"Amish Promises"

Neighbors of Lancaster County #1

by Leslie Gould

#1 Bestselling Author Leslie Gould Delivers a New Amish Romance Series
5 Stars!

Journey Down a Quiet Lane in Lancaster County Where Love and Heartache and Friendship and Healing Meet

When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home, they’re looking for peace. Shani is thrilled to have Joel back from Iraq, but he needs time to heal, and the quiet of Lancaster seems just the place. They can’t imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son is involved in an accident that injures one of the Lehman boys.

Eve Lehman has run her brother’s household ever since the death of his wife, but Tim’s a stern patriarch. Despite his protests, she’s drawn to the new neighbor, Shani, and the two begin to form a strong friendship forged on faith and family. Things seem like they’ve quieted down until Joel’s single and handsome army friend Charlie catches Eve’s attention–a man unlike any Eve has ever met. Suddenly life for both families becomes more complicated than any of them could have ever imagined.

   

    

Biography

Leslie Gould is the award-winning author of fifteen novels, including the #1 bestseller The Amish Midwife (CBA and ECPA), co-written with Mindy Starns Clark. The novel, the first in The Women of Lancaster County series, was a 2012 Christy Award winner. The Amish Nannyand The Amish Bride, the second and third novels in the series, also hit the bestseller list.

One of Leslie’s stand-alone novels,Beyond the Blue, won of the Romantic Times Book Club Magazine’s Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Inspirational Novel in 2006.

Leslie received her master of fine arts in creative writing from Portland State University in 2009 and has taught fiction as an adjunct professor at Multnomah University. She also teaches workshops at public and private schools and at writers’ conferences.

A varied work history, from curating a historical museum to editing a bridal magazine, preceded her fiction-writing career. She is also an Army Reserve wife who has supported her husband, Peter, through many years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan as the commander of a field hospital. Leslie and her husband live in Oregon with their four children.

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My Thoughts ~

Amish Promises is a blending of extensive differences in lifestyle and beliefs. Joel, Shani and their son moved to Lancaster County seeking peace and healing after Joel was released from the military. He was seriously injured and traumatized while serving his country in Iraq. Their new neighbors are Amish, and as new neighbors the Becks and the Lehmans soon discover more differences than similarities in their lifestyles. A widower, Tim Lehman is the patriarch of his family, and rules with an iron hand. His sister, Eve, has looked after his children since their mother died, but soon Shani and Eve develop a friendship despite their cultural differences, and in spite of Tim's warnings against it. 

Diversity is the theme that is woven throughout this story of neighbors whose lifestyles are worlds apart. Realistic in detail, Leslie Gould has attempted to broach the distance between two very different ways of life through friendships regardless of differences, acceptance in spite of intolerance. The children are friends at once, interacting and begging for more time to spend together, accepting one another unconditionally.

The adults throughout this book discover that blending their lives is a bit more difficult, particularly when Eve meets Joel's best friend, Charlie. Since Charlie's family background is Mennonite, he has a firm understanding of Amish practices. Regardless of Tim's loud protests, Eve and Charlie's attraction is sweet and poignant and difficult to ignore. Throughout this book Tim is a bitter, unfriendly man, but Amish compassion calls him to rise to the occasion more than once, softening my heart toward him.

Through a series of trials, tragedies and differences of opinion and beliefs the author has meticulously interwoven the lives of the Becks and the Lehmans into an unforgettable story of accepting others despite their differences. I loved this story of vastly different characters and their discoveries about life, faith and acceptance. This is a book that will remain on my shelf for a second read!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.