Her Amish Springtime Miracle (Hope's Haven Book 2) by Winnie Griggs

Book Details:

Title:  Her Amish Springtime Miracle

Series:  Hope's Haven Book 2

Author:  Winnie Griggs

Publisher:  Forever

Pages:  353

Release Date:  May 24, 2022 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Description:

In this delightful and heartwarming novel, an orphaned baby brings together an unlikely couple who learn the true meaning of family.

When Hannah Eicher discovered sweet baby Grace in her barn last spring, the adorable infant seemed like the answer to her prayers. The young Amish baker has always wanted a familye of her own and now that she’s fostered Grace for nearly a year, her adoption application is almost certain to be approved. But an unexpected visitor to Hope’s Haven could change everything…

Englischer paramedic Mike Colder is only returning to his childhood hometown to locate and adopt his late sister’s baby. But when the trail leads to Hannah and Grace, Mike’s determination falters. With Hannah, the simple life he left behind suddenly seems appealing. Despite their wildly different worlds, can Mike and Hannah give each other—and Grace—the greatest gift of all: a life together?

About the Author:  Winnie Griggs

Winnie Griggs grew up in south Louisiana in an undeveloped area her schoolmates considered the very back of beyond. With her two younger siblings and another family of three siblings for playmates, she spent many an hour exploring the overgrown land around her home, cutting jungle trails, building forts and frontier camps, and looking for pirate ships on the nearby bayou.

Once she 'grew up' she found other outlets for dealing with all those wonderful, adventurous, imaginary friends by filling notebooks with their stories. And somewhere along the way, those scribblings gave way to full length books.

Eventually she found her own Prince Charming, a rancher whose white steed takes the form of a tractor and whose kingdom is situated in a small rural community that she loves to call home, and together they've built their own storybook happily-ever-after. Their lives together expanded to include four now grown children who share Winnie's vivid imagination and her husband's steadier influences and are now out in the world pursuing their own adventures.

You can learn more about Winnie and her books, past and future, at www.winniegriggs.com

My Thoughts: A Charming and Enjoyable Read

This was such a charming and enjoyable read. The way the story evolved had me completely connecting with the characters, especially Hannah. The way God answered her prayer in the form of baby Grace and Hannah's love for her was so endearing. Author Winnie Griggs did a wonderful job of developing the characters and the relationships. It had me on an emotional roller coaster when one minute I'd feel Mike's frustrations and heartache while the in the next minute his ways had me frustrated to no end.

What made the story so charming and endearing was how love and commitment, as well as faith and trust in God prevailed over all of the situations that Hannah and Mike were faced with. It is definitely well worth the read.

**I received a complimentary copy of the book via NetGalley. All opinions and comments are completely my own.

The Sweet Life (Cape Cod Creamery Book #1) by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 Book Details:

Title:  The Sweet Life

Series:  Cape Cod Creamery Book 1

Author:  Suzanne Woods Fisher

Publisher:  Revell

Pages:  312

Release Date:  May 3, 2022 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Description:

Dawn Dixon can hardly believe she's on a groomless honeymoon on beautiful Cape Cod . . . with her mother. Sure, Marnie Dixon is good company, but Dawn was supposed to be here with Kevin, the love of her life (or so she thought).

Marnie Dixon needs some time away from the absolute realness of life as much as her jilted daughter does, and she's not about to let her only child suffer alone--even if Marnie herself had been doing precisely that for the past month.

Given the circumstances, maybe it was inevitable that Marnie would do something as rash as buy a run-down ice-cream shop in the town's tightly regulated historic district. After all, everything's better with ice cream.

Her exasperated daughter knows that she's the one who will have to clean up this mess. Even when her mother's impulsive real estate purchase brings Kevin back into her life, Dawn doesn't get her hopes up. Everyone knows that broken romances stay broken . . . don't they?

Welcome to a summer of sweet surprises on Cape Cod--a place where dreams just might come true.

About the Author:  Suzanne Woods Fisher

Suzanne Woods Fisher loves stories worth telling about people worth remembering. With over a million copies of her book sold worldwide, this bestselling, award-winning author of more than 30 books is always on the lookout for the unsung hero with an untold story.

Readers are invited to stop by Suzanne's website at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

My Thoughts:  A Sweet Story

Dawn Dixon is a planner.  Her favorite quote is, "I adore spontaneity, providing it is carefully planned." She thought she knew what lay ahead in her well planned life. However, it all fell apart when her fiancé, Kevin Collins, called off their engagement. Now she's heading to her would be honeymoon spot in Cape Cod with her mother, Marnie, instead of Kevin.  

