The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis ~ Review

“The Bridesmaid” is more than just a story about a young woman who can’t find love in her future, it’s a story of trust and faith that God’s best is more wonderful than anything we can orchestrate in our own control.  

            I will have to admit here at the start of my review, that I’ve been a bit disappointed with the last couple books I’ve read by this author. I’m afraid this title failed to sweep me into the Amish world as previous titles have. While a love story is always timeless, I think the plot moved too slowly to truly capture me…and I confess to skimming.

          

  I’ve loved many of the Amish books in the past, several series fill my keeper shelves, but this title and the one preceding it haven’t entertained me as I expected them too.

           

I can say I thought the uniqueness of Joanna and Eben’s interests made them “different” in the genre of Amish fiction and how they overcame their struggles to triumphs was fulfilling.

            

I am truly sorry to say this book disappointed me. It’s with no malice, only grievance that I say as much and I hope…I know there will be other readers more taken than me.

          

  This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers through CFBA for an ARC to review.

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More about the novel and author....

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Bridesmaid Bethany House Publishers (September 11, 2012) by Beverly Lewis

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Beverly's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Latest in Chart-Topping Amish Fiction from Beverly Lewis

Twenty-seven-year-old Joanna Kurtz has made several trips to the altar, but never as a bride. The single young Amishwoman is a closet writer with a longing to be published something practically unheard of in her Lancaster County community. Yet Joanna's stories aren't her only secret. She also has a beau who is courting her from afar, unbeknownst even to her sister, Cora, who, though younger, seems to have suitors to spare.

Eben Troyer is a responsible young Amishman who hopes to make Joanna Kurtz his bride--if he can ever leave his parents' farm in Shipshewana, Indiana. Yet with his only brother off in the English world, intent on a military career, Eben's hopes for building a life with his dear Joanna are dimming, and patience is wearing thin. Will Joanna ever be more than a bridesmaid?

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Bridesmaid, go HERE.