Customer Reviews

Leah's Choice: Pleasant Valley Book One

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've grown to enjoy these Amish/Romance novels and was excited to get this one (does standing by the mailbox count in as excitement?). I read it in a few hours and really enjoyed the storyline. My only complaint is that while other authors stress the value of their characters relationship with the Lord, this one doesn't do that as much. It mostly focuses on a soap-opera type setting with the characters barely mentioning God at all. The way it ended seemed a little trite, moreso since this is supposed to be the first installment of a trio. The story mostly deals with what happens in the Amish community when one of them decides to leave during their rumspringa and actually go out into the world on their own. It does a wonderful job of what to expect, how much it hurts their community, and how vividly contrasted the lives of most of us are in our old age, compared to the Amish. There's always someone to care for the elderly, even if it's a neighbor, compared to us where it's sink or swim on your own. It actually made me realize how closely knit the Amish really are and how much we all need that closeness in our own lives. Wish we all were like that! What I've come to appreciate the most about this book and others I've read is the descriptive details of Amish life, how much they care for one another, respect one another, just like they're one huge family. We can all learn from that! This book deals with an "old maid" teacher that thinks she never wants to marry after being jilted 10 years prior. Until, of course, the stranger comes into town and well, what will happen?! I won't spoil it but get the book, it's well worth getting lost in its pages on a sunny, autumn afternoon. Highly recommend!

This is a delightful book to read that captures your interest from the first page. I have read quite a few Amish novels so I guess I have come to expect a certain standard and this one hits the mark right on.

It uses the language (Penn Dutch) here and there like Ja and gut, ain't so? To me that helps step right into the lives of the charachers.

We open with Leah a "mandil" (old maid) who is the local teacher. She had a promised husband who decided that during the time of rumspringa-the time Amish youth can venture into the English world then make the choice to stay of go. When they choose to stay in the English world they are shunned by the whole community. The only way to return is to repent and join the church. Jonny Kile chose to go and stayed away for 10 years.
So when Daniel and his 3 children come to the school the tought comes to everyones mind ah ha someone to fix up Leah with. Trouble is Johhny the old bo returns...not to repent but to work at a clinic.

This book brought out something I have wondered about. With the high number of close family marriages why are there not birth defects. This book goes into some details about some of them. I found that both sad and interesting. So now we have and old bo and a new man in town. Choices!

Johnny wants to help the local doctor study the birth defects of these amish children. Do research. He of course wants to get Leah involved...will she...you will see.

The story line does leave you wondering at times what will happen and it is not always predictiable which I love. Why read a book when I can tell after chapter one how it will end. Not here, you will keep turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning.

I will leave you with this thought. Even though there is sadness and some hard circumstances it has a happy ending. Knowing that much know this is a keeper and a great read.

I also love the cover artwork. It helps form the character Leah very well.

But I feel this should have been much stronger. Perry sets up several conflicts in the book to Leah to work through and then abruptly has the conflict resolved. I think perhaps she would have been better served by taking on fewer subjects in the book. I am looking forward to her next work to see if she learns lessons in writing.

I have read many books from Marta Perry and although I enjoyed this book it's not one of my favorites from her. I'm not an expert on the Amish but I have read many fiction books about the Amish and immediately had reservations and doubts about this book such as:
Would someone who is baptized into the Amish Church allow themselves this much contact with the "world", especially a fiancé who left the Amish Community/faith and is under the ban? Leah, it seemed, put herself into many compromising situations with her ex-fiance.
To me it was just "Too coincidental" that Leah would meet and fall in love with another Amish man whose wife left him for the English world? I can see how it would make it easier for them to relate to each other but just what are the chances of this really happening?
The book is well written and the characters are easy to get to know but some parts of the story seem too unrealistic for the Amish faith. Having said this, I still enjoyed the book and think many who read it will too. If you're familiar with a lot of Amish Fiction, however, you may have some of the same questions as me while following the story.
I will keep following the series to see if it gets better.

Leah's choice is a sweet, predicable, "Christian", novel set in Amish Lancaster community when Leah must choose between two men both of whom she cares for. The author has clearly researched the Amish and yet seems to have little real first hand information - not exactly an unusual situation in a community that avoids as much as possible the "English" community.

Perhaps I am just lucky to live not far away and to know some outsiders accepted by the community - midwives etc. The problem with a well researched, but inexperienced subjet in a book is that the entire community begins to seeem a little sterio-typical and not as realistic as it actually is. The community, any community, encompasses a broad group of people whose views and values, and this is true even within a closed group like the Amish. People remain very individual and quite diverse. I found this element somewhat missing in this narative.

There area few plot twists and turns but over all a simple and enjoyable read albeit the lack of authentic feel.

I don't know what it is... every time I get one of the "Amish" type books I am kinda bored by the description... but when I actually sit down to read them they are REALLY awesome. This book is no exception. Good suspense, romance, interesting plots and an excellent author make this book a must read. My only complaint is that the end seems rushed... I just got the impression that the plot was there but the end seemed to come out of nowhere. I know I am not the only one that had this complaint... otherwise the book was really good and I would highly recommend it for those of you who love the other authors of this same genre!!!

