A Recommended Read.

A Miracle of Hope, the first novel in Ruth Reid's The Amish Wonders series, is a delightful story of faith and unexpected love. This incredibly heartwarming romance is beautifully written with a compelling storyline but it is the extraordinary cast of characters that completely stole my heart.

Unmarried and pregnant, Lindie Wyse is out of options when she agrees to an arranged marriage with her brother's friend, Josiah Plank. Starting over in a new community with an older husband is difficult but Lindie is determined to be a good wife and mother to Josiah's daughter, Hannah. Her feelings about her pregnancy are ambivalent and she is struggling to bond with her unborn child. Lindie's new life is also complicated by her inability to communicate with Hannah and her uneasiness around her new husband.

In the beginning, Lindie is quite shy and timid. She is also very reluctant to discuss her past and the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy. She is undergoing a slight crisis of faith as she tries to understand God's plan for her and her baby. Lindie tries to be an obedient wife but she does not hesitate to voice her opinions where Hannah is concerned. She lets her instincts guide her relationship with her young stepdaughter and Hannah soon begins to flourish under Lindie's care.

Still deeply mourning the death of his wife Caroline, Josiah never thought he would remarry but he agrees to a marriage of convenience for Hannah's sake. Amid his growing concern for Lindie's health and that of her unborn baby, Josiah is shocked by the realization that he is beginning to fall in love with his young wife. Conflicted by his unexpected feelings for Lindie and his loyalty to Caroline, Josiah must figure out how to move forward with his life.

Josiah is kind, caring and compassionate. He takes a gentle approach with Lindie, but he is quite firm when it comes to matters of her health. Although he has strict ideas about how he wants Hannah raised, he does listen to Lindie and changes his stance on a few of his viewpoints. Josiah is at first reluctant to give in to his feelings for Lindie and he finds it difficult to reconcile his need for her with his desire to keep his love alive for his first wife.

Just as things are finally coming together for Josiah and Lindie, an unforeseen health issue threatens their future. The community rallies around the couple and provides them some much needed assistance as they face this difficult battle. Josiah is accepting of their fate but Lindie's faith refuses to let her give up and she rises to the challenge facing them.

A Miracle of Hope exemplifies everything I love about Amish novels: a slower paced, simpler life, community support and strong beliefs. Ruth Reid takes all of these essential ingredients, adds in some complications that take faith and love to overcome and the resulting story is heartfelt, emotional and most importantly, believable. An incredible journey of love and faith that I hated to see come to an end and leaves me eagerly anticipating the next installment of The Amish Wonders series. ( )

Title: A Miracle of Hope (An Amish Wonders Novel #1)
Author: Ruth Reid
Pages: 352
Year: 2014
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
My rating is 5 stars.
One of the best aspects of the series is there is a riveting story in each novel filled with suspense, romance, faith, heart break and redemption. In this first book, a young woman has a marriage arranged by her brother who doesn’t know what happened one night when his sister didn’t come right home after the singing gathering. When Lindie turned up pregnant, her brother arranged for her to leave Ohio and marry a complete stranger in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
At first Lindie and Josiah enter marriage as a commitment with boundaries that only these two know about. The closer it comes to Lindie’s due date the more Josiah looks sickly and is afraid a past illness has resurfaced. Now, will they both enter these trials believing God can heal and deliver them or will their faith crumble?
I really was captivated by the story and eagerly anticipate reading the next two books in the series. While the following book isn’t tied together to book one by characters, it takes place in the same area. Book two is titled, A Woodland Miracle followed by book three, A Dream of Miracles.
I really like being able to sit back and read a good tale for hours without having to filter some aspects I read in other books. I have been to the UP in Michigan and it is beautiful, and I am sure very cold as portrayed in the novel when winter comes. The author doesn’t just focus on Amish, but writes a captivating tale that makes readers unable to put the book down. I hope you enjoy her books too!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 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.” ( )

Let me say this first. Read the book when you have quite a bit of spare time on your hands... because it is HARD to put down. Being a mom of two, I read most of it at night after they went to sleep. Because otherwise, I might have been a bit bad-tempered at some point about putting it down.

It's that good.

There's part of a quote from Beth Wiseman on the front cover that says "...a beautiful tale of romance, redemption and faith." And it really is. In fact, I can't think of a better way to say it myself.

Ruth Reid is one of those writers that will have you on the edge of your seat, nearly tearing at the pages in your hurry to find out what happens next (and this isn't even a suspense novel...).

And you know those books with a lot of unrealistic drama thrown in... you know the ones - just when everything is going great, they throw another crazy twist at you and you find yourself going "COME ON! This can't be realistic!" every time they hit you with another crazy twist... This isn't one of them.

