Minding Molly by Leslie Gould

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Leslie Gould is another one of my favorite writers. True, I used to be one of those people who never read Amish stories, but I love hers.

Minding Molly is the third in the Courtships of Lancaster County series, and I recommend you read the entire series. Each has an imperfect heroine with a lesson to learn. You might have certain ideas about the Amish, but Leslie's depiction makes them so easy to relate to. Oftentimes, we seem to have this idea that the Amish life is super simple, but this book will change your mind. They are normal people, same as us. I'd love to visit an Amish community now. And go camping.

 

Molly, the book's heroine, has a control problem. She bosses others around because she believes they need her direction to do things the right way. This is a problem that many women--and men, I'm sure--deal with.

Molly's sister, Beatrice, was hilarious, and I'm looking forward to her having her own story, Becoming Bea, soon.

I did not know how this book would end. There were plenty of obstacles in the heroine's way of finding love, and I wondered if she would truly have her happy ending. Of course, I won't spoil the ending, but you won't be disappointed. :-)

Are you a fan of Amish fiction? If you are or even if you aren't, I recommend you give Leslie's stories a try. She bases each one of her novels on one of Shakespeare's plays. Minding Molly is based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, a play I've never read. Maybe now I will.

 

So, head over to Amazon and start enjoying Leslie Gould's latest.

I highly recommend it!

 

 

From the Back Cover

 

 Molly Zook's always liked being in control, so she's struggling with her mother's wish that, to save the family farm, she marry Mervin Mosier. Especially after Molly meets Leon Fisher. He's from Montana but is training horses at a nearby ranch. He's tall and muscular and confident--Molly has never met anyone like him and she's sure he feels the same about her.

 

  Determined to let nothing get between them, Molly tries to coax Mervin into falling back in love with Molly's best friend Hannah. A weekend camping trip in the Poconos could be just the place...but things quickly go awry, and it seems Leon and Hannah might be falling for each other instead! Will Molly keep struggling to control everyone and everything around her? Or will she learn to let God handle the twists and turns of her life?

 

*I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould

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Leslie Gould is a new favorite author of mine, and Adoring Addie is the second book in her Courtships of Lancaster County series which I'm loving.

I seem to remember saying awhile back that I was not a fan of Amish fiction, but that has changed. Now it seems to be a running joke with everyone who knows me--I love Amish/Mennonite stories. (Not all of them, mind you. A story has to be well-written, no matter the genre.)

So Adoring Addie is all things that I enjoy: Amish, interesting cover (I barely even mind the people's faces being shown), well-written, and a purposeful story. It could be described as a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but I believe it is better because 1) I always did have trouble understanding what on earth Shakespeare was trying to say, 2) I could relate to it, and 3) SPOILER! It had a happy ending.

If you enjoy the Amish genre...or even if you don't think you do...try this book.

It's one of those I will reread.

Backcover Blurb:

Not since Romeo and Juliet has a couple faced odds this long. The Cramers and Mosiers have been angry with each other for as long as anyone can remember. Things had cooled to a simmer...until Addie Cramer and Jonathan Mosier fell head over heels for each other. Now old tensions are renewed, and Addie's parents insist she marry stolid and uninspiring Phillip Eicher.

Distraught at a future apart, the two decide their best hope is to reconcile the two families...but that means digging into the past to see what tore them apart. Will their love be enough to keep them together or will long-held secrets ruin their chance at happiness?

*I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Courting Cate by Leslie Gould

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I LOVED this book! And I'm not even normally a fan of this genre or Shakespeare.

Leslie Gould based her story off of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, but that was a chore for me to read in college and this book most definitely was not!

Cate isn't your typical heroine in women's fiction. She isn't a giggly, man-obsessed, super-shopper that is cute for a time but leaves no lasting impression. No, Cate is a woman who struggles with her attitude and dealing with the expectations of others. I could relate so much with her.

But Cate isn't unlikeable -- she just has many layers to her character. I wanted to cry when she was hurt. I was angry when she was angry. I felt her emotions and wanted justice for her. I'd love to read more stories with women like her.

And Pete -- wow! I don't want to give anything away, but his dealings with Cate were so much fun to read. He also has multiple dimensions to his character.

Even though I knew how Shakespeare's play ended, this story was not in the least boring. It was full of intrigue and will keep you wondering what exactly is going on...

Read it! I know you'll love it!

*I received this book free from the publisher. This review is my honest opinion.

Almost Amish by Kathryn Cushman

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I started this book blind, never having read anything by Kathryn Cushman. It was a random selection from a list Bethany House e-mailed me for a chance to review. Honestly, I wasn't excited about this one--a typical Amish story, I suspected. Not my normal genre.

You have my permission to call me wrong.

Life is fast, stressful, and lacking meaning for Julie Charlton. Two kids and a husband who keep her driving around for different activities so much that she comes to the point where she realizes she hates her life.

Then comes the opportunity to be part of a television segment with her kids, their cousin, and her sister-in-law. Sounds fun, right? Add in the fact they're going to be living like the Amish, and you've got an orginal story that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it.

The teens are hilarious. The setting makes you want to drive to the middle of nowhere and camp out for a few days.

I think we could all be closer to God if we would just get away from the world's distractions, like the characters try to do in this book. I heard a preacher say one time that when he was young, after he heard a sermon, he had nothing to do when he got home from church but think about that sermon. Now, everyone has cell phones and iPads and TVs to drown out the Holy Spirit.

Almost Amish offers important lessons we ought to learn--no matter how much we try to succeed in life, only what is done for Christ will last.