An Amish Christmas by Beth Wiseman

There's something about Amish romances that are just so comforting. I try to read everyone I can get my hands on and have read many. This book actually was three novellas in one, written by different authors, but all about the same groups of people and they intertwined with each other.

In A Miracle for Miriam, Miriam has resigned herself to being a bit alone. After all, even for the plain people she is rather plain. But a boy who broke her heart and spirit when she was fourteen has just returned after an accident in the Englischer world. Seth isn't the mean boy he used to be, but he's having trouble convincing Miriam of this.

A Choice to Forgive follows widow Lydia who after the death of her husband, has been alone for awhile. But then when her first true love, his brother, comes back to rejoin the community she has trouble accepting the feelings that come back. She is still very hurt by his leaving her, but she still feels quite a bit of emotion for him as well.

One Child follows Sarah and David as they cope with the first anniversary of her miscarriage. On a snowy Christmas they have even more surprises as an English couple is stranded in the storm and takes refuge at her house. The woman is very pregnant and worries that early labor will come on while they are trapped by the snow. And Sarah isn't sure how she feels about helping this woman with her child when she so desperately wants one of her own.

All the characters, like most Amish romances, were a little too perfect to be believable. While they had some hardships and flaws, they were still written to be a most wondrous of people. And while I know some Amish myself and don't doubt their general goodness, I know that they have more flaws than often what these books show. Still, all the romances were very nice and I thought all the couples were cute and meshed well together. Some of the side characters I would have liked to see more about, but alas, there were only three novellas in this book so it didn't happen.

For plots they were all pretty standard. Since they were shorter stories the issues resolved pretty quickly and there wasn't a whole lot of serious problems. Still, they were nice charming quick reads and I enjoyed them. I'd have to say my favorite was probably "One Child" and my least favorite was "A Choice to Forgive." I just found the story more compelling for the one and the story I didn't like was kind of hurried. Since these are Amish fictions they could be considered Christian fiction and religion is a strong element in them. Since these were about the same groups of people, I thought for having three different authors the stories and characters were kept well in sync with all the different details.

Not a bad collection of stories. If you like Amish fiction, you'll probably like these.

An Amish Christmas
Copyright 2009
440 pages including recipes and reader's guide

Plain Proposal by Beth Wiseman

*** This review is part of the Amazon Vine program***

So I've been getting into the Amish fiction. They are usually nice simple stories that help the reader realize a simpler way of living, yet still show the intricacies within the Amish community. In short, they are just plain interesting. This book is no exception and turned out to be quite the nice read.

Miriam is excited that her cousin is coming to stay for the summer. Despite the fact that her cousin is of the "English" world, she feels that they will become good friends. Other thoughts distract her as well as she continues to have a crush on Saul Fisher, the boy she wishes to marry one day. She could have any man in the community, but mysterious Saul is the one for her. Her parents disapprove though and Saul has some secrets of his own. Secrets that could change her views, like his plan to leave the Amish community. Miriam must decide what it is in life that she wants. On the other side, Shelby, her cousin, isn't sure what to do in this strange new life. Her parents are embroiled in a bitter divorce and send her to live with her Amish relatives after she gets into some trouble. She's confused about her feelings and where she is wanted in life.

For characters these weren't too bad. I actually found Shelby a bit unbelievable as I think she adjusted rather quickly for a disobedient teenager. I myself love all the domestic arts the Amish practice and would probably be very out of place in such a life so for her to adjust quickly makes me question the characterization. Miriam I liked and thought that she was a very strong independent woman who knew what choices she wanted for her life. She flip flops at times but it mirrors the indecision we all have at points in our lives. The rest of the characters were minor but they all seemed rather vital to the story.

Since this is Amish fiction it is appropriate for everyone and doesn't contain anything offensive. It offers the usual lessons on simplicity and the Amish way of life. I should let those know who are like me and don't research a book, that this is Christian fiction and it is a very strong theme. It can get preachy at parts which I think distracts from the novel, but overall it doesn't distract bad enough to lose the plot. However, these strong themes may be off-putting for some readers. The plot wasn't overly common for an Amish novel, but it does contain a love story which is always great for those who like romance.

A good Amish fiction book I would read this again. I also intend to make good use of the Amish recipes at the end as they sounded absolutely scrumptious

Plain Proposal
Copyright 2011
296 pages including recipes and Dictionary