 |
| CountryLife4Me Book Review |
About The Book:
Ariana’s comfortable Old Order Amish world is about to unravel. Will holding tightly to the cords of family keep them together—or simply tear them apart?
Twenty-year-old Ariana Brenneman loves her family and the Old Ways. She has two
aspirations: open a café in historic Summer Grove to help support her family’s ever-expanding brood and to keep any other Amish from being lured into the Englisch life by Quill Schlabach.
Five years ago Quill, along with her dear friend Frieda, ran off together, and Ariana still carries the wounds of that betrayal. When she unexpectedly encounters him, she soon realizes he has plans to help someone else she loves leave the Amish.
Despite how things look, Quill’s goal has always been to protect Ariana from anything that may hurt her, including the reasons he left. After returning to Summer Grove on another matter, he unearths secrets about Ariana and her family that she is unaware of. His love and loyalty to her beckons him to try to win her trust and help her find a way to buy the café—because when she learns the truth that connects her and a stranger named Skylar Nash, Quill knows it may upend her life forever.
Ties That Bind is the first novel in the Amish of Summer Grove series.
About the Author:
Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author who has written a dozen works of fiction and one of nonfiction. She and her dearest Old Order Amish friend, Miriam Flaud, coauthored the nonfiction, Plain Wisdom: An Invitation into an Amish Home and the Hearts of Two Women. Cindy has been featured on ABC Nightline and on the front page of the Wall Street Journal,and has worked with National Geographic on a documentary concerning Amish life. In June of 2013, the Wall Street Journal listed Cindy as the one of the top three most popular authors of Amish fiction.
She's won Fiction Book of the Year, Reviewer's Choice Awards, Inspirational Reader's Choice Contest, as well as one of Crossings' Best Books of the Year. She's been a finalist for the prestigious Christy, Rita, and Carol Awards, Christian Book of the Year, and Christian Retailers Choice Awards.
Her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families enrich her novels with authenticity. Though she didn't realize it at the time, seeds were sown years ago that began preparing Cindy to write these books. At the age of ten, while living in the dairy country of Maryland, she became best friends with Luann, a Plain Mennonite girl. Luann, like all the females in her family, wore the prayer Kapp and cape dresses. Her parents didn't allow television or radios, and many other modern conveniences were frowned upon. During the numerous times Luann came to Cindy's house to spend the night, her rules came with her and the two were careful to obey them--afraid that if they didn't, the adults would end their friendship. Although the rules were much easier to keep when they spent the night at Luann's because her family didn't own any of the forbidden items, both sets of parents were uncomfortable with the relationship and a small infraction of any kind would have been enough reason for the parents to end the relationship. While navigating around the adults' disapproval and the obstacles in each other's lifestyle, the two girls bonded in true friendship that lasted into their teen years, until Cindy's family moved to another region of the US.
Cindy and her husband reside near the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains in their now empty nest.
If you'd like more information or to contact her, you can go to her
website: http://www.cindywoodsmall.com
or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorcindywoodsmall
Review:
Ties that Bind offers the reader some mystery, and romance for those who enter Summer Grove. You will feel for all of the characters as they navigate love, family, and religion. When you follow Ariana’s journey, you will be eager to see what twist this story will take next, (but you have to wait for another year to find out the ending. And you will be on pins and needles hanging on for this too) you will love how each character meets the challenges that arise when two very different worlds collide. Ties That Bind will leave you anxious for the rest of the series.
This is not a book like any other. It sits apart from all the rest, as does the author. Make sure to get your copy. You won't be dissatisfied.
This is a book worth 5+ stars. A must read book. One you won't put down till you're through with it.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free for review purposes only from Bethany House Blogger Review Program. I was not compensated in any way other than a free copy for my opinion. The opinion stated is that of the blog owner's. CountryLife4Me . Books worth reading can be found at our Pinterest page.
Thanks for visiting. Have a great and blessed day. Love, Mary