When
four maidels join forces to turn an abandoned barn into an Amish marketplace,
the unmarried women have community in mind. But their fledgling enterprise
promises to reap surprising rewards for each in turn, including the gift of
unexpected love . . .
For Regina Miller, the new Morning Star Marketplace is a chance to share her
secret work with the world—without revealing herself. Old Order Amish forbid
the creation of art without purpose, but without a husband, Regina has been
free to explore the joy of painting in her attic.
Yet
when Gabe Flaud’s curiosity leads him to speculate that Regina herself is the
painter, the full weight of their community’s judgement falls on her shoulders.
When Gabe stands up to defend Regina, questioning the Order’s restrictions, he
reveals his own guilty secret and is shunned along with her. Forced to turn to
each other for companionship, the young couple must learn to balance their own
needs with their deep faith … and a love that will show them all things are
possible.
For Regina Miller, the new Morning Star Marketplace is a chance to share her
secret work with the world—without revealing herself. Old Order Amish forbid
the creation of art without purpose, but without a husband, Regina has been
free to explore the joy of painting in her attic.
Yet
when Gabe Flaud’s curiosity leads him to speculate that Regina herself is the
painter, the full weight of their community’s judgement falls on her shoulders.
When Gabe stands up to defend Regina, questioning the Order’s restrictions, he
reveals his own guilty secret and is shunned along with her. Forced to turn to
each other for companionship, the young couple must learn to balance their own
needs with their deep faith … and a love that will show them all things are
possible.
Read an excerpt:
April had painted the Missouri countryside with a palette of vibrant greens and gentle pastels only God Himself could create. The pastures were lush with new grass, and the dogwood and redbud trees added splashes of pink, cream, and fuchsia to the untamed landscape. Jo Fussner and her four maidel friends were on their afternoon walk, soaking up the midday sunshine. An occasional car passed, but otherwise, Morning Star seemed to be nodding off for its Sunday nap.
As they reached the edge of town, Jo gazed at a dilapidated white stable that sat back from the road. The plank fence around it was also in a sorry state of disrepair. The harsh winter hadn’t done the stable any favors, and Jo thought the place looked sadder than usual as the breeze riffled some of its loose shingles.
The wooden sign posted on the fence alongside the gate startled her. “Did you know this place was for sale?” Jo blurted. “I haven’t seen this sign before.”
“Me neither,” Molly Helfing replied. She glanced at her rail-thin twin sister, Marietta, who was recovering from chemo treatments. “Last I knew, the Clementi fellow who owned this property died in the nursing home—”
An idea was spinning in Jo’s head—an adventurous, totally impractical idea—as she gazed at the long white stable with its peeling paint and missing boards. Her longtime friends would think she was ferhoodled, yet her imagination was running wild with possibilities.
“The Clementi kids must’ve decided to sell the place rather than keep it in the family,” redheaded Regina Miller remarked. “I can’t think it’ll bring much, though, run-down as it is.”
“Anybody who bought it would have to invest a lot of money to make it usable as a stable again,” Lydianne Christner said with a shake of her head.
“But wouldn’t it make a great place for some shops?” Jo blurted out. “You Helfings could sell your homemade noodles, and Mamm and I would have more space to display our bakery stuff and our summer produce—and we could get other local folks to rent spaces, and—and it’s on the main highway! Think of how much more business we’d attract here than we do at the roadside stands in our yards.”
My thoughts:
Morning Star by Charlotte Hubbard is the first book in her new Maidels of Morning Star series. The series is off to a great start in the first book as the reader is introduced to the five unmarried Amish women who share a love for family, each other and their community. I loved seeing how enterprising they are as the ideas flow when they are given permission to open new businesses that will benefit not only the business owners but will also fund a new school for the children in Morningstar.
Each of us are given gifts but in the Old Order Amish not all gifts are considered useful or practical as is the case with Regina Miller who is a talented artist. Regina has been painting in secret for many years but she desperately wanted to sell her artwork which causes some unexpected challenges but also an unexpected show of support of Gabe Flaud, a friend and coworker. I was surprised to find out that Regina’s story would be the first one the author chose to tell but what a wonderful story it is. This character stole my heart and I found myself rooting for her throughout the entire book. I also am fond of Bishop Jeremiah because he has a heart for the people of his church and will go to great lengths to do what he feels is right for them even if it means upsetting a few of the elders. It took awhile for me to warm up to Gabe but once I did, it was clear he is a good and honest man.
Overall, I thought Morning Star was an absolute delight to read. I loved the maturity of the characters who are interested in their community and past the age of the typical singings that I normally see in Amish fiction. Ms. Hubbard has been of my favorite authors for several years because she has a knack of crafting stories that are different than most other authors in this genre, her novels are unique, exciting and always leave me waiting for her next release. It’s going to be hard to wait for the next book in the series find out what she has in store for her readers.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. All opinions are completely my own.
Meet the author
In
1983, Charlotte Hubbard sold her first story to True Story. She wrote around 70
of those confession stories, and she’s sold more than 50 books to traditional
or online publishers. A longtime resident of Missouri, she’s currently writing
Amish romances set in imaginary Missouri towns for Kensington. She now lives in
Omaha, NE with her husband of 40+ years and their Border collie, Vera.
She wrote around 70 of those confession stories, and she’s sold more than 50 books to traditional or online publishers. A longtime resident of Missouri, she’s currently writing Amish romances set in imaginary Missouri towns for Kensington. She now lives in Omaha, NE with her husband of 40+ years and their Border collie, Vera.
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Order
Print
Zebra Books
July 28, 2020
ISBN-13: 9781420145120
ISBN-10: 1420145126
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GIVEAWAY
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Thanks so much for your thorough review, Cathy, and for featuring my book on your blog today! And thanks for being a longtime reader, too!
ReplyDeleteMorning Star by Charlotte Hubbard sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLooks so good can't wait to read!
ReplyDeleteI love reading Amish fiction and this book is one I would enjoy.
ReplyDeletemarypopmom (at) yahoo (dot) com
Merry