Her Hearts Desire (A Season In Pinecraft) by Shelley Shepard Gray

 Mary Margaret Miller needs an escape from her small Amish community. She boards a bus, all alone, for a vacation in Pinecraft, Florida. Meeting Betsy and Lilly on the way, she's amazed to find two kindred spirits. They become fast friends and determine to have the best two weeks of their lives. For Mary, it starts when she meets Jayson Raber. The handsome and charming carpenter is taken by Mary from the get-go, but he has responsibilities back home in Kentucky--including a girl he's supposed to marry.

When someone from Mary's past shows up in Pinecraft, it seems like her perfect vacation is ruined. But that's nothing compared to what's coming when she realizes what Jayson has been hiding.

My thoughts:

Ms. Gray takes her readers back to sunny Pinecraft Florida in her new series.  It really is lovely location and yes, there are many Amish who vacation there during the winter months, which is where we meet Mary Margaret, Betsy, and Lilly.  It seems like these three young ladies are destined to become friends as they get to know each other during their 2-week vacation at the Marigold Inn.  I could easily imagine staying there, from the proprietor, the guests to the description of the breakfasts to the delightful porch.

One of the newly arrived guests happened to be the one person Mary would rather not see, the lovely, but not so nice, Esther. She has bullied Mary back in their hometown and that is not what Mary wants to deal with on her vacation.

As misguided as Jayson Raber is, I liked him so much, and found him to a perfect match for Mary, it just took some time for him to disclose a secret he had been keeping, but when he finally told her she was not at all pleased.  I would have been upset, too. 

Overall, I enjoyed the start to this series.  A novel of friendship, forgiveness, growth, maturity, and sweet romances.

I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous (An Amish Matchmaker Mystery #3) by Amanda Flower

 Set in the fan favorite Amish village of Harvest, Ohio, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower's Amish Matchmaker series brings back the unlikely sleuthing duo of an Amish widow and her zany, thrice divorced best friend. Will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, small-town mysteries, wholesome romance, inspirational fiction, and readers of Jennifer Beckstrand, Charlotte Hubbard, Rachel J. Good, and other authors of Amish fiction.

Millie’s decidedly not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is outspoken, colorful, and so hopelessly romantic, she’s had four husbands. Millie doesn’t judge, and she also doesn’t expect to run into Lois’s most recent ex, gambler Gerome Moorhead, in small-town Harvest, Ohio. With him is the very young, new Mrs. Moorhead, aka “Honeybee.” Lois is outraged, but Millie is completely shocked to learn the next day that Gerome is already a widower . . .

When a large wood carving at the cozy Munich Chalet falls on “Honeybee,” all eyes turn toward Lois. Who else would want a tourist—a complete stranger—dead? And half of Harvest witnessed Lois’s enmity toward the young woman. Suddenly Millie must put aside her sewing needle and flex her sleuthing skills. She’s no stranger to a murder investigation, after all, and if she doesn’t learn who killed Honeybee, Lois could go from Millie’s boisterous best friend to her horrified prison penpal . . .

My thoughts:

Millie and Lois cannot catch a break, but they sure can catch a killer.  These two ladies are a pure delight as they go about their daily lives in the small town of Harvest, Ohio and as usual, they are caught up in another murder.  This one hit Lois hard as it involves her fourth husband, apparently, she is not one to give up on romance and finding love, which is at odds with her best friend, Millie, the once married and now Amish widow.

I adore these two characters, they are older, complete opposites who have managed to remain friends for many years.  They are always there for each other, especially in this story as they once again team up to prove the innocence of someone who looks mighty suspicious and find the real killer.  There are a lot of surprises, several laugh out loud moments but most of all another well plotted, perfectly paced wonderful novel by Amanda Flower.  I was kept guessing until the very end.   I am ready for the next book in this series. If you like a fantastic cozy mystery, I highly recommend this one and the entire series.

I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The Courtship Plan by Kathleen Fuller

Finding a husband is serious business. And serious business requires serious planning.

Charity Raber is one of many single women who came to Birch Creek, Ohio, with one goal in mind: secure a husband from among the desperate bachelors a newspaper advertisement claimed inhabited the town. Even though that claim proved to be nothing more than a cruel prank, Charity is still hopeful that her happy ending might be within reach when she’s set up on a date with Jesse Bontrager. That is until Jesse not-so-gently shares that he has no interest in a relationship with anyone—and especially not with her.

One year later, Charity is working as a caretaker for a kind, elderly English woman in the nearby town of Marigold. She’s also working hard on a brand-new courtship plan. A plan that absolutely does not involve Jesse Bontrager. But when he moves next door and is made aware of her scheming, Charity vows to prove that her plan is foolproof. Meanwhile, Jesse is sure she’ll make a fool of herself. And for some reason he’s not willing to let that happen.

This stubborn bachelor and determined bachelorette will soon learn that their plans rarely work out as expected—but God’s plans always will.

My thoughts:

I had mixed feelings about this book at first, I didn’t like Charity very much which was concerning because she is one of the main characters.  I did start liking her once she moved to Marigold where she became a caretaker for a kind elderly lady.  I think I fell in love with the rowdy dog owned by Charity’s employer before I cared about Charity.

I thought the courtship plan Charity engaged in was fairly amusing as were the interactions with her least favorite person, Jesse Bontrager.  They have a rocky past from Birch Creek were they both used to live, that caused embarrassing times for Charity.  I became more engaged in the story a few chapters in and found myself chuckling and shaking my head at some of the things I was reading.   It turned out to be a much better read than I thought and promises to be another good series by Ms. Fuller.

I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley.  Opinions are my own.

 

Engaging Deception (The Joplin Chronicles #3) by Regina Jennings

 

Olive Kentworth has spent her life hiding her interest in architecture, even though she pores over architectural books and sketches buildings. When she accepts a job on a home expansion, it's only because her cousin Amos agrees to pose as the builder. To further hide her involvement, Olive takes a position as a nanny--not knowing that she'll be working for her idol, Joplin's leading architect, widower Maxfield Scott.

Maxfield is intrigued by his new nanny--she makes his home and his life bearable again. His work, on the other hand, is a disaster. An untrained builder is remodeling a completed project of his. What's worse, Maxfield's current client wants changes to his plans because of that builder's work.

As the architectural one-upmanship heats up, Olive's involvement becomes harder to hide. Will the relationship between her and Maxfield survive, or will they both miss out on building something for their future?

My thoughts:

It’s always fun to reconnect with the Kentworth family, they are bright, talented and a few have a few quirks.  This is the story of Olive Kentworth, one of the less quirky, characters and one with the biggest secrets.  Olive has a strong interest in architecture which is an unobtainable goal given the time period, she isn’t about to let any obstacles stand in her way as she pursues her dreams, even if it means having cousin Amos pretend to be the builder of a home expansion job she accepts.

There are several funny and clever parts to this story, especially when Olive agrees to be a nanny to the children of Maxwell Scott, an actual and well-known architect.  Between caring for the children and sneaking peaks at the plethora of reading she finds in Maxwells office, she is learning quite a lot.  I loved seeing the change in both characters as well as catching up the characters I have grown so fond of in this trilogy.    I love these authors work which is why I highly recommend reading this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book.  Opinions are my own.