Book Review: A Promise Kept by Robin Lee Hatcher

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on A Promise Kept by Robin Lee Hatcher.

Besides being on an Amish fiction kick, I also recently discovered Robin Lee Hatcher’s novels and they are fantastic, in fact I’m trying to read as many of her books as I can! For the most part I have read only some of her contemporary romances, but I am also interested in checking out her historical novels. Some of her other books that I have read, but I probably won’t have reviews up for are Who I Am With You, Cross My Heart, and Love Without End. 

I picked up A Promise Kept because I was intrigued by the premise, and also I’ve really been enjoying Hathcer’s style in focusing on a love story in the present-day but also flashing back to the lives of one of the main character’s ancestors. In this novel we are introduced to newly-divorced Allison Kavanaugh who is still grieving over the end of her marriage, she moves into a cabin that was owned by her great-aunt Emma. During her stay there she discovers a treasure trove of keepsakes that her great-aunt had held onto, among them a collection of journals that she had kept. While trying to heal from her own pain, she discovers secrets that her great-aunt never told her, and that her and her great-aunt are alike in ways she never imagined.

I’ll admit that before I started reading A Promise Kept I did read the author’s note at the end because I was curious to find out why she chose to write this book. I was fascinated to find out that some of the things that happened to Allison are events that happened to the author in real life. Although there are also many differences between the author and the character that she created. Throughout the course of the novel, Allison grows as a character, especially as she comes to terms with the grief she has over the death of her marriage and figuring out how to get along with her ex-husband, especially since they have a daughter and sometimes are forced to spend time together.

I also enjoyed reading the sections of the novel told from Allison’s great-aunt Emma, and in some ways I wish that there would be a whole book dedicated to Emma’s story, especially her life as a nature photographer. If Robin Lee Hatcher has written a book about Emma Carter, please let me know!

It was a pleasure to see the relationships that Allison builds with a bunch of individuals in Kings Meadow, especially the older and wise Susan, I loved seeing her pour wisdom and friendship into Allison’s life throughout the novel. We also get to meet Chet Leonard and see a little bit of his backstory – he is one of the main characters in Love Without End, which is a great novel and highly recommend it, especially if you have read this novel.

I also enjoyed getting to know Allison’s daughter Meredith and her ex-husband, Tony, an how a friendship starts to blossom between the two of them. And I also liked seeing Allison’s relationship and faith in the Lord to continue to grow, and how reading her great-aunt’s journals also helps her grow in faith.

Overall, this was a really good book, I felt like it dealt with some hard topic, especially divorce and moving on from that. The ending was very sweet, and I was happy to read that things “ended” sweetly for the author too. As I’ve mentioned before, Robin Lee Hatcher is definitely one of my new favorite authors and I’m looking forward to reading as many of her books as I can, and A Promise Kept was a great read. 4/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

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Book Review: Plain Promise (Daughters of the Promise #3) by Beth Wiseman

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on Plain Promise by Beth Wiseman.

This is the third installment of Beth Wiseman’s Daughters of the Promise series, however it can also be read as a standalone, just like the previous two books, because it follows a different main character. This time we follow Sadie Fisher (who was introduced in Lillian’s story in Plain Perfect) who is a young Amish widow. She lives alone on her farm, making ends meet by running a store on her property (with several other Amish women) and by recently renting out her cottage to Englisher  guests. Her first tenant is Kade Saunders who keeps mostly to himself. Sadie hopes one day to be married again, and there is a prospect that this might happen, she has been writing letters for the past two years to an Amish widower in Texas, however they have yet to meet in person, but Milo has promised to visit her as soon as Spring arrives. While waiting for her friend to visit, she starts to befriend her tenant, who seems to be lost and trying to find his way after having his heart broken in the past. He seems intrigued by the peaceful ways of the Amish, but yet also struggles with some of their more stricter rules, especially when Sadie refused to spend time with him one-on-one because it was viewed as improper. But there is no denying that over the course of time that love starts to blossom between Kade and Sadie, but there is the obstacle of her faith and loyalty to her Amish community that could prove to be a hindrance.

Plain Promise was an enjoyable read, I enjoyed getting to know Sadie and even how as a reader I got to know the longings of her heart, to get remarried to someone she loves and to raise a family, instead of being all alone. I also liked how we got to see her struggling with doubts about God’s will and whether or not to make a decision because it seems like the best option even if it makes her miserable. Kade was also an interesting character and I like how we get to see him struggle with mistakes he’s made in the past, as well as have to take some big steps, such as learning how to raise his five-year-old son Tyler, who is autistic. Kade also comes to a renewed faith in God and is tired of living a life of riches and wants something different besides the life he has been living up to that point.

Besides the two main characters, it was lovely to see some favorite characters from the previous two books, namely Lillian and her grandpa Jonas, and a couple of other side characters that we were introduced to in the other books. Overall, this was a good novel, it was sweet and had some romantic elements and I loved getting to know Sadie in this novel, as well as catching up with a couple of old favorites from the other books. I’m looking forward to reading more about the people in the community of Paradise. 4/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

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Book Review: Made With Love (The Pinecraft Pie Shop #1) by Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on Made With Love by Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore.

