Monday, February 29, 2016

Amish Sweethearts (Neighbors of Lancaster County #2) by Leslie Gould













Title: Amish Sweethearts (Neighbors of Lancaster County #2)
Author: Leslie Gould
Pages: 352
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Genre: Contemporary/Amish Romance
Publisher: Bethany House
Format: Paperback (also available in eBook)
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the book:

     Their two worlds couldn’t be further apart. Can anything bridge the divide between them?

     For years Zane Beck and his Amish neighbor Lila Lehman were best of friends. But just as Zane gathered the courage to discover if their friendship could develop into something more, her controlling father arranged for her to be courted by their bishop’s son. Zane, heartbroken and frustrated, joined the Army, running away from his shattered dreams.

     The passing of time and the distance between Zane and Lila haven’t been enough to halt their – now completely hidden – feelings for each other. Any hope for their love grows even more impossible though as Zane’s service takes a dangerous turn when he’s deployed to Afghanistan. Being on the frontline, confronted with the hard choices of war, has him questioning everything, including whether he can continue to serve or not. But all choices have consequences, and with Lila preparing to marry another, will these one-time sweethearts ever find the life together that they both still long for?

My review:

     An incredible look at various cultures!

     This is part of a “true” series. You need to read the first book in the series before you read this one.

     I absolutely love the characters in this series. It was wonderful to see how they have grown and developed since the end of the first book. In some way friendships have deepened and in other ways people have grown apart as they matured.

     One of the things that I really enjoy about this book is that different ways of expressing love to someone are explored. This is a very real part of life and it can be one of the hardest things to understand. Some people share their love verbally while others do it by actions only. It is very important to be able to recognize when someone is expressing love in a way that you don’t.

     I really enjoyed that there was a wonderful explanation of the Amish viewpoint on war. This is a very important part of this story since both Zane (non-Amish) and Simon (Amish) join the army. It really helped me to understand the conflict that arose between Simon and his family when he went home and announced that he had signed up.

     The other thing that I really liked about this book is the information given about the Civil Affairs officers and the work that they do in Afghanistan. I have only heard a brief statement of their work in the news. Now I feel that I have a better understanding of what it entails.

     I have to recommend this book very highly. It gets a rating of 5 stars from me. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

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