Book Review: Plain Paradise

Two mothers bound together by the daughter they both love. Can Linda’s love for two different mothers bind them together?


I liked the story. One dying woman, who gave her daughter up for adoption, suddenly shows up on the doorstep of her Amish daughter’s home. Their lives are irreversibly changed. I loved the faith woven through the story. So often in today’s fiction it is glossed over, but PLAIN PARADISE was rich with faith and God’s love, but it was never overbearing. The ending didn’t feel stilted or rushed, but as it came to its conclusion I was pleased and confident the characters were well off without me.

But I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as PLAIN PURSUIT (book 2 in the Daughters of the Promise series). I thought that some actions were over dramatic and much of the novel, I felt I was being filled in, instead of experiencing. There is a great deal of looking back, right away in the book and it makes it difficult to really delve into the story, I prefer to discover little tidbits throughout the book.

But in all, it was a quick read and a fresh glimpse at the Amish and a nice change from the normal clichéd character.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishers for my copy of this book to review.