Love Bears All Things (Amish Secrets, #2) by Beth Wiseman Series: Amish Secrets #2
Published by Thomas Nelson on October 11th 2016
Pages: 318
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Could God be offering Charlotte a second chance at true love?
Charlotte Dolinsky needs time to recover after breaking up with her boyfriend, Ryan. But when a surprise visitor shows up on her doorstep in Texas, she’s forced to put aside her own worries to help her Amish friends in Lancaster County. Soon she is entangled in a web of deception—and this time, she isn’t the only one keeping secrets.
Daniel Byler struggles each day in his Amish community to heal from his fiancée’s betrayal. When he discovers that a member of his family is in danger of being shunned, his pain turns to fear. His only way to help is by partnering with Charlotte, a woman he barely knows who has already deceived them all before.
Charlotte begins building a friendship with Daniel that she’ll need to lean on when more surprises surface from her past and she once again finds herself torn between two worlds. Will Charlotte’s friends in the Amish community be able to show her the power of redemption and lead her home? And can she help young Jacob realize that God offers second chances at happiness when she isn’t even sure herself?
Oh my good tomatoes! I really thought that ‘Her Brother’s Keeper’ wrapped up so evenly that I wasn’t sure what a second book could bring to the table. I was so misguided. Sooo misguided. And completely and utterly glad I was wrong. Charlotte’s life can’t seem to stay stable. She’s good and things are promising with Ryan back in Texas. Then she’s totally without a board to even float on and heading back to Pennsylvania. She needs validation that the people she considers family there have forgiven her for the drama she caused in the previous book. And the drama that tends to follow her. She’s learned to trust in God, to have faith, but girl’s got baggage and a heap of drama and it’s easy to lose track of that trust when life keeps tossing you down.
I was irritated as heck with this whole dream thing that dominated the first part of the book and then seemed like it was just filler that really did nothing to move the story along and was a waste of my anticipation. I was heaps of wrong. But then I was frustrated as all get out when it came back up in like the last 10 pages and was a HUGE deal but then fizzled down to another neatly wrapped up story. I know there’s another one coming so I know this huge thing will make a comeback and most likely be the focus of said book but still. You can’t build a girl up in the beginning and then act like it was nothing only to sling it bigger and badder in the closing moments. I’m dying here people!
Again, Wiseman hits it out of the park with writing real life in the Amish community. It’s just common sense that big things like mental illness and little things like teenage rebellion and growing pains aren’t exclusive to mainstream American culture. The difference is that you rarely hear about it from our more secluded populations. Not that it doesn’t happen there, mental illness does not discriminate age, sex, race or religion. It doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, Christian of Agnostic. The difference is that the more secluded populations aren’t in the mainstream media and social media and advertising their adversity on the street corners. I love that this author takes those things and makes them just as real as if this book didn’t have a single Amish character. Yes, you could probably read this book without reading the first. It wraps itself in nicely. Don’t. Just don’t. This story is like a richly woven tapestry with coordinating throws. You can have one without the other but it works so much better together.
About Beth Wiseman
Beth has a deep affection for the Amish and their simpler way of life, and while she plans to continue writing Amish love stories, she is also branching out into other areas. Her first non-Amish, contemporary—Need You Now—released in April 2012 and landed on the CBA Bestseller List. She enjoyed writing the story based in a town near where she lives, and she chose another small Texas town for her next non-Amish contemporary—The House that Love Built—which is based in Smithville, the same quaint town where movies such as Hope Floats and Tree of Life were filmed. Beth continued to spread her wings when she released The Promise in October 2014. Inspired by actual events, The Promise follows Beth’s characters all the way to Pakistan. Beth was involved in the real-life rescue when her friend was held captive in Pakistan. Beth is currently working on book #2 in her new Amish Secrets series, tentatively titled Jacob’s Ladder. Book #1—Her Brother’s Keeper—recently released and was chosen as a Top Pick by RT Reviews Magazine.
Beth and her husband are empty nesters enjoying the country life in Texas with three dogs and a rooster. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel, paint, and enjoy time with friends and family.
I loved this book so much!