Monday, July 9, 2012

A Season of Love by Amy Clipston, c2012

Announcing the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series!
I will be reviewing Book 5, the final book in this series. Here is an overview:

    In Book 1, A Gift of Grace ~*~ Rebecca Kauffman longs to fulfill her quiet Old Order Amish life by giving her husband Daniel a child, but for years she has been unable to conceive. When her older sister, Grace, who left the Amish community for the modern world, dies in an automobile accident, Rebecca is left custody of her two teenage nieces, Jessica and Lindsay. Now Rebecca wonders how she is going to take on this daunting task of being an Amish woman raising two English teenagers.

    In Book 2, A Promise of Hope ~*~ an Amish widow with newborn twins discovers her deceased husband had disturbing secrets. As she tries to come to grips with the past, she considers a loveless marriage to ensure stability for her young family … with her faith in God hanging in the balance.

    In Book 3, A Place of Peace ~*~ Miriam Lapp returns to the Amish community she once belonged to when she hears of her mother's death. Amidst her grief and some painful lies from her past, she is forced to face the people who rejected her. Losing her once fiancé and being shunned by her father becomes an excruciating test of her faith. A Place of Peace is one story you won't soon forget.

    In Book 4, A Life of Joy ~*~ eighteen-year-old Lindsay Bedford has reached a crossroads. Should she stay in the small Amish community she's known and loved for four years or return to the English life in her hometown in Virginia where her older sister is a college student? An extended visit to Virginia might just tip the scales as Lindsay reconnects with friends, joins a new church, works on her GED, and is pressured by her sister to stay and 'make something of herself.' Will Lindsay leave her aunt Rebecca and become English or settle in Bird-in-Hand and join the Amish church?

    In Book 5, A Season of Love ~*~ the final book in the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series, three young women are about to change their lives. Lizzie Anne and Samuel have decided to get married, and Lindsay is about to be baptized in the Amish faith and is courting Matthew. While Katie Kauffman is happy for her friends who seem to have settled their futures, she is also finding herself something of a fifth wheel. When Lindsay's sister Jessica returns to Bird-in-Hand, she finds that Jake Miller has moved on with his life. He lost hope that Jessica would ever be satisfied to settle in rural Pennsylvania and takes comfort in becoming close friends with Katie. However, it's not an easy road as Jake is Mennonite and Katie has just been baptized in the Amish faith. Her father forbids them to see each other, adamant that his daughter marry an Amish man. A Season of Love is filled with surprising twists that will grip you to the very last words. As the stories of your favorite Amish community draw to a close, join Lindsay, her friends, and all the people of Bird-In-Hand for one last volume.
A Gift of Grace by Amy ClipstonA Promise of Hope by Amy Clipston
A Place of Peace by Amy Clipston
Amy Clipston
A Life of Joy by Amy Clipston
A Season of Love by Amy Clipston


Author's Note: The Making of A Season of Love
"A Season of Love was an emotional novel for me to write since it's the final book in my Kauffman Amish Bakery Series. I held back tears when I wrote the final chapter. However, it was fun to revisit all of my favorite characters once more, and I tied up all of the loose ends. I hope my readers will enjoy taking one last journey with the Kauffman family."

My Review:
This was the first book I have read by Amy Clipston. I found it to be mainly conversational, with the storyline bringing you into their daily lives. Join Katie Kauffman, granddaughter of the Bakery owner, Elizabeth, as she shares her feelings of anxiety. Her friends begin their future and she feels she doesn't fit in her present. She doesn't fully understand why her father is so against her friendship with Jake Miller, who is employed by her grandfather, Eli, to build new bakery shelving. Jake's mother left their community years earlier to marry Jake's father. Can Katie's father include this grandson of his father's business partner?

A Season of Love contains strong characters who strive to know their own minds, but possibly not each other's hearts. I found compassion in the grandparents, Eli and Elizabeth, that seemed to be lacking in their son, Robert, Katie's father. With the conversational writing, some material was repeated speaking to someone else. Katie's father was so close to the law of his beliefs to hinder him in his hearing of his family. Reading the earlier books would possibly give me insight into his character that I am missing here. There were tense moments and misunderstandings. Growth was evident as the story progressed in the interaction between characters.

Thank you to Zondervan Link to Lit for this review copy in exchange for my review in my own words.

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