I’ve mentioned before in some of my previous posts that I’ve been on a real Amish kick when it comes to the books I read, and I’ve really enjoyed discovering some new favorite Amish fiction writers that I didn’t know about, for some reason the only author I’ve been familiar with is Beverly Lewis (who is also a great author, I would like to add!). However, working a public library and having access to different databases has allowed me to discover several other really great writers of Amish fiction, and one of those I think might be Tricia Goyer, who partnered with Sherry Gore on Made With Love.

In Made With Love, we meet Lovina Miller who has recently moved to Pinecraft, Florida with her family. She is the oldest of five daughters and is constantly under pressure from her mother to find a suitable Amish husband (sounds a little bit familiar, doesn’t it? Kind of like Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, however not as irritating and isn’t constantly complaining about her poor nerves). However, Lovina has always dreamed of opening her own pie shop, a place where people can fellowship with one another, watch the pies being made, and maybe even share their own recipes. And she has also finally found a perfect place that could potentially allow her to achieve her dreams. But she will also need a contractor/construction worker who can help her get the job done. Enter Noah Yoder, an Amish carpenter who offers his services to her to help her achieve  her dreams. However, Noah does have a past that has followed him from his home in Illinois down to Pinecraft, even though he has made amends for his past mistakes, there are still those in the Amish community that hold them against him. He also has a desire to help a trio of wayward Amish teens who need the guidance of an older man to help keep them from going off the rails, however this proves to be more challenging to Noah than he anticipated. Over the course of their working together to make the pie shop a reality, there are sparks that fly between Noah and Lovina, however they have to overcome past mistakes and hurts in order to be together.

Made With Love was a great introduction to the start of a new series and I did enjoy getting to know the different characters. Lovina was interesting and watching how she strives to achieve her dreams, however it was heartbreaking to see that one of the reasons she wanted to open a pie shop is that she didn’t believe that she was beautiful enough for any man to fall in love with her. However, over the course of the novel she gains confidence and she also lays to rest the false claims about her beauty, and how her own self-consciousness and self-esteem had prevented her from falling in love due to the lies she had believed.

 Noah was also a good character and watching him wrestle with how to be a good role model, constantly feeling like he had to redeem himself from his past actions and falling in love. I enjoyed watching both characters interact with each other, as well as their interactions with the other characters in the novel. I appreciated how Lovina’s father was supportive of her pie shop, and even supported Noah’s willingness to help do what needed to be done before the pie shop could be open to the public.

Overall, this was a really good book, the only thing I didn’t like was that there was a tragedy and conflict that was thrown in towards the end and the resolution of it seemed kind of rushed, however it was also really neat that the authors chose to show how the community rallied around the main characters when they needed it most. Made With Love is a clean, romance that also focuses on following the Lord and trying to accept the plans that He has for each individual, even if it is something as simply as just going through the doors that He opens up. I am looking forward to getting to know Lovina’s sisters a little bit more in the other two books in the series, and I really hope that we also drop in on Noah and Lovina and see what has happened in their lives since the end of this novel. I’m looking forward to reading more of Tricia Goyer’s Amish fiction in the future. 3.5/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

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Book Review: William Shakespeare’s Get Thee Back to the Future by Ian Doescher

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on William Shakespeare’s Get Thee Back to the Future by Ian Doescher.

I am one of those weird people that enjoys reading Shakespeare’s works, and watching movie versions based on his works (except Romeo and Juliet, but maybe I need to give Baz Luhrmann’s version another chance, after all it has been almost 10 years since I’ve seen it). My fondness for Shakespeare is so much so that I even took a class in college solely dedicated to the bard’s works, in this class I was introduced to works I had never heard of like Titus Andronicus, but also revisiting some favorites like the Merchant of Venice, as well as watching several movies based on his works.

 Even though it has been sometime since I’ve read some of Shakespeare’s works, I’d often seen Ian Doescher’s Star Wars plays written as if Mr. Shakespeare himself had written them – I have yet to read one of these all the way through, but believe me that I will be doing so very soon. And then perchance by some work of fate I was at Barnes and Noble that was having a sale for the end of summer, and there among the other books part of this sale I came across this little volume, William Shakespeare’s Get Thee Back to the Future. While there were other books that caught my eye, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add this humorous and genius work to my collection, especially since I am familiar with Back to the Future.

And now, after a somewhat lengthy introduction, here are my thoughts on William Shakespeare’s Get Thee Back to the Future. I loved it. I read it in a span of 24 hours. I laughed and gasped at certain moments, there were some lines from “Back to the Future” that are even funnier when written in iambic pentameter and in Shakespearean English. I echo what some other reviewers have said, 1) I want Ian Doescher to come out with Shakespearean versions of the sequels to Back to the Future, and 2) if Universal Studios would allow it, this needs to be performed on the stage, someone needs to do a stage production of Get Thee Back to the Future as soon as possible!

There is not much else that can be said about Get Thee Back to the Future, especially since many are already familiar with the plot of Back to the Future, and that is basically what this book is, the script of Back to the Future, but written as if the bard himself wrote it. I loved the nods to not only the original movie, but I also appreciated how there were also references to some of Shakespeare’s works, I can’t remember which ones right now, but there definitely some one-liners from them. It was a delightful treat! I highly recommend Get Thee Back to the Future for unpretentious fans of Shakespeare, fans of Back to the Future, and/or anyone that enjoyed Ian Doescher’s Shakespearean treatment of the Star Wars movies. 5/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

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