eash's heart when he ended their engagement. She left their small Amish community and moved to her brother's community where she started a successful cake making business and started to see someone new. When a devastating fire to her shop sends Mattie back home, she is forced to work closely with Gideon again. Gideon still loves her. Now she has to figure out exactly what she wants.

Having read a few Amish books in the past and found them terribly lacking, I typically stay away from Amish books. I've never given Cindy Woodsmall a chance due to my past experience with another author. This book pleasantly surprised me. It was a sweet story.

Mattie must learn to forgive Gideon for his past and attempt to work with him. She does that. But only after the man she's seeing visits and tells her what he sees. I loved Gideon. He kept doing little things to show Mattie how much he loved her. When they both are able to talk, Mattie's too scared to admit that she also still loves Gideon, but instead hides behind her current boyfriend as an excuse. What I loved about this is that she had to get to the point where she puts her fear aside and steps out on faith.

Overall, I'd give this book 4 out of 5 stars. The Amish genre still isn't my favorite, but I wouldn't mind reading more by Cindy Woodsmall.

I received this book for free as a part of Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books Program to review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.