loved it... ( )

Good story with an underlying theme of forgiveness. Sadie returns to Stoney Ridge after a visit with her sister in Ohio and the opportunity to learn methods of healing from one of their best. By the time she gets home she is accompanied by an infant that was left in her care at a local bus station. Her arrival home is somewhat overshadowed by the news of a pair of endangered falcons nesting on her family's property. Also resident on the property is college intern Will Stoltz, who has been assigned to study and watch over the birds. Gideon Smucker, the young man who had been courting Sadie before she left, has also been waiting anxiously for her return.

Sadie's return gets off to a rough start when everyone assumes that the baby is hers and she becomes the subject of gossip. She is especially hurt when even Gideon makes the same assumption. It feels like the only person she can really talk to is Will, who always seems to be there when she needs him. He is charming and funny and skilled at getting Sadie to relax and have a little fun.

Will has come to work with the birds and try to recover from some trouble of his own. He made some foolish decisions during his last semester which have gotten him suspended from school. His father has cut him off financially, and set up this internship to give him something productive to do. But Will has also come with some secrets of his own that begin to weigh on his conscience. His growing friendship with Sadie opens his eyes to another side of life and he's left questioning what he should do.

Gideon has always been shy and rather tongue-tied around Sadie. He loves her but has never been able to get the words out. Jealousy hits him rather hard when he sees Sadie with Will and he makes some assumptions that gets him into trouble with her. Every attempt he makes to fix things seems to go wrong for him and just make things worse.

I enjoyed this book and seeing the changes that each of the characters goes through. Sadie starts out as very shy and doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence. She also seems to have a bit of trouble with being judgmental. Taking care of the baby and using her healing skills starts to change things, as does the admiring attention of Will. I liked seeing the way he encouraged her to stand up for her wishes. I liked seeing the influence she had on Will.

I have to admit that Gideon was not my favorite character. For someone who claims to love Sadie, he was awfully quick to believe the rumors. He didn't even bother to ask her about the truth. I really didn't see that he had much in common with her to make a successful relationship.

Will was pretty interesting. His attitude at the beginning was pretty bad, and he certainly came across as selfish. But he did seem to care about the birds he was watching over. I liked his willingness to jump in and help Sadie with the baby. I really enjoyed their developing friendship and how they were able to talk about anything. He was surprised by how much he opened up to her, and the effect that it had on him. He seemed to be developing a real caring for her, even though their lives are so different.

The secondary characters all add depth to the story. Sadie's little sister M.K. seems to be the catalyst for many of the things that happen. She has the habit of speaking before she thinks which creates some trouble for Sadie. But she has a good heart and always means well. Their father is loving and wise, but also somewhat clueless, especially when it comes to women and their actions and feelings. I liked their housekeeper, Fern, and her way of guiding people the way she thought they should be.

There are quite a few interesting plot twists and turns in the story affecting the main characters and others. I was surprised by the one involving the baby. Will has several things going on in his life, one of which is his relationship with his father. That takes an interesting turn, especially with a revelation about his father that explains several aspects of Will's life. His story seems to have been left hanging, so I'm curious to see if he's in the next book. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Although I had seen this author's books on the self before, I had not read any until now. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the first of this series at my library, but am looking forward to reading the third book as the youngest sister, Mary Kate will be the protagonist in "The Lesson." This one centers around Sadie and her dealing with a found baby, rumors, her father's health and two suitors, one of them being English. I also liked learning a bit about falcons. ( )

Sadie Lapp returns home to Stoney Ridge only to find two young men also there to begin showing her their affection toward her.

I really enjoyed this book and picked it up as often as I could. It is one of those stories' that grabs you from the first page to the last page.

Sadie Lapp returns home after spending the winter in Ohio with her sister and brother-in-law. She brings a surprise with her that causes tongues to wag in the community. This causes much distress for Sadie to think that people could actually think the worst about her.

Mary Kate (MK) is up to being her same old self when it comes to spying on others and spreading gossip. I loved her in "The Keeper" and she is still one of my favorite characters.

This is a heart warming story about God's grace and forgiveness. It is always easy to see other's that need to forgive but how often do we see it in ourselves? It's about doing the right thing. We find that God's love comes through once again.

I can't wait to read book 3, The Lesson. ( )