PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION
In this emotional Amish romance, a young couple will discover that healing from heartbreak takes two.
Miriam Bowman was devastated when her fiance was killed in a logging incident. In the years since the tragedy, she finds it impossible to enter into a new relationship for fear of it coming to a disastrous end. So she works at her quilt shop in town and stays away from anything that would risk her heart. As least until David Miller comes back home to take a second chance at the Amish way of life.
David feels responsible for the logging incident that killed his friend and Miriam’s betrothed, and his life has been corrupted by guilt. That guilt only worsens when he and Miriam begin to spend time together after his return, and they begin to have feelings for each other. David might just be the man Miriam has been afraid of finding, one she could fall in love with. And Miriam is the only one who can truly forgive David for his perceived misdeeds. In order to risk their hearts and find the love they’ve been missing, David and Miriam will have to open them to each other.
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My Review:
This is a lovely, thoughtful story about two Amish young people who blame themselves for a tragedy that occurred six years earlier. In that logging accident, Miriam Bowman lost her fiancé, Levi, who was also David Miller’s best friend. Both handled their hurt in a different manner: Miriam closed her heart to love and marriage; David left the Amish community to attempt to escape his guilt about the accident and the pain he felt he caused his community. But when David returns to the Amish community at Tompkin’s Mill, both David and Miriam began to realize that they can have a bright future together, if they can find the courage and faith to claim it.
I thought this author did an excellent job in creating characters that were compelling and which quickly drew me into the book. I had empathy for both Miriam and Levi and I enjoyed reading their story. I missed reading the first book in this series. But after reading this one, I’m looking forward to reading that one and the other books that will be coming along in this series.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
About Janice Kay Johnson
Janice Kay Johnson is the author of sixty-plus books for children and adults. Her first four published romance novels were coauthored with her mother Norma Tadlock Johnson, also a writer who has since published mysteries and children’s books on her own. These were “sweet” romance novels, the author hastens to add; she isn’t sure they’d have felt comfortable coauthoring passionate love scenes!
Janice graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in history and then received a master’s degree in library science from the University of Washington. She was a branch librarian for a public library system until she began selling her own writing.
She has written six novels for young adults and one picture book for the read-aloud crowd. ROSAMUND was the outgrowth of all those hours spent reading to her own daughters, and of her passion for growing old roses. Two more of her favorite books were historical novels WINTER OF THE RAVEN and THE ISLAND SNATCHERS which she wrote for Tor/Forge. The research was pure indulgence for someone who set out intending to be a historian!
Janice is divorced and has raised her two daughters in a small, rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She’s an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter, and foster kittens often enliven a household that already includes a few more cats than she wants to admit to!
Janice loves writing books about both love and family — about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life.
In addition to her real name, she has also written under several pseudonyms through the years, including Janice Stevens, Janice Bartlett, Kay Bartlett and Kay Kirby.
Her Superromance novels are frequent finalists for Romance Writers of America RITA awards, and she won the 2008 RITA for Best Contemporary Series Romance for SNOWBOUND.