REVIEW: WRITTEN IN LOVE BY KATHLEEN FULLER

MY REVIEW:

Ive read quite a few Amish books by Kathleen Fuller and WRITTEN IN LOVE is exactly why I love her stories! WRITTEN IN LOVE is the first book in the Amish Letters series. After reading WRITTEN IN LOVE I will read every book Kathleen Fuller has written. I instantly felt like I was sitting in Birch Creek, Ohio helping Phoebe try and figure out what direction her life was heading to. WRITTEN IN LOVE is filled with just as much hope as it is with uncertain feelings. My emotions were all over the place while reading and I was even holding my breath at some parts that I was afraid to keep going. How much more heartache and grief could Phoebe put up with?

WRITTEN IN LOVE is filled with struggling with the choices we have to make and once you start reading, it will be impossible to put down. Phoebe receives a letter addressed to someone else. Instead of throwing it out, she mails it back to it’s sender. Jalon responds back to her and their friendship begins through letters. Keep the tissues close by because this will be one heck of an emotional journey. Phoebe is a young woman with a child and lives with an aunt who is very strict.  Will Phoebe ever find her place in the world and be happy once again? Kathleen Fuller does a wonderful job of teaching the reader what Phoebe is going through. Kathleen Fuller normally writes Amish Fiction, but let me tell you, she really knows how to write about family drama, heartbreak, and forgiveness. I can not wait to read more by this wonderful and heart tugging author.

“‘Dear Mr. Chupp’ – with those three words, a pen-pal relationship is ignited and two lives are changed forever.” (back cover) WRITTEN IN LOVE is filled with likable and relatable characters that will find their way into the reader’s heart. Kathleen has a way of grabbing your heart and just squeezing it until you swear it is going to burst. Then she hands it back to you, slightly bruised but still in tact. How an author can do that is beyond me, but I love when it happens. WRITTEN IN LOVE is going to stay in my heart for a long time to come. My heart is still aching for Phoebe after all she went through when her world came crashing down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

FROM GOODREADS:

When real life isn’t as ideal as the picture painted in letters, can two young people set aside the images they created and learn to love each other’s true selves?

Jalon Chupp has a past he isn’t proud to claim. He’s worked hard to overcome his youthful mistakes, and he has recommitted himself to his faith. As he sees other members of his close-knit Amish community marry and start families, he thinks he may be ready to follow that same path. Remembering a girl he grew up with, Phoebe Bontrager, who moved to Indiana a few years ago, he writes her a letter, striking up a pen pal relationship. But when he invites her to visit him in Birch Creek, Ohio, she resists.

Phoebe has kept her relationship with Jalon a secret, knowing her parents wouldn’t approve of the man with a troubled past. When her mother plays matchmaker, Phoebe sneaks away to Birch Creek and stays with her older brother Asa and his new wife, Abigail. As Phoebe and Jalon spend more time together, they discover they have misrepresented themselves in their letters and begin to worry that maybe their relationship was not meant to be. In order to reach past the perfect images they created in their letters, both Phoebe and Jalon must put their faith in something—or Someone—bigger than either of them could imagine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Best-selling author of Amish fiction. Also a wife, mother, crafter, coffee addict, football fan, and chocolate aficionado.

Kathleen Fuller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and currently lives in Geneva, Ohio. Fuller has been married to James for 21 wonderful years (really, they have been wonderful!) She started writing in 2000, and published her first short story a year later. Fuller has a Masters degree in Special Education, emphasis on teaching the blind and visually impaired, and a Bachelors in Early Childhood/Elementary Education. A few of her favorite things: her relationship with Christ, chocolate (of course!), autumn, a satisfying book, good friends, a sense of humor, people who don’t take themselves seriously, haunting melodies, NFL football, and did we mention chocolate?

Thank you for stopping off and have a wonderful day!🌸📚🌸

HAPPY TUESDAY ☕☕

Good morning! Happy New Book Tuesday..49 here, going up to 68 today with scattered showers again….Have a terrific day and be well my friends!💜

 

IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?📚

Good Morning!