I'm not going to tell you there isn't drama because there is. I'm just not going to tell you what. You can figure out some of it by reading the back cover blurb. But believe me when I say that first - it is NOT unrealistic and second - some of it you could NEVER have seen it coming. And that is one of the things I absolutely LOVE about this book! There are unexpected little twists all over the place. It's so refreshing to see a book done so well - especially when using a story line that some may consider has been done to death.

But not this one. This book had a very fresh take on absolutely everything. And Ruth Reid's ability to draw her readers in is astonishing. It was actually a little tough to handle because as I read about the freezing weather, I found myself feeling it.

Ruth describes her scenes in such wonderful detail - not painstakingly at all but so well, you don't even realize that's what she was doing. She weaves the descriptions into the story like the many threads of a beautiful length of yarn.

Which is one more reason I had so much difficulty putting the book down.

Typically, I laugh when I see those silly pictures on Facebook about reading when we should be doing other things or making jokes about reading one more chapter and actually reading ten - but that is exactly how this story was for me. I bargained with myself that I would read one more chapter before getting back to my other work and then I would read five before I could make myself put it down.

I'm not kidding either. I had to make myself put it down...each time.

And it's not just wanting to know what happens next that gets me. The characters will take a firm hold on your heart strings. It took me less than a chapter to be intrigued, less than three chapters to be hooked and less than ten to be absolutely neck-deep, crazy in love with the story, the characters and the writing! WOW!

I am beyond thrilled at having the opportunity to read & review this book and I can't wait to find more of Ruth Reid's books to read!

Disclaimer: I received this book free in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Ruth Reid is a great author and has been added to my list of favorites. I feel as if I know her characters personally. They are very real, flaws, worries, insecurities, and all that make us human.

Lindie is pregnant. Her brother decides that it is best if she move to an Amish settlement far away from her home and marry his friend. The friend is a widower with an 8 year old daughter who is deaf. The couple agree there will be no love, just a marriage of convenience. You can guess how that works out. ( )

I love Amish fiction. There is always such a strong message of faith and hope that comes through in each story. The characters usually have such a strong bond with God but now and then you meet a character that is struggling with their faith. Although Lindie Wyse loves God she can't understand why some things have happened in her life. Getting pregnant by unconventional means, feeling she has no choice but to marry someone she doesn't love, leaving her home to live in a strange community. Lindie questions God a lot in the beginning but as she comes to love her husband and things begin to unfold she realizes that each event was part of God's great plan all along. You literally watch her faith go from mediocre to strong. It was so great to read about her interaction with Josiah's eight year-old deaf daughter, Hannah, as well. Once Lindie realized Hannah's hidden talents their bond strengthened and their relationship as mother and daughter flourished.

Josiah Plank was my favorite character. Even though his wife had passed away three years earlier he knew he needed a mother for Hannah and he also wanted to help Lindie who had nowhere to turn. What impressed me about Josiah from the beginning was his gentleness. He knew Lindie was pregnant out of wedlock and Lindie felt so ashamed, so imperfect, and one of the things he said to her very early into their marriage that sticks in my mind was when Lindie thought her brother had paid Josiah to marry her and she asked him how much he had charged her brother for a marred fraa.

~Josiah crouched beside her and tilted his head so that their eyes met. "You're nett marred in mei eyes."~

One simple sentence that said so much about Josiah's character. He was a forgiving man and, despite his own promise, grew to love Lindie with a fierceness. Hannah was deaf and hadn't spoken since her mother had died. Her emotions were very closed off and she completely ignored Lindie most of the time until Lindie began to see her hidden talents. Then a mother daughter bond began to form slowly. I loved the part below where Hanah gave Lindie her Christmas gift.

~Hannah returned to her spot on the floor, stroking her baby doll. Then she set the doll down, picked up a brown paper bag, and handed it to Lindie.
"Ach, what's this?" She opened the bag and pulled out the framed picture. "It's beautiful." She held it up for Josiah to see. "Look, it's a picture of hands. All different sizes. Lindie studied the picture closer. The hands all rested on a pregnant belly.
Josiah pointed to the wall. "I thought we could hand it over the desk."
"I'd like that." Lindie pointed to the largest set of hands in the drawing. "Who is this?" she signed.
Hannah signed and Josiah a answered, "God."~

I also loved the way Simon, Hannah's grandfather, completely humbled himself and admitted he had treated Lindie terribly. It was great to watch all of these things unfold. I have only read two books in this series, The Promise of an Angel and A Miracle of Hope. There is a strong thread of hope, faith and God's capabilities running throughout this series. In book one God worked through and angel. In this book God performed his healing powers through an eight year-old little girl. This was such an enjoyable story. I love the characters and, although I can't reveal any details, trust me when I say the plot was amazing. It was about loss, healing, faithfulness, hope, joy, loyalty and love. You WILL need tissues. Trust me. This is one of the BEST Amish stories I have ever read. You will fall in love with it. If you like Amish fiction I very highly recommend this book!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone. If I recommend a book it's because I truly enjoyed it. I received no monetary compensation. ( )