Book Review: Leah's Choice by Marta Perry/3.5 Stars

About the book:

All of Pleasant Valley seems to think the newcomer from Lancaster County is the perfect match for Teacher Leah. After all, so few new families come to their separate Amish community, and fewer still unmarried men. Daniel Glick is a widower with three young children to look after-clearly he's in need of a wife.

Daniel's past haunts him. Though he cannot miss the beauty in Leah's bright eyes and patient ways, he also sees a reminder of his pain-filled marriage. Leah, too, has a burden to bear. Years ago, she was engaged to Johnny Kile, and she was heartbroken when he decided to leave the Amish community. Since then she has immersed herself in teaching, forgetting any hopes of having her own family. When Johnny returns, seeking reconciliation, Leah must decide between two pathways, either of which will completely change her life.

My thoughts:

I won't lie...I had the hardest time finishing this book.  Literally, it sat on my nightstand for probably 6 months after I had read 100 pages, and couldn't go any further.  I couldn't seem to relate to any of the characters, and the parts of the story I wanted to know more about (particularly the medical testing/genetics issues) were mentioned the least.  But somehow, someway, I decided to pick it up and dust it off, and attempt to finish it.

Obviously, I reached the end or I wouldn't be writing this review.  :o)  And believe it or not, it did get a little better.  It took me a few pages before I could get back in the swing of things as I tried to remember all the characters and how they were related to one another.  Once I got all that figured out, I had a great time with the last two-thirds of the book, and had it read in little more than a day.

Unfortunately, though, the ending left a lot to be desired.  I suspected how the story would end, and was afraid that the ending would be rushed, and sure enough...it was.  Yes, Leah had a "choice" in the end as to which proposal she'd accept, but neither proposal seemed to fit with the other serious events happening in her life.

I'd like to read some of Marta's other books, because while I like her story concepts, the Amish community seemed like it might have been too simplistic of a setting.  I found myself craving more emotion, more descriptions, more life, and while a small spark of them seemed to appear toward the end, it just took too long to get to them.  Those who enjoy simple stories with happy, tidy endings would probably enjoy this book as well as the others in the series.

3.5 Stars

Southern?  No
Sass?  No

*I received my copy of this book through PaperBackSwap.

Book Review: Anna's Return by Marta Perry

About the book:

When Anna Beiler returns to the Pleasant Valley Amish after three years in the English world, she doesn't come alone-she comes with a baby daughter. Despite people's assumption, the child is not Anna's biological child but was adopted by her after the real mother, Anna's friend, tragically died. So Anna returns not seeking the redemption her family assumes. Instead, she's hoping to hide herself among the Plain People from the baby's violent father until she feels it's safe to go back into the world again. She tells herself she can do anything to protect her baby, even lie to the people who love her most. So she moves in with her brother Joseph and his wife Myra. She reconnects with her father, sister Leah, and Leah's new family. And she begins to spend time with Joseph's partner in his machine shop, Samuel, whose steady patience and thoughtful responses, which made him seem "slow" when they were children, now suggest to her a deeper understanding that sometimes infuriates her and more often makes her feel safe.

Returning isn't as easy as Anna had hoped, because it forces her to face the consequences of her own irresponsible behavior that led her to leave in the first place, and the pain she caused those she left behind. True redemption, she finds, is not a simple matter of pretend humility, but a deep change of the heart that means she will never be the same again. She learns, too, that redemption comes with a renewed love and appreciation for all the people in her life, the tightly bonded community that will always nurture and protect her.

My thoughts:

In some ways, I think I came upon this book at the wrong time.  Having read nothing but Amish fiction for a straight month and nothing but it (literally), I was a bit burnt out before I even started this one.  The back cover blurb sounded great, really, but I felt like I had to make myself finish this one. 

The story lagged a bit in several places, and I was disappointed that the relationship between Anna and Samuel didn't progress any faster than it did.  There were also times when it was difficult to keep all the characters straight.  I kept getting the relationships confused between which characters were siblings and which were cousins.  Part of that could have easily been due to the fact that I have not yet read the first two books in this series.

I'm giving Anna's Return a rating of 3 stars because even though I had a tough time staying focused on the story, it was still a good one, especially with the Amish culture thrown in.  Without the Amish aspect, it would've been quite dull.

**Many thanks to Berkley Publishing for providing a copy to review for the Inspy Awards.