Review: An Amish Family by Kathleen Fuller

Book Description

In An Amish Family, beloved author of Amish romance, Kathleen Fuller, invites readers into the lives of four Amish families.

Building Trust

Grace Miller and Joel King are in love. They’ve dated secretly for the past year and when he proposes marriage, Grace eagerly agrees. But when she tells her parents about the wedding, she’s shocked when her father tells her she can’t marry Joel. Can Grace get to the bottom of her father’s animosity toward Joel so they can have the happily ever after she’s always dreamed of?

A Heart Full of Love (also in An Amish Cradle)

Ellie’s mother hasn’t stopped meddling in her personal life since Ellie lost her sight—and she’s taken it up a notch now that Ellie’s pregnant. When Ellie gives birth to twins, her mother insists on moving in to care for them. But when her mother’s behavior becomes unbearable, Ellie is forced to take a stand . . . and finally find out why Mamm can’t let go.

Surprised by Love

In a desperate move to evade her match-making mother, Emily Shwartz announces that she’s already seeing someone: Reuban Coblentz. The trouble is, Reuban is barely even a friend. Seeing how desperate she is, Reuban plays along. But when the past sneaks up on them, will this temporary arrangement turn into everlasting love?

A Gift for Anne Marie (also in An Amish Second Christmas)

Anne Marie and Nathaniel have been best friends since they were kids. Now things are evolving . . . in ways everyone else predicted long ago. But when her mother suddenly decides to remarry in another state, Anne Marie’s new chapter with Nathaniel looks doomed to end before it begins.

My review: 

This is a great collection of shorter amish romance stories. I have not read many amish stories, but I think I will start trying to read more of them if they are all this good. I liked the addition of the words spoken the way they would say them. I understood some of the words right away, but others took a bit more pondering. Of course I didn't realize until I finished the first story that there was a very helpful glossary at the front that explains all of the words and what they mean haha. I am definitely interested in checking out more of this author's work. 

Building Trust - Wonderful short story of a sweet couple (Grace & Joel) who want to get married and are heartbroken that Grace's father does not give his blessing. I really enjoyed this story and thought that it was very lovely and that everything was handled very respectfully. I could absolutely understand both sides of the situation and truly felt for all of those involved. I am so glad that things were resolved in the end and that the couple got to have their happily ever after. It was a very wholesome feeling story with a message of forgiveness and compassion.

A Heart Full of Love - Ellie and Chris are expecting. Which should be a wonderful thing, but Ellie's mother Edna is convinced that Ellie can't manage since she is blind. Especially when she finds out that Ellie is having twins. Edna insists on moving in and taking care of the babies. I liked this story okay but Edna really got on my nerves and made me mad. She took the joy out of Ellie giving birth to her babies and later when she overreacted to Chris asking for her to let them bond with their babies and stop taking everything over, she did something downright mean spirited. I mean if she was so worried about the babies getting hurt why would she try to set Ellie up for failure by moving things that she would need for the babies when she left in a hissy fit? I found that inexcusable even after I found out her reasoning. I did feel sympathy for what happened to her, but that should be even more reason for her to know better than to do something like she did.

Surprised by Love - Emily and Reuben both have meddling mothers who are pressuring them to marry. So when they agree to a fake relationship to get them off their back, I knew that this story was going to be fun! I absolutely love fake relationship stories. I think it may be my favorite romance trope. Emily and Reuben have wonderful chemistry and I smiled so much while reading their story. Reuben thinking Emily's quirks were cute made me like him from the start but when he defended her against her mother I knew right away I was team Reuben! This was probably my favorite of the collection. Such a cute read!

A Gift for Anne Marie - Anne Marie and Nathaniel have been the best of friends forever. They have game night every week and other traditions they hold dear. So I was ecstatic when they realised that there was more to their feelings for one another than just friendship. Of course they did not realise this until faced with losing one another and both had to be a bit stubborn at first. I do love how well Nathaniel knows Anne Marie. It's just so beautiful to have such a strong bond turn into a relationship. It really gives you hope for them to have a very happy future together. The present he gives her in the end is so amazing and lovely. I was overjoyed and may have got a bit misty eyed. This one ties with Surprised by Love as my favorites!

Overall this is such a lovely collection of stories by Kathleen Fuller and I am sure to check out more of her work because of them. I just love the whole vibe of her writing and look forward to reading more by her. I highly recommend An Amish Family to sweet romance fans (even those who may not have tried out amish romance before).

 ** I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. **