Customer Reviews

Plain Pursuit (Daughters of the Promise, Book 2)

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a fan of Christian Amish fiction since I first picked up one of Beverly Lewis's books over 10 years ago. Beth Wiseman's "Plain Pursuit" continues in Beverly Lewis's tradition. Not only does one get to have a glimpse of life among an Amish community... one also has a strong message of faith, of trusting in God. The book tells the story of a Houston reporter, Carley Malek, who recently lost her Mom in a car accident. She is forced to go on vacation by her editor, and ends up visiting a friend in Lancaster county who had converted to the Amish faith and married a widower with a young son. Their son has a health crisis which brings Carley in touch with a handsome ex-Amish doctor.

What draws me to books like this, as well as Beverly Lewis and even Grace Livingston Hill (a Christian Romance author from the early 1900s) is the underlying story of faith.... of learning to trust in God and trust God. I think Beverly Lewis does a better job of interweaving faith into her novel, yet the message was still there in Beth Wiseman's book. I appreciated the glossary in the beginning...although I know many of the terms from having read numerous Amish fiction books, there were still a few new ones. I also really appreciated the few recipes in the back... raisin puff cookies, bread (five loaves!), meatloaf, and baked corn casserole. I also get so hungry reading the descriptions of the yummy food, that the recipes were a welcome bonus!

Plain Pursuit, second in the series, is just as riveting as the first book Plain Perfect. Ms. Wiseman has a way of making the characters real and full of life. You feel involved with them as they go through the trials of life. The characters you know and loved from the first book are carried through to this book. Ms. Wiseman lets you know more about Samuel and Lillian and their new family which is just where she left me hanging with the end of the first book. You feel a connection with the characters and just want to know more, I couldn't put the book down. I had to finish it in one day because I had to know how it ended. I can't wait until the rest of the series comes out. I would recommend this book to everyone, young and old.

This is a don't miss book. I loved it. You feel like you are sitting on the porch in Amish country and experiencing life with them. I particularly enjoy the interaction between a non-Amish friend and the Amish. It helped me see how it would feel to go from my world to theirs. Beth writes so well that you feel the breeze, see the beauty of the land and hear the peaceful quiet. Noah was my favorite character. I think I too fell in love with him. He makes you want to be all that God wants you to be. I did not want my time with them to end. I look forward to book 3.

Plain pursuit follows the common storyline of a single professional woman (Carley) unhappy with her life until she finds a man (Noah)and a new world waiting to rescue her. The secondary plot line of Carley's friends son being sick is again predictable and unsurprising.

Although the plot is extremely predictable this is still a delightful novel because of the author's ability to immerse the reader into the Amish culture. The love story is secondary to Carley's distance from God and Noah's distance from his family.

If you are looking for a clean Christan romance novel that will take you into a new world I would suggest this book. However, if you are looking for a book with plot twists and a surprising or unpredictable story line I would look elsewhere.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not really into historical or amish novels, but once I began reading this, I could not put it down. At the end of the book, I was so engrossed with the characters that I cried - always a sign of a good book!

Beth Wiseman, author, did a wonderful job painting a picture of Amish living. Carley is a non-Amish woman that is integrated into the community. I loved seeing the Amish community from Carley's perspective. How she wonders if a simpler way of life might be a better way to live. Life without television, computers, telephones, cell phones, electricity . . . hmm the Amish do have a point!

I enjoyed how Beth deepened the characters with every chapter. Each scene and chapter ended with a lingering question--making this a page turner!

This is another one of those books that is out of character for me to choose. I love romance novels, but my tastes usually run more toward Lori Foster and Rachel Gibson (basically girl-porn). Amish is definitely not me. But I enjoyed this book. If a story is too unrealistic I usually roll my eyes and can't enjoy it. But that didn't happen this time.

The book's heroine, Carley, goes to visit her friend Lillian in Amish country. Lillian has recently given up her "normal" life and married an Amish man, Samuel. Lillian and Samuel are raising their baby and Samuel's pre-teen son, David. While Carley is visiting, David becomes seriously ill. The problem is, the doctor who diagnoses him and wants to help him is Samuel's shunned brother, Noah. After spending so much time together, Noah and Carley become attracted to each other. But it's complicated because Lillian, Samuel and David are not even supposed to speak to Noah.

What keeps this story from being a total eye-roller for me is that Noah has given up the Amish life. He's still religious, but he's a doctor and works in a hospital and drives a car. Carley is not very religious, but some bad things recently happened in her life and she's wondering if letting God back into her life will help. I really liked the character of Noah. Carley was just okay.

This is a typical romance in that you know everyone will end up happy and in love. I even enjoyed it enough to purchase the first book in the series, the one that tells Lillian and Samuel's story. Later, I realized that I probably won't like it because I'll never be able to buy a "normal" person giving up every modern convenience to live the Amish life. That one will be an eye-roller.

