An Amish Homecoming

Four brand new Amish stories of coming home.

No Place Like Home by Amy Clipston

Estranged daughter Eva Dienner has been staying with her in-laws since her husband was killed in a fire, but now she wants her son to meet his maternal grandparents. Upon her return, Eva finds that the man her parents always intended for her is living in their daadihaus and running the dairy farm for them for free, despite her suspicions of him taking advantage of her family. Eva knows she should put the past behind her, but is she ready to move into the future?

When Love Returns by Beth Wiseman

Hurricane Harvey forces Sarah Zook to return to the home she fled six years ago when she couldn’t face her stern parents’ reaction to her unplanned pregnancy. Upon her return, Abram King can think of nothing but the pain she caused him—until he meets Sarah’s daughter and realizes that he never really stopped loving Sarah. Sarah and Abram must find a way to face the truth of their past so they can rekindle their first love.

The Courage to Love by Shelley Shepard Gray

After the death of her Englisch husband, Irene Keim seeks a fresh start by staying with her new friends Mary Ruth and Henry Wengerd in exchange for helping them around the house. But when Mary Ruth and Henry’s son Marcus comes around, he isn’t pleased with the woman they’ve taken in and is determined to push her out. Misunderstandings abound, but both Irene and Marcus learn that people aren’t always what they seem.

What Love Built by Kathleen Fuller

Independent and headstrong, Carolyn is determined to forge ahead with the opening of her bakery, a lifelong dream, in the Birch Creek home she left ten years ago. But she’s in over her head and needs help with the cleaning, shopping, and deliveries. Carpenter Atlee Shetler is visiting Birch Creek to escape the memories of his late wife. He takes a job renovating the new bakery and finds the project—and its owner—to be much more than he bargained for. Both Carolyn and Atlee must face pains of the past if they want to have the bright future God has planned for them.

My Review:

My initial thoughts about this book was a bit reluctant to dig into it, with it being 4 stories in one, and thinking it was a reprint of older material. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was completely wrong and I got so engrossed in this book that I read it in almost as many sitting as there were stories! Each author brought her own flair to her story, with engaging dialogue, a peek into Amish life, and not a single moment of boredom. The one aspect that I really appreciated was the fact that this was not a traditional "Amish" read. These stories were fresh, exciting, and appealed to my Englisch ways. 

These stories were written by four of my favorite authors of the genre, with a very Prodigal son like feel. They were coming home stories that made me think about how hard it must really be to life that lifestyle, to have that faith, and then to face adversity despite their Godly living. It really made me realize that they are people, just like us, with the same struggles and trials. And that made them very relatable and as real as the people we surround ourselves with. 

This book was provided by the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review.