An Amish Market|Book Review

All the color and variety of a quaint Amish shop in a charming collection of novellas by four of your favorite authors. Feel free to come in and browse!

Love Birds by Amy Clipston

While Ellie Lapp and her mother are still mourning the loss of her brother, Seth, Ellie starts working at one of the gift shops in town. Seth’s friend Lloyd is talented at carving wooden birds, but his father disapproves and expects him to take over the family farm someday. Ellie sees the beauty in Lloyd’s creations and insists Lloyd sell the birds in the gift shop where she works. As Ellie and Lloyd spend more time together, they begin to develop feelings for one another, but she accidentally betrays his trust. Will she lose any hope of a future with him?

A Bid for Love by Kathleen Fuller

Every week, Hannah Lynne brings her home-churned butter to the local market. And every week Ezra stops by to purchase some. Hannah Lynne knows not to read too much into it—Ezra is a confirmed bachelor and barely even glances her way, despite any hope to the contrary. But when Ezra bids an exorbitant amount to win the quilt she had her heart set on, Hannah Lynne can’t stop her heart from taking over her mind. Could Ezra finally be in the market for love?

Sweeter Than Honey by Kelly Irvin

Shattering a jar of pickled beets wasn’t the impression Isabella hoped to make on her first trip to the local Combination Store of Bee County, Texas. But as embarrassed as she was by the accident, she didn’t think it warranted the frosty reaction from the handsome manager of the store, Will Glick. As she soon learns, though, Will’s heart has been broken one too many times. And now, for some reason, Isabella finds herself determined to be the one to repair that broken heart and renew his faith in love.

Love in Store by Vannetta Chapman

Stella Schrock works at the Old Mill in Nappanee, Indiana, with new employee David Stoltzfus, a recent widower. When strange happenings begin occurring around town, it appears as if someone wants to close the mill. Stella and David have to work together to solve the mystery of what is happening at the Old Amish Mill, and in the process they might just find that God has more in store for their future than they would ever have dreamed possible.

Suggested Age: 13+: The light romance is completely clean. There’s mild suggest violence in the last book but nothing inappropriate.

An Amish Market is a collection of four novellas by Amy Clipston, Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Irvin and Vanetta Chapmen.  Each of the four novellas are easily read as a standalone story but also expand on existing character communities from each respective author.  It isn’t necessary to have read any previous books by any of the authors but it’s a nice treat for their regular readers to get a quick revisit with favorite characters.

Amy Clipston led off the story collection with Love Birds. Ellie is still mourning the loss of her brother. You may recall this tragedy from The Forgotten Recipe and while that book covered the loss that Seth’s fiancé felt–this novella took us into his home and into the life of his sister.

This sweet little romance really pulled me in from the very first page. In fact, my first goodreads update was, “Ellie and Lloyd better get together!!!”

This story made me sigh and smile.  Amy really has a way of writing characters that are genuine and authentic.  She is able to create an emotional bond to her characters in a way that few other authors can.  Love Birds was definitely a fantastic addition to the Amish Market.

Kathleen Fuller brought to Hannah and Ezra to life in A Bid for Love.  I really both of these characters. Ezra was a little frustrating at times but in a completely adorable way. I was really rooting for these two from the get go. I really loved the conclusion of this novella as well. Oftentimes with short stories I feel like the story is rushed and that it doesn’t tie up well in the end. This story was just lovely and the ending made me shed a little tear.

Sweeter than Honey is the first thing I’ve read by Kelly Irvin.  I wasn’t familiar with the characters but I did enjoy the story. I will have to check out the other books and give them a go.  I thought that while the story was very sweet, it seemed to rush a bit more than the first two characters. I really liked Will and Isabella but I thought their journey to romance was just a little rushed feeling. I’d still like to check out this author though as the writing was solid and the characters were enjoyable.

This collection is brought to an end with Vannetta Chapman’s unique Amish mystery, Love in Store. There’s just not a lot of Amish mystery out there. I guess it’s because people write about them being a peaceful people and thus, there’s not much murder and mayhem. Vanetta blended mystery and the Amish in very well together. I’ve always enjoyed a good mystery and this was a classic who-dun-it.  I’m very excited to pick up her Murder Simply Brewed book soon. This delightful little mix of almost conflicting interests was a breath of fresh air for the Amish genre.

Want to read more? Check out these reviews for an Amish Market by these other bakers!

–Books for Christian Girls

–Two Girls and a Book

–Quiet Quilter’s Blog

Cindy’s Book Reviews (review and giveaway)

Posted By: Kristin Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Amy Clipston, Collections, Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Irvin, Vannetta Chapman