Published June 28, 2016
by Zondervan
Synopsis:
Years ago, a picnic basket brought two hearts together. For Rachel and Mike, history may be about to repeat itself.Rachel
Fisher is devastated when the young man she’s loved for years leaves
her to date her best friend. Her heart is broken, and she has all but
given up on love. Determined to keep her mind off the pain, she starts
teaching at an Amish school for children with learning disabilities.
Since his father became ill, Mike Lantz has been overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing for his family and caring for his six-year-old brother, John. When John joins Rachel’s class and she learns that his mother is deceased and his father sick, she desperately wants to help the family, even with something as simple as a meal.With her parents’ old picnic basket, Rachel begins sending food to the Lantz family. As the weeks go by, John’s grades start to improve, and the attraction grows between Rachel and Mike. They can’t deny that their friendship is growing toward something more, but both of them are hesitant to risk a more serious relationship.
The last thing Rachel wants is another heartbreak, and Mike is worried about providing for his loved ones. Will the two be able to reconcile their past hurts with new hope for the future?
Since his father became ill, Mike Lantz has been overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing for his family and caring for his six-year-old brother, John. When John joins Rachel’s class and she learns that his mother is deceased and his father sick, she desperately wants to help the family, even with something as simple as a meal.With her parents’ old picnic basket, Rachel begins sending food to the Lantz family. As the weeks go by, John’s grades start to improve, and the attraction grows between Rachel and Mike. They can’t deny that their friendship is growing toward something more, but both of them are hesitant to risk a more serious relationship.
The last thing Rachel wants is another heartbreak, and Mike is worried about providing for his loved ones. Will the two be able to reconcile their past hurts with new hope for the future?
Here is Amy telling us about The Courtship Basket:
About Amy:
Amy Clipston has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her
fiction writing “career” began in elementary school when she and a close
friend wrote and shared silly stories. She has a degree in
communications from Virginia Wesleyan College and is a member of the
Authors Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Romance Writers
of America. She is the author of the bestselling Kauffman Amish Bakery
series and Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series with HarperCollins
Christian Publishing. Amy works full-time for the City of Charlotte,
NC, and lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, mother, and
four spoiled rotten cats.
Connect with Amy:
Available for Purchase:
My Thoughts:
I loved this story. Amy Clipson takes us back to Lancaster County Pennsylvania for the second installment in her Amish Heirloom series. This sweet story begins with the marriage of Veronica Fisher and Jason Huyard. Mattie and Leroy have 3 daughters, Veronica, Rachel and Emily. Rachel is enjoying the wedding and dreaming of her own wedding to David Beiler. Oh they weren't engaged just yet, but had been dating for four years so the she knew they would soon be announcing their intentions. Suddenly her dreams were evaporating into thin air when she happens upon David and her best friend, Sharon, talking about their own relationship and being open with Rachel about it.
Rachel shows great strength of character when she accepts the job at the Amish school for children who needs extra help. She never imagined herself as a teacher, but she has made up her mind to put all her energies into her position. When assigned a new student John Lantz she finds herself drawn to this young student who recently lost his mother. Unfortunately everything she tried in class fell short of getting John involved in the classroom work, so taking it upon herself she approached his older brother Mike Lantz about not only John's behavior, but his academics.
Mike Lantz is a young man who is truly overwhelmed with responsibilities. His father and uncle share ownership of Bird-in-Hand Builders, but since his father's illness Mike has stepped up to do his father's work. Of course that also extends to their home and care of the animals. He has cousins to help with his father during the day, but in the evenings he's left with the responsibility of not only caring for his father and younger brother, John.
Rachel shows up at their house to talk with Mr. Lantz not realizing the home situation and spoke with Mike about John. Mike tried to explain the situation and that they were trying to help John. Rachel feeling bad about how it may have looked to Mike about her concerns and decided that she wanted to help in any way possible. Her sister Emily gave her the idea to possibly prepare a meal a few times a week and send home with John and also to help tutoring him. Rachel became excited about this plan and hoped it would help convincing Mike to forgive her actions.
This is a very sweet story with elements of betrayal, forgiveness, love and lots of faith. Rachel was a character that I found to be very strong. She was dealt a blow, but didn't let it keep her down. She showed her strength of character so many times throughout the story. Mike was someone I immediately liked. His love of family and stepping up to take on responsibilities he knew nothing about. I was immediately drawn into the plot from page one and with each page I turned I became more invested in the story. This is a book I would recommend to anyone who loves Amish stories.
I received this book free from the
publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book
review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The
opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with
the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Next book in the series, The Cherished Quilt, is set to be released Nov., 2016.
When Christopher Hochstetler comes
from Ohio to work at his uncle’s shop in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, he
gets off on the wrong foot with Emily Fisher. But when he finally opens
up to her about his tragic reasons for leaving home, her heart begins
to change. When Christopher
compliments an old quilt, Emily decides to make a similar quilt for
Christopher as a gesture of friendship. Emily knows she must guard her
heart, as Christopher is not a baptized member of the church, but she’s
suddenly found someone with whom she can imagine sharing a future. When a
family emergency calls Christopher back home to Ohio, Emily decides to
finish the quilt, in spite of her pain, and send it to him for
Christmas. But when Christopher receives it, will he have the courage to
truly follow his heart?
I haven't quite finished this book, but I also like it, Katrina. My son grew up struggling with learning disabilities, so it hits close to home for me.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thanks for posting the picture of Pip the other day. I hope you're still enjoying that sweetie. You could post pictures every day and I'd never get tired of them.
Carole, until recently I had not read many Amish stories. I'm amazed at how much I enjoy these stories though. It's a sweet story and the imagery is great. I really love it when I can connect with a story.
DeletePip is growing. She is a funny cat. She growls like a dog when we have company. She's very territorial with strangers. It took her a few weeks to warm up to Megan when she came home from college. I will post more pictures soon.
Thank you for stopping by.