Publisher Description
“The perfect family awaits…if only he’ll risk his heart.”
“Pregnant and recently widowed, Grace Fisher is determined to provide for her family on her own. Thankfully, her jam business is popular in her Amish community. But it’s difficult keeping up with her work, her farm chores, and her two mischievous children. Especially now that they’ve taken to idolizing their neighbor Elijah. While the handsome farmer is kind and generous, he seems intent on holding Grace and her little ones at a distance…
Elijah Beiler has always admired his neighbor Grace. So standing by while she struggles to support her family isn’t an option. Offering to take over her farm duties, Elijah is determined to help while remaining detached. He knows all too well that love only leads to heartbreak. Yet the more time he spends with Grace and her children, the harder he finds it to leave each day. But can Elijah overcome past hurts and open his heart to this ready-made family?”
“A beautiful story of forgiveness and second chances.” -Shelley Shepard Gray, New York Times bestselling author, on The Amish Teacher’s Gift
My Review:
Rachel Good has become one of my favorite authors. In addition to her quite compelling storylines, the characters in her stories have depth. They are each unique and have their own individual sets of struggles, flaws, fears, and faith. Both Elijah and Grace have experienced heartbreak from family members. Grace struggled during her short marriage with a verbally abusive and unreasonable husband. After his untimely death, Grace is determined to take care of her children and provide a happy, loving, stable home for them. Even though Elijah had trust issues in regard to women, he stepped out of his comfort zone to help Grace in her time of need. Grace, in turn, needed to set aside her independent nature and accept the much-needed help. Both needed to learn to communicate better, and as the story progresses, we see both Elijah and Grace learn to trust God’s faithfulness in any situation.
There are some difficult themes in this story: postpartum depression; abandonment by a parent; spousal abuse; and the grief that comes of giving a child up for adoption. Yet, all through the book, the story is never morose. There’s a message of hope, faith, and love for the characters that can apply to our own lives as well. I’ll be reading this one again.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.