I really love the plain and simple stories like that of The Daughters of Promise Series. They really bring the Amish life right to the readers!

This is the second book in The Daughters of the Promise Series, and it brings us into the life of Lillian Stoltzfus' friend, Carley. Carley does not know or trust in God and gave running after her dreams long ago. But then she comes to visit Lillian and things start changing her way of thinking! Especially when she meets the shunned Dr. Noah.

Dr. Noah was shunned from the Amish community and is forbidden to help Carley's friends. But with the boy growing sicker, he's determined to do anything to save his life. He's also determined to pursuit the beautiful Englischer friend as he's falling for her!

Can Carley accept the God everyone around her is talking about, the same one she doesn't know or trust? What will happen when she's pursued by a strong love??

As with my opinion of Beth Wiseman's Plain Perfect, this novel will draw you in to be part of the story! Still the Karen Kingsbury of Amish fiction, Beth's novels just get better and better! I truly enjoyed this masterpiece of a novel!

First let me say I had not read Beth Wiseman's first book in this series. This is great as a stand alone novel. I do plan to go back and read it only because I loved this one so much.

Carley is a journalist that has had a tramatic accident and was not adjusting so well so her boss ordered her to take a month vacation. She went to her friends home in Amish country. The friend had left "Englisher" life and went to her grandparents home who are Amish and live the plain life. She ends up getting married to a widower who has a son David. Carley goes there to rest and also write a story on the truth on how the Amish live.

Right from the start it is exciting. She has to make many adjustments in daily life like getting up at 4:30am for breakfast. No electricity. Seeing her friend in total submission to her husband, not speaking her own mind.

The family has a dark secret that the husband Samuel has not even shared with his wife. I'll not tell you much more as it will ruin the story. But through a series of very tramatic events truth is brought to life and unforgiveness is everywhere. Carley is the catalyst that helps turn this family around. She finds that helping others is healing her painful wounds.

Good things often come out of pain and forgiving is so good for the soul. This book is an excellent way to see that in action. I highly recommend it!

Amish romances are my guilty pleasure. Not just because they are not really very deep reading, but because I feel they probably exploit the Amish to some extent and portray them in an at least somewhat unrealistic light. With that in mind, I did find this book to be an enjoying entry into this rapidly growing in popularity genre.

The basic story---Carlie goes to visit her friend Lillian. Lillian has married an Amish man (I think the book that comes before this one in the series tells her story). Carlie is haunted by an accident that killed her mother 6 months before, and needs renewal. Soon after she arrives, Lillian's stepson David gets very sick, and it's soon determined he needs a kidney transplant. By the kind of coincidence books like this are full of, the doctor at the hospital they first see is actually Lillian's husband Samuel's shunned brother. And of course, Noah (the doctor) and Carlie fall in love. And of course, there is a reason that Carlie can't totally give Noah her heart...

As you can see, the plot is fairly formula. But the writing is skillful, and the characters are sincerely drawn. The voice used in the writing is usually Carlie, but on occasion is one of the other characters, which to me is a bit disconcerting, but it usually works. The Amish characters are portrayed mostly in a sympathetic light, but not totally---they are certainly a few show signs of cruelty or willfullness.

Overall, I do recommend this book. It kept me reading and interested all the way through, and made me want to seek out the first book in this Daughters of the Promise series. It's not great literature, but it's a good read.

The Amish are a Christian sect living in Ohio and Pennsylvania (states located on the east coast of the United States). They avoid current modern conveniences, choosing to live plainly and without electricity. They work hard, follow the Ordnung, or their church Order, and keep to themselves and away from the "outside" world. They, in common fiction, are often perceived to be not only Plainly living, but dull, and in much of the modern literature, they're only interesting when there's a murder and the outside police need to interfere.

NOT SO with Plain Pursuit! This lovely book is the story of Carley, a big city reporter on a forced vacation following the accident that took her mother. It's the story of Carley's friend, Lillian, who fell in love with an Amish man and traded her high heels for sensible shoes, her air conditioned home for a farmhouse. It's the story of Samuel, Lillian's kind husband, whose brother was shunned - fully cut off from his family after he left the church. It's also the story of Davey, Samuel's son with Samuel's late wife, and of Davey's illness and treatment by Dr. Noah.

Plain Pursuit is beautifully written, and makes the Amish seem more human than so much of the other, existing fiction portrays them. There's the religious angle, of course, and a bit of a romance, but there are also very human and touching moments between the characters - moments that will remind the reader that the Amish people are probably more like the reader than he or she would have thought.

HIGHLY recommended for adults, though well-read teenagers will learn a lot from this book, as well.