Review: A Christmas Haven by Cindy Woodsmal and Erin Woodsmall

A Christmas Haven: An Amish Christmas Romance
by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Blurb: 

For fans of holiday romances and Amish life comes a new Christmas tale of surprising expectations and discovering miracles.

Old Order Amish Ivy Zook is wrestling with her need to shed her community's ways so she can grow the business of her dreams: planning parties. As long as she's stuck living without modernization, she can barely get her business on its feet. But if she leaves too soon, she'd cause trouble for her sister, Holly, who is planning her wedding to Joshua Smucker. All of their plans become twice as complicated when an old car crashes into the storefront of Greene's Pharmacy, carrying a Swartzentruber (ultra-conservative sect) Amish man, Arlan, and his very ill sister.
The Zooks take in Arlan and Madga, tending to the woman's illness and Arlan begins helping around the family farm. Ivy and Arlan are on different tracks, one wanting to leave her community and the other to return to his. But both young people are trying to discover what God has in store for their futures and what miracles might lie around the corner this Christmas season.



My Review: 

The writing duo, Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall, has crafted a beautiful story in their newest release, A Christmas Haven. It was fun catching up with the characters from their previous book, The Christmas Remedy. This is such a wonderful and heartwarming Christmas tale.

I am giving A Christmas Haven five plus stars. I highly recommend this sweet Amish Christmas Romance. It is a perfect book to get readers started on their holiday season reading.

I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.



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Review: The Christmas Remedy by Cindy Woodsmall / Erin Woodsmall

Blurb (from Amazon):

When an Old Order Amish woman takes a job at a small-town pharmacy struggling to survive in a world of "big box" stores, her motive is to help her Plain community. But the advent of the holiday season brings an unusual mystery to the surface--and possibly love.

Twenty-four-year-old Holly Zook lives a unique life for a young Amish woman. Years ago, her bishop allowed her to continue her education and become the lead technician for Greene's Pharmacy, an old-timey drugstore that looks out for the Amish community--a group largely without secure healthcare plans. She knows she can't marry and hold onto her professional job. She's Amish, and she can only have one or the other, so she spurns love and works toward addressing treatable diseases--like the one that claimed her father's life.

As long as Holly continues to avoid Joshua Smucker, the one man who draws her like a warm hearth in winter, she should be fine. When something unexpected threatens Greene's Pharmacy, Holly and Joshua must work together to unravel what's happened and find the "missing" patient before the Board of Pharmacy shuts them down. As the snows of December arrive, with Christmas in the air, will Holly succumb to the generous spirit of the season?



My Review:

The Christmas Remedy: An Amish Christmas Romance is a great Amish Christmas story. I enjoyed this quick read. I had no problem having it read in no time. It has a small mystery to solve, as well as, sweet and clean romance. 

I am giving The Christmas Remedy a well deserved five stars. I highly recommended for those who love Amish and Christmas stories. A reader will most definitely want to add this heartwarming tale to their Christmas time reading. 


I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

Review: As the Tide Comes In by Cindy Woodsmall / Erin Woodsmall

Blurb (from Amazon):

When an unthinkable loss sends Tara Abbott's life spiraling out of control, she journeys from North Carolina to Georgia's St. Simons Island. Although confused and scared, she hopes to find answers about her past - her life before the years of foster care and raising her two half-brothers as a young adult. Will she find steady ground on the island, surrounded by an eccentric-but-kindhearted group of older women called The Glynn Girls and a determined firefighter? Or will the truth splinter what's left of her identity into pieces?


My Review: 

As the Tide Comes In is the newest release by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall. I have loved Cindy's Amish book and was not sure how I would like a co-authored contemporary novel. Well, I have to say I was not disappointed. How exciting that the setting is the beautiful St Simons Island. I was hooked from the beginning. I could not predict what would happen next with Tara. Such a wonderful story of hope and faith.

I give As the Tide Comes In four and a half stars and highly recommend it.

I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion. 

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Review: Gathering the Threads (The Amish of Summer Grove #3) by Cindy Woodsmall

Blurb (from Amazon):

Finally back in the Old Order Amish world she loves,
Will Ariana’s new perspectives draw her family closer together—
or completely rip them apart?

After months away in the Englisch world, Ariana Brenneman is overjoyed to be in the Old Order Amish home where she was raised. Yet her excitement is mixed with an unexpected apprehension as she reconciles all she’s learned from her biological parents with the uncompromising teachings of her Plain community. Although her childhood friend, ex-Amish Quill Schlabach, hopes to help her navigate her new role amongst her people, Ariana’s Daed doesn’t understand why his sweet daughter is suddenly questioning his authority. What will happen if she sows seeds of unrest and rebellion in the entire family? 

Meanwhile, Skylar Nash has finally found her place among the large Brenneman family, but Ariana’s arrival threatens to unravel Skylar’s new identity—and her sobriety. Both Ariana and Skylar must discover the true cords that bind a family and community together and grasp tight the One who holds their authentic identities close to His heart. 

My Review:

Gathering the Threads is the final and third book from Cindy Woodsmall's series, The Amish of Summer Grove. I was completely surprised how the series ended. There were some twists I did not see coming at all. I have enjoyed the series, but did not enjoy this one as much as the first. I was confused with a few things and felt like the storyline was being rushed. However, as I continue to read it, it all came together in the end. A wonderful ending to a great series. 

Four stars.

I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

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Review: Fraying at the Edge (The Amish of Summer Grove #2) by Cindy Woodsmall

Blurb (from Amazon):

The Old Order Amish life Ariana Brenneman loved vanished virtually overnight with the discovery that she was switched at birth twenty years ago. Now she’s immersed in the Englischer world, getting to know her mother and under the authority of her biological father, an atheist intellectual with resolute plans to expand Ariana’s worldview. Only Quill Schlabach, a childhood friend living Englisch, can steady the tilting ground between Ariana’s two worlds, but can she trust him after so many betrayals?

At the same time, Skylar Nash is forced to choose rehab or spend several months with her true relatives, the large Brenneman family and their seemingly backward life—no electricity, no technology, no fun. What the young woman can’t leave behind is her addiction to illegal prescription drugs and a deep emptiness from the belief that she doesn’t belong in either family.

New ties are binding Ariana and Skylar to the lives they were meant to have. Can they find the wisdom and strength they’ll need to follow God’s threads into unexpected futures?

My Review:

Fraying at the Edge is book two from Cindy Woodsmall's The Amish of Summer Grove series. I want to warn the reader that it would be best to read Ties That Bind first. I think it may be confusing if it has not been read yet.

Fraying at the Edge is a wonderful sequel and I was happy to catch up with the characters. I have always loved Ari and now Skyler has started to grow on me. The two women were thrown into unknown worlds and certainly had their struggles adjusting. Which is the main focus of this book. The ending had quite a cliffhanger that I did not expect at all. I cannot wait to pick up the next book in the series, Gathering of the Threads, to see what happens next.

Highly recommended.

 100 stars.

 This book came from my own personal collection. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

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Review: Ties That Bind (The Amish of Summer Grove #1) by Cindy Woodsmall

Blurb (From Amazon):

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.

My Review:

Ties That Bind is the first book from The Amish of Summer Grove series. I have to say this is one of the best Amish novels I have read so far. I was captivated from the start all the way to the end. There are several different story lines throughout the book and quite a cliffhanger on the last page, making me want to immediately pick up the second book of the series, Fraying at the Edge. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
Highly recommended!
100 stars.
This book is from my own personal collection. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

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