The Beloved Hope Chest

"Her hope chest had held not only memories full of pain all these years, but memories full of love she would always cherish. Today her heart was filled to the brim with hope."

In Amy Clipston's latest novel, The Beloved Hope Chest, which is book 4 from the Amish Heirloom series, Martha Jane (Mattie) Petersheim/Fisher takes the time to share with her three daughters, Emily, Rachel and Veronica, about the items found in her beloved hope chest. It conveys the life story of Mattie and her first love Isaiah Petersheim who was the love of Mattie's life. She had hoped to begin a new family with him and looked forward to the birth of their first child, but an unexpected tragedy broke those plans for Mattie forever when Isaiah was killed. This is something that Mattie's daughters never knew about their mother, but it would be the one thing that would unite them all in new ways as each of her daughters could now look back and see how these very events showed them that she understood each of the paths her own daughters lives have taken.

It is also the love story of the father that they always loved, Leroy Fisher and how Mattie and Leroy grew up first as childhood friends and the closest anyone could be with one another without marriage. In fact looking back on these events in her life, Mattie didn't realize all the ways Leroy had tried to convey his feelings for Mattie that went beyond friendship and he had hopes that he might win her heart. But when she married Isaiah, all Leroy could do was remain her best friend. When Isaiah died, the last thing he wanted to do was cause more pain for Mattie, but seeing as she was pregnant with Isaiah's child, he didn't want her to go through any more pain in her life alone, so he offered to marry her with hopes that one day she might love him the way he has always loved her. But even with the best intentions, things didn't work out quite like he had hoped and it would take letting her go, to cause her to see that he really did love her after all, despite everything she had gone through in her life and most of all that he would ALWAYS be there for her and love her with all of his heart.

I received The Beloved Hope Chest by Amy Clipston compliments of Zondervan Publishers and Net Galley. In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise. Sometimes I believe the greatest stories are the ones that our parents have, how they meet one another, the struggles they had to endure and the memories that they treasure. In this novel, Mattie gets to share that personal part of two very special loves in her life and how they not only defined who she is as a wife and mother, but also allow her to share those experiences with her daughters that God can take the pain in our lives and cause something good to come from them. Often times when we least expect it. The theme in this novel is what love, unconditional love and faith and hope truly mean. Our hearts can break but in time, they will heal and we will move forward again. I give this one a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion. There is also Discussion Questions included which makes for an excellent selection for book clubs.

For more information about The Beloved Hope Chest, Amy Clipston or where you can pre-order a copy of this novel today due out in early May of 2017, please click on the links below:

The Beloved Hope Chest by Amy Clipston

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To read more reviews on The Beloved Hope Chest, please visit Zondervan Publisher's website.