The Promise of Palm Grove : a Book Review

PromisePalmGroveSo maybe you know by now I like Amish fiction. If not I’m telling you here. I like it’s innocence and the focus on homemaking.
Not only that but Shelley Shepard Gray is one of my favorite authors in the genre. Shelley’s books, while showcasing the simple idyllic lifestyle we imagine the Amish have, also include a good dose of reality less we lose ourselves and imagine that there is perfection here on earth.

In The Promise of Palm Grove Amish bride-to-be Leona is thrilled to be in Florida, on a mini-vacation in the pretty town of Pinecraft. She’s with her friends, who happen to be related to her intended, and at first she hides the fact that Leona’s real joy is in being away from her fiancé.

Edmund is a good man, and will make a decent husband (so they say) . . . just not for Leona. The more time she spends with him and his controlling, overbearing ways, the less she wants to be his wife.

A chance encounter with a wayward cat brings Leona face-to-face with a handsome, fun-loving Amish man named Zachary Kauffman, and Leona is faced with two vastly different futures.

Grocery Bags with Food

Will she continue on with Edmund or take a chance on Zachary?

Poor Leona! How many young girls have found themselves in such a situation and make the wrong choice to appease other people not looking at the big picture that they will be with this person for the rest of their lives (especially in the Amish world).

While Leona’s dilemma was not necessarily fun to read it was interesting. I cringed whenever Edumd was around and really wondered how nobody else close to her could recognize his controlling ways. Leona feared the wrath of her mother and her friends!

The town of Pinecraft, Florida is written beautifully. I think I want to take a vacation there. It seems that the only ones who work are those who own B&B’s . Ice cream, clean beach parties, clean home parties. And sunny days.

I’ll admit most of the Amish characters in this book seemed perfect except for Edmund who was so bad you wonder how Leona said yes to him in the first place. The side story of Zachary’s sister was a nice touch and I’m looking forward to Book 2.

 Purchase a copy: The Promise of Palm Grove: Amish Brides of Pinecraft, Book One

 

Shelley-Shepard-GrayAbout the author:Shelley Shepard Grayis a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Holt Medallion winner. She lives in Southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

 

Find Shelley online: website

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from **enter entity here** as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

 

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