Customer Reviews

Thee I Love

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not a fan of romance novels, but this one came so highly recommended by a friend that I made an exception. I was reading Thee I Love on an airplane when I started weeping uncontrollably. (This is very hard for a grown man who's a bit sheepish about reading a romance in the first place.) This is one of the three or four books I have read in my life that moved me to tears.

This is a story I read in one evening because I couldn't put it down. The Amish way of life is beautifully and realistically portrayed. Don't judge this book by its cover; allow yourself the pleasure of reading it. You won't be sorry.

THEE, I LOVE pulled me into another world, making me a part of the community, making me love and care about its members, making me rejoice and making me cry. It's a moving, powerful story.

Jacob Sauder returns to his Amish home, bringing his motherless twins to be raised in a safe and decent place. He had left in despair after his mother's funeral when his brother, Simon, told him Jacob's beloved Rachel wished to be released from their engagement. Jacob finds welcome; his family and community give his children all the love he could wish. Even when he and Rachel, now Simon's wife, realize they were the victim's of Simon's lies, they put the past behind them in respect for Rachel's marriage vows. But Simon's actions make that difficult. He becomes increasingly abusive, berating Rachel for her barrenness. When Jacob finds Rachel hurt in the barn one night, he means only to give her comfort, but his comfort goes too far.

The Amish community Annette Blair describes is a wonderful place with a strong spirit and sense of family, one where children are surrounded by love. She peoples the pages of her book with realistic portrayals of good people with faults, but with real faith. The dialogue and interactions of her characters make the reader a part of it all. There is a wealth of color and detail in her delineation of the culture and daily life of the community.

The plot is an absorbing one of family love and betrayal, of faith and transgression. Above all, it's a tale of love between a man and a woman and their need for forgiveness. The transgression committed by Jacob and Rachel brings anguish to all involved, and yet they are entirely sympathetic characters. Even Simon, who began the trouble with his jealousy and lies, is understandable.

THEE, I LOVE is Annette Blair's third book. She showed promise in her first two, but this book displays a major new talent. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Reviewed by Lily Martin for Romance Communications

www.romcom.co

This is more than just a beautiful romance, it's a universal story about love and faith. Jacob and his motherless twin babies return to the Amish Community he'd vowed never to return to, looking for the best place to raise them. But he has to deal with how he feels about his brother's wife, the love he left behind, and his brother's treatment of her.

The exciting, romantic, and poignant way this family's differences unfold made for an outstanding reading experience. I could not put it down; I read an entire night, not stopping till I was done, and cried through the last six chapters. Then I was sorry it was over.

I sincerely recommend Thee, I Love. It was a memorable reading experience. Beautiful.

Once again, it was a great read.....did not want it to end. Looking forward to more of Annette Blair's books.

I was swept right up into Rachel and Jacob's story as they fought to find a balance between the love in their hearts and the community they cherished. Nearing the end, I began to fear that they couldn't possibly find a way to have it all, until Annette Blair took this seasoned romance reader by surprise and came up with a truly happy and satisfying resolution. Wonderful!

This book grabbed me from the very first page. The characters were people I know. I was there with them, feeling, experiencing every agonizing, exhilarating moment. I laughed, I cried, I did both at once. Most of all I didn't want it to end.

The description was vivid, the characters heart-warming, the dialogue fresh. I never knew being Amish could be so exciting!

If you buy only one book this year, it should be this one. And if you buy a hundred, this is the one that will stand out.

This is one of the best romances I have ever read -- the writing is so good that I understood what it felt like to be Amish, almost even wanted to be Amish! And Jacob is so sexy.. there's a great second romance. Lots of funny lines too. This is a keeper!!

A world-class novel hidden in a badly-chosen cover. This is a story that raises the bar on romance, transcends the genre, takes us to an amazing new world and doesn't let us go until we're emotionally exhausted, satisfied, amazed, and sated. Simply, unbelievably, wonderful. Kudos Ms. Blair. Thee, I Love would make top-notch movie.

I had high hopes for this, even though I don't typically read romances (I prefer romance to be incidental to the main story) and the author's other titles are enough to cause me to steer clear. But I'm interested in the Amish people, and decided to believe the positive reviews. I wanted a book geared toward grown-up readers. All other Amish-centered fiction seems to be too light of fare, or about an outsider joining the Amish. I hoped for a refreshingly different type of story.

I'm sorry to say that that was a mistake.

I don't understand why the author set this story in the 1880s. I'd have believed it more if it were set in current times, because on occasion, the characters' dialogue sounds like something you'd hear in the street, today. If these were modern people, even Amish, that could be excused with the idea that perhaps they overheard such talk, elsewhere. Simply setting the tale in an Amish community would be sufficient to capture the atmosphere of bygone days Blair probably hoped to achieve.

Sadly, these characters say and do things not in keeping with Amish beliefs and mindset; for instance, a woman curses. "Damn him!" This cursing is part of her thought process, and I found that extremely unbelievable for a woman in the 1880s, especially an Amish-raised one!

Also, and I realize this is personal taste, but I don't enjoy stories in which everything is black and white--characters are either all good or all bad. Gray makes for a much more satisfying story.

I'd have liked to see, and expected to see Rachel struggle, even internally, with her infidelity, but that never happened.

And we have a single father of illegitimate children, in the 1880s? Not impossible, but again, not very convincing.

Characters over-react, and are constantly over-animated throughout this book, and everyone's reactions to the children is just a little too precious.

I very quickly began to hope, uselessly, though I knew my hopes to be, that the "evil" husband would come out on top! He was the most interesting person in the bunch, and the more I disliked the others, the more interesting he became.