Series: Daughters of Lancaster County #3
Published by Barbour Publishing on July 1st 2006
Genres: Amish & Mennonite, Christian, Fiction, Romance
Pages: 352
Leona is Bishop Jacob Weaver's daughter and a dedicated teacher in a one-room Amish schoolhouse. After her father's tragic accident, Leona's faith wavers. How could God allow something like this to happen to one of His servants? Outlander Jimmy Scott comes to Pennsylvania in search of his real family. When he is hired to paint an Amish schoolhouse, Jimmy and Leona find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. Can anything good come from the love between an Amish woman and an English man? What secrets will be revealed and what miracles await God's people in Lancaster County? The Bishop's Daughter is book 3 in the Daughters of Lancaster County series. Other books in the series include The Storekeeper's Daughter: Book 1 and The Quilter's Daughter: Book 2.
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.
Content Review:
Christian or Secular: Christian
Profanity: None
Sex: None
Violence: None
Trigger Warnings: None
Disclosure: Mentions of alcoholism & treatment.
You know, sometimes you find a book that just does it for you. I won’t say that this book is without flaws but I genuinely enjoyed the entire series. Let me just go ahead and address the complaints that I had and that I’ve seen others complain about.
The time jump:
I get why this bothers people because it threw me for a loop as well. You have a 10+ year time jump from book two to three. I was momentarily confused and felt as if I missed out on key elements that weren’t fully wrapped up in book two. An example of this would be the romance between Abby and Matthew. I needed more from that relationship and didn’t get it.
The Rushed Ending:
I too felt that this ending was rushed. Jimmy quickly worked through his conflicting emotions and found himself fully immersed in Amish life. I didn’t see much to propel Leona and Jimmy together and I actually shipped her with another character for the first half of the book.
But…the book still worked for me:
I was connected to Jimmy and the entire family. I wanted to know if Jimmy would forgive Jim for kidnapping him. I wanted to know if he would go back to his Amish family and become Zach again. I just didn’t know how all of this would work. I’m glad he decided to remain Jimmy. I can’t imagine spending 20+ years of my life and then changing my name—even if I’d been born with a different name.
Despite all of the near unbelievable melodramatic situations, I still needed to journey with these characters. It was the connection that I felt to them that made this book such an enjoyable read for me.
I wouldn’t say this series is a favorite of mine but I’d still give it a solid four-star.
About Wanda E. Brunstetter
A nationally recognized authority on the Amish community, Wanda E. Brunstetter has sold more than seven million copies of her fiction and nonfiction books. Wanda enjoys an uncommon kinship with the Amish and continues to visit their communities throughout the country. Her books have won numerous awards and topped several bestselling charts.
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