Reuben is nursing a broken heart and a bruised ego, and flees his community to stay with his grandparents. His grandmother Anna is already looking for a new girlfriend to replace the fiancée who broke off their engagement because she and his best friend, John, fell in love. But Reuben tends to be hot-headed, arrogant, and proud, not a typical Amish man. Fern, John’s younger sister, trails after Rueben, supposedly to help him recover from his broken heart, but also because she is in love with him herself. The author does such a good job of making Reuben unlikable that one wonders what Fern sees in him, anyway! The tale is entertaining, and Fern’s interactions with Reuben often border on the humorous. The story bogs down a bit in the middle, illustrating over and over how unkind Reuben can be and how patient and caring Fern is. It finally picks up the pace again towards the end, when John comes to visit. The book as a whole may not be all four-star quality for me, but the characters of Anna and her husband Felty certainly pushes it towards the five-star mark. ( )

Return to Huckleberry Hill is a tale about pride and love and unlike most Amish romances, this book is not sugar-coated and I'm not ashamed to say this book made me cry.

Return to Huckleberry Hill is the story of Ruben, a prideful Amish man who finds out his best friend and girlfriend have fallen in love, not trying to deceive him on purpose. But Ruben is more concerned about being made a laughing-stock, and being betrayed by his best friend, that he hightailed it to his grandparents' house in Bonduel.

But when Fern, the sister of his best friend turns up and tries to help him get past his pride, Ruben fires back with hurtful words, but Fern persists in trying to help him! All the while hiding her love from him, but will Ruben realize before it's too late?

Return to Huckleberry Hill truly is a beautiful story and by the end, I was in tears for poor Fern. The characters in this book are well-developed and the story is unique and truly heartwarming.

Return to Huckleberry Hill is a part of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series, but author Jennifer Beckstrand has written them that you can read them as a stand-alone, but why would you want to? This series is truly marvelous!

I give Return to Huckleberry Hill 5 stars ( )

This was fantastic. I love the continuing characters. This is book seven of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill and I love Anna and Felty. They are great matchmakers. Reuben comes to stay with Anna and Felty when he believes that everyone in his hometown is laughing at him. Fern comes to Huckleberry Hill to try to cheer Reuben up and get him to come home. While at Huckleberry Hill Fern and Reuben learn many lessons. I did not want to put this book down. I received an ebook copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will. ( )

We are back with two of my favorite people, Annie and Felty, the wonderful Amish grandparents, who feel that in their senior age need to find their grandchildren the right spouse.
This time their grandson Reuben is in need, and worse of all he feels he has been betrayed by his fiancé and his best friend, and is now at his grandparents for recuperation.
Feeling she needs to help with his healing, his friends sister Fern, has arrived in Huckleberry Hill to be there for Reuben, and help him learn to forgive.
The theme of this story is about forgiveness, and some find it easy and others find it next to impossible. We are offered different scenarios and each individual is very different
Parts of the story I found to be predictable, and others were taking a bit long to get to the acceptable conclusion. I did have a great deal of compassion for Fern, wow what a gutsy girl, and all heart.
Will Reuben wake up and see what is in front of his eyes, and will our loveable grandparents be able to help him, answers are waiting.

I received this book through Net Galley and the publisher Kensington, and was not required to give a positive review. ( )

Return to Huckleberry Hill by Jennifer Beckstrand is the seventh book in The Matchmaker of Huckleberry Hill. It is Christmas Eve in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Reuben Helmuth along with the youth group is providing some Christmas cheer to the elderly and shut-ins in the community. Reuben is happy to spend time with his girlfriend, Linda Sue (Bishop’s daughter). Reuben notices that Linda Sue is no longer with the group and starts searching for her. He finds her with his best friend, John King. It turns out that Linda Sue and John have been seeing each other (behind Reuben’s back) and have fallen in love. Reuben feels humiliated and his pride is wounded (other people knew about Linda Sue and John’s relationship). He cannot believe that Linda Sue would pick a pig farmer over him. Reuben departs Sugarcreek and heads for Bonduel to stay with his grandparents. Anna and Felty are surprised by Reuben’s appearance, but they are happy to see him (though it changes their current matchmaking plans). A couple of months go by and Reuben is still at Huckleberry Hill. One day Fern King, John’s sister arrives in town. She is there to get Reuben to return to Sugarcreek and forgive John. Anna and Fern devise a plan to find Reuben a new girlfriend and get him out of his funk. They set up a knitting group of eligible young women. When Reuben ends up insulting the ladies (foot-in-mouth disease), he enlists Fern’s help to make amends. But what happens when a couple of the girls get the wrong idea. Reuben is in for a challenging time, but it will not be boring with Fern along for company. Will Anna and Felty succeed in making another successful match for one of their grandchildren?

Return to Huckleberry Hill is just delightful. Anna and Felty are amusing and heartwarming characters. Their hijinks are guaranteed to make you smile (and laugh). I could not believe that Reuben actually liked Anna’s cooking (there must be something wrong with his taste buds). Some of the food descriptions will put you off your next meal (Anna’s food combinations are certainly creative). Fern was a great addition. I appreciated her spunk and outlook on life. I give Return to Huckleberry Hill 5 out of 5 stars. Some of the messages or themes in Return to Huckleberry Hill are forgiveness, the downfall of pride, trusting in God and judging others based on occupation, appearance, or social standing. I thought Return to Huckleberry Hill was well-written and had a good pace. The author’s descriptive writing allowed me to picture the scenery and characters. This really brings the book to life for me and allows for a pleasurable reading experience. The ending left me giggling and a clue to Anna and Felty’s next victim. I will be on the lookout for the next enchanting book in The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series. ( )