Book Review and Giveaway: A Son’s Vow (The Charmed Amish Life #1) by Shelley Shepard Grey
Title: A SON’S VOW
Series: The Charmed Amish Life #1
Author: Shelley Shepard Gray
Release Date: Releasing on January 26, 2016.
Publisher: Avon Inspire
Blurb:
Shelley Shepard Gray’s first book in her Charmed Amish Life series is set in the quaint Amish village of Charm, Ohio, and tells the stories of the Kinsinger siblings who are each struggling to find both forgiveness and love in the face of tragedy.
Three months ago, everything changed for Darla Kurtz and her family. Darla’s father was responsible for a terrible fire at Charm’s lumber mill which killed five Amish men. And though he, too, lost his life, the town of Charm hasn’t looked at her family the same since. Even Lukas Kinsinger—with whom Darla used to have a close friendship.
Now her brother’s anger at the town is spilling over onto Darla, and she has the bruises to prove it. The accident already cost five lives, but if something doesn’t change soon, Darla fears it will cost her—and her family—even more.
Lukas Kinsinger wants to mourn the loss of his father, but he can hardly find the time to breathe. Suddenly the head of his father’s lumber mill and responsible for taking care of his three siblings, he’s feeling the pressure. He has also never felt more alone—especially with the new tension between he and Darla. But when he learns of her troubles at home, Lukas knows he can’t simply stand by and watch. Someone has to help her before another tragedy occurs.
As Lukas and Darla attempt to repair their families, they discover something deeper than friendship growing between them. But will Lukas and Darla’s love be accepted after so much loss? Or will the pain of the past overcome any chance of future happiness?
Book Review
A Son’s Vow is the first book in The Charmed Amish Life series by Shelley Shepard Grey and also the first book by this author that I have read. I got attracted towards this book because of its intriguing blurb which had me wanting to pick up the book to read!
The cover is okay. It could have been more interesting. The title is again intriguing and sure to attract a reader’s attention.
This book is not just a simple Amish romance but a story about two families struggling after a tragedy and the romance that has the power to either make or break them. I have read a few books based on Amish culture and there life is so different from mine that it is always interesting to read stories featuring this simple and down-to-earth community.
I enjoyed reading this very inspiring story that teaches us to be strong no matter how bad the circumstances and the power of true love that teaches one to be ready to wait and be patient even if it means waiting for a lifetime and sacrificing your own happiness just for your partner’s happiness. Forgiveness is the theme of the story and it tackles with some serious issues like domestic abuse and societal abuse but everything is handled very tactfully by the author.
I enjoyed Shelley’s writing style and her world building where she brings to us a small, close knit Amish community that had lived in harmony and which goes against one family based on hearsay following a tragedy. The contrast of society’s dual face is frankly brought to us by the author.
The characters are well fleshed out and seem real. Darla is a strong character who is bravely facing the fire both at home and outside and trying her best to keep her family together. While I applauded her determination and the sacrifices she made, sometimes her easy compliance to everything felt over done and I desperately wanted to shake some sense and spine into her.
Lukas is a honest and good man. I loved his attempts at trying to win Darla’s friendship again and his attempts at helping her but still I felt more could have been done to bring out more effect into their love story and the struggles they faced. There was so much scope to make it intense and more engaging.
The Kurtz and Kingsinger families are a varied bunch and I enjoyed meeting them and hope to read their own stories in the successive books in this series.
All in all, A Son’s Vow is an engaging, clean family story that has heartfelt emotions, real world struggles and a quiet but realistic romance. I enjoyed reading the book and give it 4 out of 5 stars. Recommended to everyone, I hope to read more from the author in the future.
I received the book from the publishers and the tour organizers via Edelweiss and I am very thankful to them. The above review is my honest and unbiased opinion and in no way influenced.
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Giveaway
Enter to Win a Print Set of
The Amish Brides of Pinecraft Series (Bks 1-4)
Meet the Author
Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and
USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction
Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Hold Medallion winner. She
lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can
often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.
USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction
Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Hold Medallion winner. She
lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can
often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.
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