Friday, October 14, 2016

The Bishop's Family #3

Suzanne Woods Fisher is the author that introduced me to Amish fiction. 
My love of Amish started with her Lancaster County Secrets series and I have been following her writing ever since.  When she introduced The Bishop's Family I knew it was a series I wanted to read.  I have loved getting to know the Stoltzfus family.  The release of the third in the series is The Devoted which is Ruthie's story. 


The Devoted (The Bishop's Family #3) 
The Amish life is all she's ever known--but will it satisfy her soul?
Restless and adventurous, Ruthie Stoltzfus is right on the cusp of leaving her Amish home. Secretly, she's earned her GED, saved her money--but she can't quite set her journey into motion. Just as everything falls into place, along comes Patrick Kelly.

Patrick is a young man on a journey of his own. He's come to Stoney Ridge to convert to the Amish and has given himself thirty days to learn the language, drive a buggy, and adapt to "everything Plain." Time is of the essence and every moment is to be cherished--especially the hours he spends with Ruthie, his Penn Dutch tutor.

Ruthie's next-door neighbor and cunning ex-boyfriend, Luke Schrock, is drawn to trouble like a moth to a flame. Rebellious, headstrong, defiant, Luke will do anything to win Ruthie back--and Patrick Kelly is in his way.

Published October 4th 2016
 by Fleming H. Revell Company  


Available for Purchase:



Suzanne is celebrating the release of The Devoted with a special giveaway!

devoted-instagram

One winner will receive:

—A copy of The Devoted
—An iPad Mini 2 16GB

 
Enter today, but hurry! The giveaway ends on November 2. The winner will be announced November 3 on Suzanne's blog.
 
 
Meet the Author:
 
 
Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling author of Amish fiction and non-fiction. Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, who was raised Plain in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She travels back east a couple of times each year for research. For fun, too.
Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world. She has an underlying belief in her books–you don’t have to “go Amish” to incorporate many of their principles into your life: simplicity, living with less, appreciating nature, forgiving others more readily, trusting in God. When Suzanne isn’t writing, playing tennis, or bragging to her friends about her grandbabies (so cute!), she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To her way of thinking, you just can’t take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone’s underwear in its mouth.

Connect Online:
 
WEBSITE 


My Thoughts:

First let me say, I loved this book.  
This is the third book in The Bishop's Family series, but is easily a stand alone to me. 
In this story we travel back to Stoney Ridge and the Bishop's family. We find Ruthie at a crossroads in her life. She is unsure of what she truly wants to do, but has obtained her GED to give her some options. She has worked at the near by inn, but knows she wants to do something more. An outsider, Patrick Kelly, has arrived and wants to live among the Amish for 30 days and immerse himself in the culture. At first Ruthie is astonished and thinks he doesn't truly understand the true rigors of life living Amish, but as she gets to know him and starts seeing Amish life through his eyes it opens hers and she's not the only one. The Bishop is suddenly seeing things that he had not really ignored, but over looked.
This is a well written story that pulled me in from the very first page. The author weaves words together that bring the community and characters to life for me. The plot is sweet, engaging and flows effortlessly. The characters are strong and well developed and the secondary characters are well integrated into the story. I was pulled to Ruthie's turmoil almost immediately. I imagine she is like most young people when they come to a crossroad in their life. I love the parenting style of the Bishop. The author brings us a wonderful story with elements of mystery, love, and faith. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good Amish story. 
**I received this book from the publisher as part of their book bloggers program.  I was not required to write a positive review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

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