Gathering the Threads

"His Mamm called her the Thread Gatherer. Mann believed life was like an heirloom quilt that life ripped at the seams, and gatherers were rare. But Ariana took the frayed pieces and worked with them until the quilt could fulfill its purpose once again. Quill had seen her do it. At least once she had done it for him, when he was eighteen and his Daed died of a heart attack."

Gathering the Threads by Cindy Woodsmall is the third book in the Amish of Summer Grove series, and for this reader, I hope there is more. The best part of this novel that I really had to share is that at the beginning the author took the time to walk the reader through the previous novels to get them caught up to where this one begins. It is a rare jewel to find this in a series novel, but one I hope more authors will follow suit with.Ties That Bind and Fraying at the Edge are the first two in this series and should be read before picking this one up as it conveys so much more than a simple summary of the first two novels.

Ariana Brenneman is far from the Amish girl that her community remembers anymore, especially her boyfriend Rudy. Even her parents are struggling to figure out just how to get back the Amish girl they have raised, but not the daughter by birth. It was through an accident at birth that Ariana and Skylar Nash were switched and both grew up being raised by parents that were not theirs until they recently discovered the grave error. Since spending months with her English family, Ariana has been exposed to things she never knew before living among the Amish and never once questioning the ways they lived and believed, until now. Being forced by the ministers, her parents and boyfriend, they believe such correction is necessary to help Ariana return to her former life. She can't.

The only people that seem to understand her confusion is her best friend Quill Schlabach, also a former Amish man, Skylar, and her brother by being raised Amish Abram. They understand her confusion about trying to fit back into a society just because that is how you were raised but now are longer the same being exposed to reading the Bible for herself and understanding how the ministers in her community were manipulating things to work for themselves and not the community. It draws a line in the sand between the Amish upbringing she loved, and the new knowledge of what God has provided. Her parents are now faced with the prospect of being shunned if they can't control her defiant daughter, and her boyfriend Rudy isn't so sure he can wait for a girl that may no longer be who she was. This will be a true test of loyalty, love and faith for everyone if they hope to find a lasting peace among them all.

I received Gathering the Threads by Cindy Woodsmall compliments of WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers. 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. I really love how this book took into consideration all the things going on for Ariana, being challenged in her faith and standing up for what she believes God wants for her in her life, even if it means losing everything she ever knew. She knows she can never go back to that person, because that person no longer exists. Armed with a sense of love and faith, she tries to convince her family and friends of the life she has now embraced and that it might just mean walking away from everything she had ever known even if it separates her from her Amish family. I only hope that there might be more in this series as there are so many other relationships I would love to see expanded on at the conclusion of this one. This has been one of my favorite series by Cindy Woodsmall and well worth 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Gathering the Threads, Cindy Woodsmall or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Gathering the Threads by Cindy Woodsmall

You can find Cindy Woodsmall on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Gathering the Threads, please visit WaterBrook Multnomah Publisher's website. 

Fraying At The Edge

I can't imagine leaving behind my entire family and moving in with complete strangers, at least to you, but one's you've learned are now your biological parents. To go from living as an Amish young woman to know having to enter an English home is what some might label as culture shock. You're entire way of living is drastically changed and all your hopes and dreams for the future are now placed on a temporary hold for a year. That is what Ariana Brennerman and Skylar Nash are both having to endure.

Ariana Brennerman believed she was the twin of her brother Abram only to learn that she was switched at birth by the midwife when she and Skylar were born in an Amish birthing center and thrust into the same carrier during a fire that same night in an effort to rescue them. For twenty years, they have both lived a life that now is about to be abruptly changed as both sets of parents have asked for time, a year, to spend time with their biological daughters. Ariana was set on preparing to marry Rudy, and now she learns that the entire large Brennerman family is not really her biological family and even worse that she isn't Abram's twin sister.

