Review: Sweet Novella About a Winter Heart Beginning to Thaw
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2013
A "sexy Amish" novella?  I was intrigued and just a little bit nervous that I'd be struck by a lightning bolt for downloading and reading it.  Turns out there was no need for that.  What a pleasant surprise.  This is not one of my mother's Beverly Lewis stories, but not a cheap buggy romp either.  What it IS is a beautiful love story that just happens to be set in an Amish community.Widower Caleb Skyler, in hopes of escaping some of the guilt and sorrow from his wife's sudden death, packs up his belongings and sets out to make a new life for himself and his young daughter.  Along the way, the spirit of a young woman leads him to a farm that just happens to be for sale.  When he meets the owner, he realizes she is the twin sister of the very one who led him there.Hannah Peachy lost her twin sister, husband, and young daughter in a buggy accident and has never recovered from the loss.  Her husband had been cruel and uncaring, and Hannah remains convinced it is because she is not worthy of love.  She has no desire to marry again, but knows that eventually the Bishop will force her to do so.Little by little she lets the kind and handsome Caleb into her life.  Both have to tear down walls built of hurt, guilt, and bitter disappointment to find their way to a life worth living, letting  the winter in their hearts finally turn into spring.Yes, there is a mildly steamy wedding night scene in this book.  AFTER they are married.  Even the most prudish amongst us must admit that there is nothing wrong with a man and wife, Amish or English, expressing the depths of their love for each other through physical means.  In this book, however, that physical attraction is not a focal point.  What IS the heart of the story is how each helps the other to heal and finally know the comfort and joy of true love.