This book is one of few Amish books that I think really gets it. By it, I mean it allows the reader to enter the Amish world, yet does not try to push Amish beliefs on them, does not paint the Amish lifestyle as ideal or makes the world feel as if you're living in a bubble. I really enjoyed this book for the realistic way the Amish and the English worlds are portrayed.

This book talked a lot about subjects that I have never read in Amish fiction before. The one that stood out the most was the medical issues. This book mentioned a great deal about birth defects and other medical problems that stem from communities that continue to live in close proximity and only marry within that community. This is something I have never read in any other Amish book I have picked up and is a topic that I have always wondered about due to the circumstances of who someone can marry. Therefore kudos to Marta Perry for bringing this up. It may be a sore subject that no one wants to talk about but to deny that it exists because it makes the community look not so ideal is not helping anyone either. Honestly I feel like other authors don't bring it up because it breaks the bubble of the image that they are trying to portray of making Amish lifestyle appealing.

I thought I was going to have problems with Daniel due to comments he made early in the book but after finding out about his background, I understood him a lot better. His family's past was unique to the typical Amish storyline and even more so by the way he handled the situation. As for Johnny, I really liked the way his storyline played out. Everyone (for the most part) ends up where they want to be.

Honestly this is one of the most refreshing Amish novels I have ever read. I didn't feel as if this book was unrealistically portrayed and the outside world is seen in a positive light for once. If the rest of the series continues to be written in the same manner and tackles difficult but necessary subjects, it might possibly rank as one of my favorite Amish books. That being said, if you want a dose of reality with your Amish fiction, pick up this book.

So the beginning 2/3 or maybe even 3/4 of the book or so just felt like a series of incidents, unconnected. There wasn't much flow & I was left feeling, "Where in the world is this plot going?" The situations were good ones that if well developed rather than briefly touched, could have made for a strong story. The author should have either cut some things out or made it flow better, developing the situations more.

The author has potential, though, which can be noticed in how well the end of the book read. The plot was moving at a good pace and there weren't random events thrown in that felt out of place.

The book includes a Pennsylvania Dutch glossary at the end, although typically the Pennsylvania Dutch is easily deciphered in this novel with context clues alone. The author also includes an excerpt from one of her next books at the end of this book.

Widower Daniel Glick moves with his three young children to Pleasant Valley in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish townsfolk welcome the single dad and his brood especially since everyone believes he is perfect for their schoolteacher of then Leah Beiler; and she would be the perfect wife to him and an ideal mom to his three young kids (Matthew, Elizabeth and Jonah).

Daniel is attracted to Leah, but he has doubts after his unhappy first marriage. Adding to his growing hesitation is the return of Leah's ex-fiancé, Johnny Kile who wants a second chance with her. Will Leah choose a ready family, the man who broke her heart or neither?

This is an entertaining but somewhat by the book Amish romance that although for the most part provides nothing new fans will still enjoy it. The conflict is the relationship choices that Leah must make and for that matter Daniel too. Whereas she must choose between her first love who dumped her for the outside world and a steady man who has proven to be a good mother and father to his kids. He knows he must put those kids ahead of his desires. With a nod to Roy Orbison's Running Scared, readers will appreciate Marta Perry's fine passionate contemporary mindful of the works of Wanda E. Brunstetter.

Harriet Klausner

This book focuses on Teacher Leah, a "maidal," or old maid who has been teaching school for 10 years and has no plans to marry. When a widower with three children moves into the community, the matchmakers start working. To complicate matters, Leah's old fiance, who left the Amish a decade ago, is back in town, but with no thoughts of returning to the Amish. Thus, the title of the book. Leah has a choice between remaining single as she had expected and marriage, and in the case of the latter, between two different men, and two different worlds.

The subject matter had the potential to come across as melodramatic soap opera, which has happened with other books I've read in the genre, but it didn't. There were the occasional coincidences, present in almost all fiction, but nothing ridiculously so. And, the dramatic events that occurred came across very realistically.

I really liked Leah, and I think it was very clear how she needed to rely upon God. Frequently the text includes short mini-prayers when she doesn't know what to do, in times of trouble, etc. She was very sweet and kind, but obviously very human, having to choose to be that way at times when she really didn't want to. I felt like Leah was someone that I would enjoy getting to know. Daniel, the widower, was also a well-developed character, and several other minor characters were well-drawn as well. They felt like real people.

I loved the look into the Amish world. Without coming across as lecturing, the author displays very naturally many facets of Amish life. I liked the detailed look at the differences between the Amish and English world, and what happens when someone leaves the Amish world. I liked learning about the genetic disorders that the Amish are prone to. Seeing the community pull together in times of need. Good stuff. As seems to be common in this genre, there's a glossary of Amish words in the back, though you can generally figure things out from the context, without having to look things up.

I liked this book, and I liked it a lot. I've reviewed several Amish fiction books, and this is the only one that I have given 5 stars. I will check out other books by this author.