It’s the start of another week. It’s Monday! What are you Reading is hosted by Kathryn from Book Date , this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind. I’m hoping to squeeze in some of my books that I own but remain unread! 

LAST WEEKS READS:

One wrong post has sent influencer Lyla Taylor’s social media empire crashing to her feet. To save it, she’ll have to escape to rural Montana. Six weeks in a high-end spa won’t hurt…except, she’s not booked into a spa, but at a rustic Amish B&B. Suddenly, her roommates are racoons, and her daily activities include hanging laundry. Thanks, but no thanks. Lyla is ready to hit delete and head back to civilization.

Amishman Reuben Milner has a secret…one that could destroy his world. For now, however, he’s kept his life as a novelist under wraps, focusing on providing for his family after the tragic passing of his father. Renting the dawdi house seems the right move—until the wrong woman moves in. However, she comes with ideas to help improve their B&B, and that, along with her feisty personality, is something Reuben can’t ignore. Even if the elders want him to focus on joining the church and finding a wife.

When going home isn’t an option, Lyla decides to help the Milners spruce up their rental. It does help distract her from her problems online. The more Lyla works on the rental with Reuben, the more she wonders if returning to her former life is worth it. However, is it the simple life that Lyla’s heart longs for—or a particular guarded Amishman with secrets of his own?

And when those secrets are discovered, what will it cost them both?

Book two in the delightful and sweet Big Sky Amish Collection.

Who doesn’t love a second chance?

When empty nester Mallory Farrell inherits her grandmother’s run-down tourist shop in Seaport, Oregon, it seems the only sensible thing to do is to sell it. But when her former secret crush, Grayson Matthews, wants to buy the property in order to complete his plans to redevelop the funky town’s business district into a soulless, cookie-cutter outdoor mall, Mallory digs in her heels and decides to renovate the property herself.

With a lot of hard work and a little bit of help, Mallory makes incredible progress turning the store into an eclectic home d�cor shop called Romancing the Home–all while trying to ignore the depressing and decrepit apartment she’s living in on the second floor. When the shop catches the eye of a popular renovation TV show producer, Mallory is thrilled–until it becomes clear that her apartment is to be part of the segment as well.

She’s tempted to abandon her dreams and the town under a cloud of shame. But perhaps there’s more to Grayson than meets the eye. Can he swallow his pride, change his plans, and help Mallory romance her own home–and possibly her life?

When a postal error creates pen pals of two young Amish people, can they put behind their past mistakes to see the bright future God has written for them?

Jalon Chupp has a past he isn’t proud to claim. He’s worked hard to overcome his youthful mistakes, and he has recommitted himself to his faith. When he receives a sweet note included in a piece of misdirected mail, he can’t help but write back. Soon, the letters he receives from Phoebe are the highlights of his days, and with a hopeful heart, he suggests they meet in person.

Phoebe, too, looks forward to every single one of Jalon’s letters. Living with her overbearing aunt, Phoebe doesn’t have too much to look forward to. But when Jalon suggests they meet, she panics—although she has shared some of the deepest longings of her heart with him, she hasn’t been entirely truthful about her past. But when Jalon shows up at her aunt’s doorstep, everything is revealed. And she can only pray he’ll forgive her for holding back the truth.

In order to reach beyond the errors of their pasts, both Phoebe and Jalon must put their faith in something—or Someone—bigger than either of them could pen.

CURRENT READS:

There are secrets that bring friends together, and others that drive them apart…

Mariners Island is barely ten miles long, but when Ivy, Ariana and Cam were teenagers, it was their whole world. Beyond the pristine beaches and iconic lighthouse lies the beautiful old library that belongs to Ivy’s family. While that bound Ivy to the island as an adult, Ariana could not leave Mariners behind fast enough. The town holds too many…memories. Not only her unrequited feelings for Cam, but the tragedy that left a scar on the community.

When a young girl went missing, a teenage Cam was unthinkably the prime suspect. Ariana and Ivy knew he couldn’t have hurt anyone, and they promised to protect him—even if it meant lying on his behalf.

