I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Arms of Mercy by Ruth Reid Series: Amish Mercies #2
Published by Thomas Nelson on June 5, 2018
Genres: Amish & Mennonite, Christian, Clean & Wholesome, Fiction, Romance
Pages: 352
Source: NetGalley
Amazon|Barnes&Noble|Goodreads
"Ruth Reid continues her Amish Mercies series with Arms of Mercy, exploring the question of what do you do when all hope seems lost. On the eve of a new year, Catherine Glick is expecting Zach, her beau of five years, to propose, but instead, the unexpected arrival of an old boyfriend, Elijah Graber, causes her life to spiral out of control. Acting nothing like herself, she proposes marriage to Zach. But he is not only unreceptive, he's upset by her boldness-by her desperation. Disheartened by his rejection, Catherine leaves for Florida to work in her cousin's bakery. Elijah Graber knows that he hurt Catherine when he left their Amish district six years ago, and he's come back to explain his actions-even if it means following her to Florida to do so. He sets out to win her trust and hopefully her heart back on the two-day bus journey from northern Michigan to Florida. Just when Elijah is starting to tear down the walls around Catherine, the bus skids on the icy road and crashes into another bus. In the following mayhem, Elijah is separated from Catherine and forced to go to a hospital to recuperate. As the news of the bus accident becomes ever more tragic and Elijah still hasn't heard word from Catherine, everyone around him gently encourages him to prepare for the worst. But Elijah knows that his hope comes from the Lord, and he will not give up his search for Catherine. He lost her once to a rash decision; he will not lose her again. With supernatural nudging from a red-headed man, Elijah's determined to find Catherine, no matter the cost"--
Classifying a Ruth Reid book as ‘Amish Fiction’ or ‘Amish Romance’ doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what this woman brings to the pages. I mean, yes it is about the Amish. Yes, it is fiction. Yes, it’s got romance. But, but, but. . . There are so many more layers of depth and sub-genres and even sub-sub-sub genres of plot in each of her books. She gives me intrigue without suspense or mystery. She brings subtle spiritual depth that if you don’t know what that is you will miss it entirely and still have read an amazing book. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can see behind the ‘mysterious’ ways God works in our lives. Reid simply takes that sometimes and weaves it into amazing ‘Amish Romance Fiction’.
As the second book in the Amish Mercies series, ‘Arms of Mercy’ takes us back to the Amish Table in Michigan. Same setting, new community thread, and completely stand alone (but do read ‘Abiding Mercy‘ because Ruth Reid!). Let’s get really honest here. The only, I mean ONLY, thing I didn’t love about this book? The purple cover. Well, there was a bit of a pacing issue the late middle part of the story where time suddenly stopped and drug on for a bit before finding it’s grove. Nope, gotta go purple. I am probably the only person on the planet that doesn’t like purple. I don’t mean it’s not my favorite color, I mean I just don’t like it. Period. Done. I do not own nor plan to own so don’t bring me something purple. It’s not my thing. My style. It doesn’t fit on my color palette. Sorry for the fiddy-badillon people out there who claim it as their favorite color. You can have it. All of it. No strings attached.
OK, now that I have effectively alienated myself from every single other inhabitant of this planet (and possibly beyond – do aliens like purple?) let me tell you why I loved this book. Remember how I always complain about books that give me a too perfect jumbo oversized neat little bow? Well. . . Remember just a little scroll up where I mentioned that sometimes, if you are lucky, you get a glimpse of God’s ‘mysterious’ ways? Yeah, so um. This book gives me both of those things, I get the glitter sparkle bow because of the mysterious ways. Parts of the book feel unbelievable and almost trite but for those ‘mysterious’ ways. I would love to give an example or twenty but well, spoilers. This book is grounded in authentic faith that feels natural and embracing. I could gush on or I could just tell you to hurry up and read the book yourself. I mean it came out on Tuesday already!
About Ruth Reid
Ruth Reid is a CBA and ECPA best-selling author of the Heaven on Earth series. She’s a full-time pharmacist who resides in Florida with her husband and three children.
Nice review! This book was really great! 🙂