Dawn and Marnie are like night and day. While Dawn is a planner, Marnie is a spontaneous risk taker.  Unfortunately she doesn't look ahead to the big picture of her risk taking and spontaneous decisions. Consequently, she often ends up overwhelmed with her spontaneous decisions, the latest one being to open an ice cream shop in Cape Cod. 

The Sweet Life is a very sweet (pun intended) story. It is a story of self-reflection, healing, love, and faith. Some of the healing and self-reflection occurred between Dawn and Marnie, and some occurred between Dawn and Kevin. In each relationship, both parties went through a lot of self-reflection that resulted in a new understanding of themselves as well as a new understanding of the other person.  Watching Dawn, Marnie and Kevin going through this process had me reflecting as well.  It brought to mind that while we see things from our perspective and point of view, we need to also see it from the other person's perspective. Doing so will help us gain a better understanding of ourselves and them, which can bring our relationships to another level. Such was the case with Dawn, Marnie and Kevin, and watching them go through this process is what made this a wonderful and sweet story that I highly recommend. 

****I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Love in Plain Sight (An Amish Mail-Order Bride Novel Book 3) by Kathleen Fuller

Book Details:

Title:  Love in Plain Sight

Series:  An Amish Mail-Order Bride Novel Book 3

Author:  Kathleen Fuller

Publisher:  Zondervan

Pages:  320

Release Date:  May 3, 2022 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Description:

In the town of Birch Creek where the only danger is getting swept off your feet, Katharine Miller hides the secrets of her past . . . until she meets Ezra Bontrager and is forced to face the greatest risk of all—opening her heart to true love.

After fleeing her hometown, Katharine finds peace and anonymity while working at Stoll’s Inn and keeping to herself. As long as her guard is up, she can protect herself and others from her past, with the hope that one day her family will forgive her for leaving.

Ezra Bontrager has never shared a love of farming with his brothers and father, and when he takes a job at Stoll’s Inn, he quickly finds even more reason to come to work every day. Although he has no intention of marrying anytime soon, Ezra can’t help but want to learn more about the quiet and mysterious newcomer who doesn’t appear to have come to Birch Creek looking for a husband, as so many have done after the want ad that advertised Birch Creek’s many bachelors.

As Katharine and Ezra continue to cross paths, Katharine feels her defenses lower, and Ezra no longer scoffs at the idea of marriage. Just as they start to hope for the future, the past comes roaring back—not just for Katharine and Ezra but for the entire community of Birch Creek. Confronting that past won’t be easy, but it brings the opportunity for love and grace to abound.

About the Author:  Kathleen Fuller

With over a million copies sold, Kathleen Fuller is the USA TODAY bestselling author of several bestselling novels, including the Hearts of Middlefield novels, the Middlefield Family novels, the Amish of Birch Creek series, and the Amish Letters series as well as a middle-grade Amish series, the Mysteries of Middlefield. Visit her online at https://kathleenfuller.com/; 

Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/kf_booksandhooks/; 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriterKathleenFuller; 

My Thoughts:  Loved It!

Love in Plain Sight takes us once again to Birch Creek, an Amish community with the dilemma of too many bachelors and not enough wife candidates. It's also where someone has taken the issue into their own hands by sending out an advertisement in search of young women looking for husbands.  The advertisement has been working just fine so far. However, when Katharine Miller arrives in Birch Creek, although others think she's on a husband search, that is actually the furthest thing from her mind.  All she wants is peace and quiet and to be left alone which just might be a bit of a challenge if Ezra Bontrager has anything to say about it.

Ezra is just like Katharine in his thoughts about marriage.  Unfortunately that idea is bit of a challenge with the single women, one in particular, that are greatly interested in having him take the marriage plunge.  However, Ezra also just wants to be left alone. That is all good and well until he realizes that Katharine is one single woman that has absolutely no interest in him. Although that should make him happy, it actually piques his interest to where he finds himself wanting to spend more time with her. 

I was captivated from the very start of the story and absolutely loved it! Katherine Fuller has done a fantastic job of weaving some very sensitive topics into the story. She did so in a way that made me vividly see things through the characters' eyes and feel what the characters were feeling. My heart went out to Katharine, and I loved how she grew and was able to move forward with God's help and the love of those around her. As for Ezra, it was such a joy to watch him and his determination of trying to get to know Katherine better and figure her out.  I loved watching their relationship evolve from strangers, to friends, and how it developed into such a special bond between them. Seeing how some well-meaning matchmakers threw in a helping hand to make it happen had me smiling more than once.

Katharine and Ezra's story is a very beautiful one. It is a combination of romance, humor, faith, forgiveness, trust, God's will, and overcoming the past. All of these characteristics made this a truly inspirational story that I highly recommend.

****I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.