Now, twenty years later, Ariana returns to Mariners just as new evidence emerges on the case, calling into question everything the three friends thought they knew—and everyone they thought they could trust. What really happened that night? Over the course of one eventful summer, Ariana, Ivy and Cam will learn the truth—about their pasts, their futures and the ties that still bind them as closely as the pages of a book…

A letter brings him back to his Amish family. It will take someone truly extraordinary to make him stay.

Roman is on the verge of leaving the Amish ways. Feeling confined by the strict rules, he longs to do something more with his life. But when things don’t go as planned, Roman’s prospects outside of the community dwindle. Upon learning that his beloved grandmother has died and left a letter urging him to reconcile with his brother in Birch Creek, Roman decides to return home. But he doesn’t plan to stay for long.

Leanna Chupp has always made her own way in her small community of Birch Creek. Though some may call her unconventional—strange, even—Leanna is happy. Her unique outlook on life has meant she’s never had many suitors pursuing courtship, which Leanna doesn’t mind. She is content being single.

But when Roman and Leanna find themselves working together again, everything changes. Though neither fit squarely within the strictures of the Amish faith, their differences could be the very thing to help them form a deeper connection to their community and to each other. The question remains: will this strengthening bond be enough to make Roman stay for good?

READING NEXT:

Ivy Yoder hasn’t heard from John King in over a year. She knows it’s time to let go of the idea that they will one day marry, but she’s humiliated to be one of the oldest single women in her Amish community of Birch Creek. When quirky Cevilla Schlabach asks her to help clean out an attic, Ivy is grateful for the distraction. Noah Schlabach isn’t from Birch Creek or even Ohio. His job as an auctioneer takes him around the country and away from a typical Amish life, but he still remains devoted to his family. So when his aging aunt asks him to help clean out her attic, he agrees. Plus, who knows what curious items he might find up there?  As Noah and Ivy work side by side, they come across a different kind of treasure: a packet of letters written during the Korean War. Soon they are swept up in the story of two young people falling in love—even as they remain determined not to fall in love themselves. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!☕📚☕

GOOD MONDAY MORNING!

Good morning! Where did the weekend go?🙄 Its 62 here, going up to 77 with scattered showers.  I hope you all have a wonderful day and stay well!💜

 

 

 

 

GOOD MORNING!☕💜☕

Good morning!!  It’s 60, going up to 72 today! We have thunderstorms coming later on! I’m getting ready to make the dough for Sunday morning Everything bagels. I’ve got laundry to do and there is also NASCAR this afternoon!! I’m hoping for an excellent day of reading. I hope you are all doing well and that you have a wonderful Sunday!! 💜☕💜

 

 

 

 

 

 

☕GOOD MORNING!☕

Good morning! Happy Saturday! 63 here this morning, going up to 80 later on!  We have a line of thunder storms coming through in A little bit, but it should be out of here by this afternoon. Two NASCAR races today and Super cross tonight! Have a wonderful Saturday my friends and be well!💜

FREE WOMEN’S FICTION

I’ve got a fun collection of FREE women’s fiction reads to tell you about. This is a limited-time deal (ends March 28!). So load up your reader with these gems. Over a dozen books from bestselling authors you’ll love 

https://books.bookfunnel.com/freewomensfiction/31w85bhgf1?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=womens_fiction_for_you&utm_term=2023-03-24

Here are just a few that are free:

I have a feeling I will blow up my Kindle after I snag quite a few of these!😳

Have a wonderful weekend!!🌸📚🌸

REVIEW: ON THE GOLDEN CLIFFS BY CHRISTEN KRUMM WITH TRICIA GOYER WITH A GIVEAWAY

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for On the Golden Cliffs by Christen Krumm with Tricia Goyer, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: On the Golden Cliffs
Series: Big Sky Amish #2
Authors: Christen Krumm with Tricia Goyer
Publisher: Sunrise Publishing
Release Date: March 21, 2023
Genre: Christian Contemporary Amish Romance

One wrong post has sent influencer Lyla Taylor’s social media empire crashing to her feet. To save it, she’ll have to escape to rural Montana. Six weeks in a high-end spa won’t hurt…except, she’s not booked into a spa, but at a rustic Amish B&B. Suddenly, her roommates are racoons, and her daily activities include hanging laundry. Thanks, but no thanks. Lyla is ready to hit delete and head back to civilization.

