I received a complimentary copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity Group and was under no obligation to post a review. No compensation was received for sharing this review and all opinions are my own.
Published by HarperCollins on March 6th, 2018
Source: Litfuse Publicity Group
Genres: Amish & Mennonite, Christian, Clean & Wholesome, Fiction, Romance
Pages: 288
New York Times bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray brings us another compelling suspense in her Amish of Hart County series, this time featuring an undercover English DEA agent who will do anything to protect the Amish girl he loves.
Calvin Fisher left the Amish community at fourteen and never looked back. Only his brother’s illness can bring him back to Hart County. Now, as Calvin works to make amends, he meets Alice, a local nursery school teacher, and falls hard for her. But he has a secret that could threaten the happiness he’s finally found.
Alice shouldn’t like—or want—Calvin. He’s English, has a questionable past, and an even more questionable job. Still, she can’t help being intrigued. Though Calvin assures Alice that he’s worthy of her, she’s torn between surrendering to her growing feelings and steering clear of him.
When a sudden surge of criminal activity alarms the community and even targets Alice, Calvin fears that his double life has put everyone he loves at risk. As for Alice, she can’t help but wonder if the brave and honorable man she’s lost her heart to is far more dangerous than she could ever imagine.
Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.
Christian or Secular: Christian
ASEL Rating: mild language
Content to be aware of: Smoking, gang activity, mild violence (barely described.) The word pissed is mentioned on one occasion.
Suggested Age: 15+
His Risk is book #4 in The Amish of Heart County series by Shelley Shepard Gray. Other books in the series include Her Secret (#1), His Guilt (#2), and The Gift (#3). The last book in the series, His Promise is set to release in October 2018.
I love this author’s works and this series has been fairly solid. So, I was a tad bit surprised that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as previous installments.
Calvin returned home to Amish country because his brother was diagnosed with cancer. Upon his return, he meets Alice, a young woman living next door to his brother and sister-in-law. Immediately he was smitten with Alice. His desire to protect her and his concern for her seemed sudden to me. I tend to struggle with the insta-love trope in any book. And in this case, Calvin is an undercover DEA agent. So, it seemed to me that he would have been more guarded with his heart.
Alice was likewise interested in Calvin from the start. And then, her friend was also thrown into an insta-love situation with Calvin’s boss in the gang. Which again, I had a hard time believing.
There wasn’t much suspense for me in this book. The mystery of who ransacked Alice’s classroom was fairly obvious and it surprised me that the suspect wasn’t obvious to Alice or her friend.
I was also taken aback to see the main character smoking and using the word “pissed.” It’s something I’ve not ever encountered in an Amish book. While I’m no prude, I just wasn’t sure of how I felt about it in this genre.
I love seeing something innovative and new in the Amish genre and I feel that Shelley is doing a great job of livening things up a bit. I just wasn’t as fond of this particular installment in this series as the others.
I am still interested in reading the last book in this series and I will definitely read more by this author. This particular book just wasn’t one of my favorites.
About Shelley Shepard Gray
Shelley Shepard Gray is a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Holt Medallion winner. She lives in Southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.
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