For Skyler Nash, living in an English world dealing with a prescription drug addiction as a way of dealing with her set of parents who apparently want nothing to do with her, since learning that they have a daughter with a better track record than she has displayed. Both girls will be faced with the challenges of trying to fit into vastly different worlds with parents who want nothing more than to get to know them. Skyler just wants her next drug fix and finding out a way to leave the Amish family and run off with her boyfriend. For Ariana, she has to come to terms with learning that she was conceived out of wedlock when her mom had an affair with a married woman, something she doesn't believe the Amish community and elders will forgive her for. Now she is faced with learning more about the Amish faith from an outsider looking in and seeing God for who He really is. Is it possible the Amish have it all wrong and if so, can she ever go back to her Amish roots and the man she left waiting for her?

I received Fraying At The Edge by Cindy Woodsmall compliments of WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers. 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.  In the second novel of The Amish of Summer Grove series, I found myself really seeing things from both woman's perspective and seeing the difficulties in dealing with the choices they were faced with. Perhaps the one character I found myself truly admiring the most was Quill Schlabach, her childhood friend who had gotten stuck in the middle with keeping some things confidential to those he made agreements with. What a tough place to be. I don't think I could have kept those great of secrets especially if I knew I would hurt the person I was holding them from once they were revealed. Of course that would all come back to him and it does.

Thankfully Ariana's faith is what gets her through some tough obstacles her English parents throw her way and now as in the first novel, this one ends with a bit of a cliff hanger ending, making me wish I had the third one, ready to read. The best part of this series, is the opening on this novel provided the reader with a short overview of what Book 1, Ties That Bind, was about for those who had to wait long months before this one was available. Now waiting on Gathering Threads, and this will be a nail-biter for me. I just have to know how this will turn out. Once again, couldn't stop once I began this one because I needed to know how it would all play out. For me, that is the ear-mark of a true 5 out of 5 stars novel.

For more information about Fraying At The Edge, Cindy Woodsmall or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Fraying At The Edge by Cindy Woodsmall

You can find Cindy Woodsmall on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Fraying at the Edge, please visit WaterBrook Multnomah's website. 

Ties That Bind

I am sure that kids that have been adopted, often wonder a lot about what life would have been like if they were raised by their birth parents, and perhaps even children from divorces often face that challenge as well. But what if you grew up knowing one way of life, and then learning that this wasn't your life after all? Could you come to terms with the results of thinking the people who raised you and your siblings weren't really yours after all?

In the novel Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall, Ariana Brennerman is coming to terms with the issues of trusting those she loves. Even since dreaming of the day when her and Quill Schlabach might marry, she had her heartbroken when he ran off into the evening with her best friend Frieda and leaving her a letter trying to explain things. Now at twenty-one, she has spent her life trying to do everything she can for everyone in her family. In my world, one might call her a people-pleaser, doing for others while she is left going without. But for her, her future is looking up. She is on the verge of fulfilling a dream of owning her own restaurant with being just $6000 short of her down payment and dating Rudy, a man who have given her his whole heart.

At late night encounter, leaves Ariana running into Quill once again, and all she can see is rage against the one person she trusted more than anything else in the world. The one person she loved, left her behind to marry her best friend. She can't even understand why he has returned except to help his ailing mother in any way he can. The leaders of the Amish community can't know about him being back and Ariana certainly isn't going to tell anyone, except the one person who knows her better than herself, her twin brother Abram. But when Quill informs her that someone in her family is considering leaving the faith and the community, Ariana believes it is her life mission to prevent him from hurting the only family she has ever known. But is there more to Quill than what she believes and can she learn to trust him again even if it means hurting those closest to her?

I received Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall compliments of Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers. 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.This is the first novel in the Amish of Summer Grove Series and it truly begins with a powerful opening. For me, this is a more mature Cindy Woodsmall in this series. There is a more serious theme in this novel than ones I have had the opportunity to read in the past. I would almost compare this series to one from Wanda Brunstetter with a more straight-forward approach to the situation developing between the Brennerman family and those leaving the Amish faith. I absolutely inhaled this one in an afternoon and am super excited to read the next novel in the series, Fraying the Edge. For me, this one easily garners a 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Ties That Bind, Cindy Woodsmall or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall

You can find Cindy Woodsmall on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Ties That Bind, please visit WaterBrook Multnomah Publisher's website.