Amishman Reuben Milner has a secret…one that could destroy his world. For now, however, he’s kept his life as a novelist under wraps, focusing on providing for his family after the tragic passing of his father. Renting the dawdi house seems the right move—until the wrong woman moves in. However, she comes with ideas to help improve their B&B, and that, along with her feisty personality, is something Reuben can’t ignore. Even if the elders want him to focus on joining the church and finding a wife.

When going home isn’t an option, Lyla decides to help the Milners spruce up their rental. It does help distract her from her problems online. The more Lyla works on the rental with Reuben, the more she wonders if returning to her former life is worth it. However, is it the simple life that Lyla’s heart longs for—or a particular guarded Amishman with secrets of his own? And when those secrets are discovered, what will it cost them both?

Book two in the delightful and sweet Big Sky Amish Collection.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub | IndieBound

More Books in this Series

MY REVIEW:

ON THE GOLDEN CLIFFS is the second book in the Big Sky Amish series. Social media influencer, Lyla Taylor went too far in a post and her virtual world has come crashing down around her. She is told she needs to get away and regroup. Her team sends her on a relaxing retreat to the middle of Montana. She thinks she’s heading to some swanky spa, but instead winds up at the Milner’s Amish bed and breakfast. Well, to say she isn’t happy would be a huge understatement! I truly loved every minute of this story!

While Lyla is there she butts heads with Reuben Milner. Reuben is trying to hold his family together after his dad passes away which is something Reuben blames on himself. Besides that, he also has a big secret that is not something the Amish would approve of. ON THE GOLDEN CLIFFS has Reuben trying to get so many things crossed off of his to do list and once Lyla arrives, his list doubles. Will he ever get caught up? Not with Lyla and her crazy ideas for fixing up the B and B so the Miller’s can make some dependable income on the place. The banter between these two is just hysterical.

Learning to trust God is a huge story line in ON THE GOLDEN CLIFFS. Even when we make mistakes, God is there. He doesn’t hold our mistakes against us and He doesn’t turn his back on us. The reader is going to fall in love with the beautiful Montana setting while reading this sweet story. I couldn’t help but feel really bad for Reuben trying to fill his dad’s shoes. His secret weighs heavy on his mind and impacts some of his decisions especially where Lyla is concerned. Oh and wait until you meet Reuben’s sister, Penny! She is so funny and Lyla feels a real connection with her. I want to pack my bags and move to West Kootenai and live the simple and carefree life, as long as I can move into the B and B!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from JustRead. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

About the Authors

Tricia Goyer writes out of her passion for God and her love for family and others. The author of more than 70 books, she writes both historical fiction and nonfiction related to family and parenting.

This USA Today best-selling author has won a two Carol Awards and a Retailer’s Best Award. She was also an ECPA Gold-Medallion Nominee and a Christy Award Nominee and won Writer of the Year from the Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference.

Tricia’s contemporary and historical novels feature strong women overcoming great challenges. She is a beloved author of Amish fiction, having written the Big Sky and Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series.

Whether for fiction or nonfiction, Tricia’s writing style is vivid and heartwarming, allowing readers to take home more than engaging stories, but also messages that inspire faith and hope. Her goal is to write stories that matter.

Connect with Tricia by visiting triciagoyer.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

Christen Krumm is the author of the young adult romcom It Happened At Christmas. She lives with her husband and three barefoot wildings in the middle of the world, Oklahoma. She drinks way too much coffee and reads too many books, but creating stories with her Creator is her favorite.

Connect with Christen by visiting christenkrumm.com to follow her on social media, subscribe to email newsletter updates, or listen to her podcast, Exploring the Blank Page.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a print copy of On the Golden Cliffs and a $10 voucher to the Sunrise Shop!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 20, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 27, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Thank you for stopping by and have a fantastic Friday!🌸📚🌸

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Good morning! Its 62 here, going up to 86. 😳😳 I have a small grocery order coming this morning. Then, I’m planning on getting caught up on some reading! Other than that, I  don’t really have any plans! How about you? Be well my friends!💜