Wanted by Shelley Shepard Gray

My grandma and I seem to pass Amish books back and forth and when she gave me this one I was more than happy to start reading. A light Amish romance it has the usual components of these novels, but still is a lovely read. Technically the 2nd book in the series, you don't really need to read the first book first, as this one stands alone quite well.

Katie has some dark secrets in her past; things that she has done that she is not proud of during her time of rumspringa (Amish teens chance to see the English world). But she's put that behind her now and has nursed a secret crush on handsome widower Jonathan. He still pines away for his wife but when an opportunity arises for Katie to stay and take care of his children, things brew between the two of them that are unexpected. Katie knows she wants him, but isn't sure that he is ready to love her in return.

Katie's a great character. A bit dramatic at times but I realize that in my view, things the Amish view as very bad really aren't so bad at all so I need to think about that while reading. Jonathan I didn't find as likable of a character but he served his purpose as Katie's love interest. I did like his two daughters, they had a lot of personality and really added to the book, giving small problems here and there to keep it interesting.

The plot was actually pretty standard, I've seen the same in other Amish books. But there were enough little differences to make it seem its own and I still enjoyed it quite a bit. There were a couple of little plot twists that were resolved far too easily in my opinion, but I do have to keep in mind that this is a romance. Like most Amish books out there, it could be considered Christian fiction but it was not overly preachy and more used the nuances of religion as describing the Amish way of life.

Not a bad Amish book. I'll definitely check out more by this author.

Wanted
Copyright 2009
241 pages