Title: An Amish Wedding ****
Author: Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller and Kelly Long
Published by Thomas Nelson, 2011
Kindle Edition
Trust Issues Abound in An Amish Wedding
An Amish Wedding consists of three novellas with characters who overlap from one story to the next. I have read previous Amish-based volumes of novellas, written by any or all of the same authors, and have enjoyed each of them very much. I like the continuity of characters, with the shifts in focus. This volume and its interwoven stories is no exception.
In "A Perfect Secret," Kelly Long opens with Rose's reaction to a perfectly unromantic proposal of marriage. Rose knows and understands all of his stated reasons, but she longs for a little romance. Luke seems utterly lacking in any such sensibilities. Rose is hampered by the belief that she knows Luke fully, because they have been best friends all their lives.
Rose's secret desire for adventure sends her out in the night after the thief who has been stealing from the community, and who has now stolen the pies Rose had baked and set outside. Through her quest, we learn that Luke, too, has kept secrets from her, from his family, and from the community at large. These revelations set both Rose and Luke free to be who they are. They also relieve Luke of a burden he has carried and tried to meet all by himself. But will these revelations bode well for Rose and Luke's marriage?
Kathleen Fuller introduces us, in "A Perfect Match," to Naomi and Zeke. Naomi is 25 years old, which is really "old" for an unmarried Amish woman. She was once abandoned by the one man she thought she could ever love, and had built up strong defenses against being hurt, again. Zeke is a few years older, really old for an Amish man never to have married, but he has just been waiting for the one woman who could be his match.
Zeke lives in another state and has come to visit for his cousin's wedding, and he is struck by Naomi right away. Naomi cannot deny that he is attractive and that they do hit it off well, but she has promised to help her friend Margaret "find a man." She tries to set up Margaret with Zeke, but that does not go well. Naomi has long been convinced that she could protect herself from being hurt, again--a common misbelief.
Later, it seems more likely that Margaret has found her man than that Zeke will be able to win Naomi. Somehow, just saying, "You can trust me," isn't enough.
Beth Wiseman brings us "A Perfect Plan." Of course, no plan is ever really perfect or comes to perfect fulfillment. In this case, hardly anything remains that could go wrong for Priscilla and Chester, as they approach their wedding day. Priscilla always wants everything to be perfect, but Chester's and Priscilla's plans face one disaster after another, through all the months of their preparations. They love and are committed to one another, but after so many things go wrong, each begins to question whether, in fact, they are supposed to marry each other. Could God be trying to tell them something?
I enjoyed these novellas, as I have enjoyed the other stories I have read by the same authors. I suspect developing stories and characters is more difficult in a novella than in a full-length novel, and I have enjoyed their novels even more. But I do recommend An Amish Wedding to readers who enjoy Christian, and specifically Amish, fiction.
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
