Home All Along

Some people struggle their whole lives to find a place to call home, when in all actuality it was right in front of them the whole time. In Beth Wiseman's newest novel, Home All Along, the third in the Amish Secrets series, Charlotte Dolinsky is faced with more challenges then most. Being orphaned along with her brother Ethan, she has watched the family deteriorate around her. First her father died, then her brother, and while she struggled to maintain any sense of a relationship with her birth mother Janelle, she watched her slowly die while languishing away in a mental institution lost in her mind in a rage of madness. It would make one wonder, why she shed any tears at all at her mother's funeral. But perhaps deep inside she was mourning for a family most had and she didn't.

Even though her Amish family made her feel at home, they weren't her biological family. Daniel Byler is struggling himself with the feelings he has for Charlotte, an English woman who makes herself at home among the Amish, but still keeping a foot in the English world. He knows what implications will happen if he chooses to walk away from all he has known to follow his heart, but he is hoping that Charlotte might just want to walk away from the English world and join him. After all, it seems as if she is home already.

They didn't see all the changes coming for both of them. The new Bishop has warned Daniel that Charlotte must make a decision soon as many in the fold are beginning to question if the Bishop intends to allow them to continue as they have been, clearly having affections for one another but not equally yoked. Charlotte is introduced to a sister, Andrea, she never knew she had, when she turns up at her mother's funeral, only to remind her that she just needed to know who she was for medical issues. This makes Charlotte question what God has in mind with all this news on the same day she buries her mother. Can she find the right faith to hold onto her life and weather the storms that seem to be pressing on her at this time? Only time will tell.

I received Home All Along by Beth Wiseman compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishing and NetGalley. Oh how I have thoroughly enjoyed this entire series. It makes one realize that the Amish are just like the English in so many ways and have the same struggles we all do. The only difference is their ability to try and accept the things that happen as God's will, but it still doesn't mean it makes it easy for them to handle it well. So many other relationships are addressed as well in this novel with characters readers have met in the other novels. I especially LOVE the ideas that butterflies are rumored to be messages from heaven! I easily give this novel a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Home All Along, Beth Wiseman or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Home All Along by Beth Wiseman 

You can find Beth Wiseman on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Home All Along, please visit Thomas Nelson Publisher's website. 

Love Bears All Things

"Everything will be well in the end. If it's not well, it's not the end."

Such is Charlotte's motto for her life, however it seems like she doesn't take the advice to heart much. Trust seems to be something of a challenge for her, after suspecting that her boyfriend Ryan was seeing someone at work. When she got caught checking his text messages, he suggested that she see a counselor to work through her issues of trust. Not only that, but she still had memories of a girl in a purple dress and a woman in a green dress, that she couldn't remember much more than that. When she did see anyone resembling those two, she was left with anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her and convinced her that she needed to continue her treatments with her counselor.

However, she just isn't bouncing back as quickly as she had hoped. Her checks from the newspapers she edited for seemed to be delayed in coming when she needed the money the most and after three papers appeared taped to her front door, it was Ryan who told her she was being evicted. If only she can find a way to get her life back on track. After leaving Lancaster, Pennsylvania tracking down the reason her brother Ethan committed suicide and convincing the Amish living there that she was Mary Troyer, she didn't feel like she knew who she was anymore. Now with only less than 2 weeks left before she would be evicted she didn't know what she would do. Worse yet, Ryan dumped her.

Jacob shows up on her doorstep after running away from his Amish home, believing an English life is in his future. Unfortunately for Charlotte, he can't stand for long as she needs to move out. She does manage to convince him to call home and let his family know he is fine and where he is staying. Charlotte has made a friend with his sister, Hannah when she was in Lancaster before, and has promised she will do all she can to convince Jacob to return home. He left Annie Byler in the dark as to why he left and even worse, not knowing if they were to be married after all. She has a secret that only her older brother Daniel knows and it will be the one thing that will bring Jacob back home to marry her, but does she want to tell him the truth if he isn't ready to marry her on his own terms?

I received Love Bears All Things by Beth Wiseman compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers. This is the second novel in the Amish Secrets novel, with My Brother's Keeper being the first. I can't wait to see how this will all play out and once again found some interesting Amish story lines you don't often see in most Amish novels. In this case, the desire for Jacob to stay in the English world and give up his Amish roots leaving everything he loves behind, while believing a well-meaning, wealthy man in Pittsburgh has his best interests at heart when he gives him a fresh start at life. I love that Daniel and Charlotte, both whom have dealt with love that has left them broken, finally see something more in the relationship they have been developing while working through their own family issues and I have hope, that somehow they can make an Amish/English relationship work. For me, this one rates a 4.5 out of 5 stars and there is even discussion questions included at the conclusion of this novel that makes this a perfect fit for book clubs.

For more information about Love Bears All Things, Beth Wiseman or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Love Bears All Things by Beth Wiseman

You can find Beth Wiseman on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Love Bears All Things, please visit Thomas Nelson Publisher's website.