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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quiet and Satisfying Plot, September 17, 2009
This review is from: A Man of His Word (Hearts of Middlefield Series, Book 1) (Paperback)
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This is an enjoyable and satisfying romance novel that cleans up all of the loose ends of the book's plots at the end. The reader is not left wondering what happened to supporting characters, and all major questions that arise in the book are answered by the time the last page is reached.
Even though the book is set in Amish country, the Amish words are used only enough to give an authentic flavor to the characters. The main plot revolves around a young woman who marries within the community only to be left by her new husband four months later when he leaves the church. There are suspenseful twists to the plot with some sad surprises, but there is restoration at the happy ending.
The secondary plot involves a tempestuous young romance that has a few surprises too. All in all, a good read.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, but rather bland, September 10, 2009
This review is from: A Man of His Word (Hearts of Middlefield Series, Book 1) (Paperback)
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This story is plodding in places and the characters are not fully developed. The hero, Gabriel, is stiff and wooden while the heroine, Moriah, is a bit wishy-washy and clueless. I think most women--even good Christian ones--put face-to-face with the "other woman" would be angry, would show some angst. Was the author afraid of giving offense by showing Amish characters as real people? Amish are genuine and vibrant and don't always control their emotions--especially under the duress depicted in this book. In other words, they are human!
You have a man who has left his wife and his faith for another woman, yet he does it so casually, and leaves only a short note. Not realistic. The author missed a wonderful opportunity to get some emotional value into the book and deal with the real issues. It is never explained with any viability why Levi left his new wife. If he wanted to go, why did he marry her in the first place? Because he "hoped being married would make it go away?" Not good enough.
All that said, I will give the author kudos for an excellent plot idea, if executed without verve, and will read more of her work.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better ones out there...., September 5, 2009
This review is from: A Man of His Word (Hearts of Middlefield Series, Book 1) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This book just wasn't very enjoyable to me. It fell short of my expectations, even for light reading. First of all, from the back cover blurb, you know as you begin the book that Moriah's husband Levi is going to leave her and the Amish faith, that she's going to be pregnant, and that her husband's twin brother Gabriel is going to hang around, and for them to end up together, something is going to happen to Levi. There isn't much surprise left in the book. So many portions of the book feel like you're just waiting for the stuff to happen that you already know must happen.
Related to that, the final third of the book just dragged on. You knew Moriah and Gabriel would end up together, but she's being stubborn, and Gabriel's distressed, and she's working out her worries and running herself into the ground, and Gabriel reaches out to her, and she resists him, repeat, repeat, repeat. The last third just seemed pretty repetitive to me.
In addition, a significant portion of the book actually focuses seperately on another couple's romance. I just didn't find their relationship that enjoyable, and often not that believable. Sometimes it seemed like a modern sitcom was just plopped down into Amish clothing for their scenes.
I did finish the book, though it was hard not to skim by the end. It was okay, but I won't be keeping it and wouldn't have any interest in reading any sequels. I'd recommend this only for those wanting very light reading wanting to kill some time. There are, however, better books out there in the Amish genre, such as Leah's Choice: Pleasant Valley Book One which I gave a 5-star review.
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