AS WATERS GONE BY

About the book: 
As Waters Gone By (Abingdon, May 2015)

How can a marriage survive when separated by hundreds of miles and impenetrable prison walls?

Emmalyn and Max Ross may have to endure the fight of their lives to mend the tattered fabric of their marriage. His actions ensured she could never be a mother and put him in prison, giving their relationship a court-mandated five-year time-out. On a self-imposed exile to beautiful but remote Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior, Emmalyn has just a few months left to figure out if and how they can ever be a couple again.

Nudged along by the exuberant owner of the Wild Iris Inn and Café, a circle of misfit people in their small town, and a young girl who desperately needs someone to love her, Emmalyn restores an island cottage that could become a home and begins to restore her heart by learning what it means to love unconditionally. Yet even as hope begins to find a place within the cottage walls, Emmalyn still wonders if she's ready for Max's release. She may be able to rebuild a cottage, but can she rebuild a marriage?

About the author:

Cynthia Ruchti has more than three decades of radio broadcast experience with Heartbeat of the Home radio and currently serves as Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers.

Find Cynthia online: website, Twitter, Facebook

My Review:

In the beginning of reading this book it was hard for me to get into if you know what I mean. But then I started to really enjoy it. The way the author describes the people and place made me feel like I was there.

The author weaves a story not only about Emmalyn and her husband but of others on the island. I really enjoyed the stories of Cora and the owner of the Iris Inn. As you read you will find how God works in the lives of other and if willing we too can be used by God to do the same for others.

I would recommend this book to my friends. 

I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my review.

AMISH PROMISES

Amish Promises (Neighbors of Lancaster County) Paperback – May 5, 2015

by Leslie Gould  (Author)

Journey Down a Quiet Lane in Lancaster County Where Love and Heartache and Friendship and Healing Meet
When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home, they're looking for peace. Shani is thrilled to have Joel back from Iraq, but he needs time to heal, and the quiet of Lancaster seems just the place. They can't imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son is involved in an accident that injures one of the Lehman boys.
 
Eve Lehman has run her brother's household ever since the death of his wife, but Tim's a stern patriarch. Despite his protests, she's drawn to the new neighbor, Shani, and the two begin to form a strong friendship forged on faith and family. Things seem like they've quieted down until Joel's single and handsome army friend Charlie catches Eve's attention--a man unlike any Eve has ever met. Suddenly life for both families becomes more complicated than any of them could have ever imagined.

My Review:

This book was a nice love story between an Amish woman and a English (non Amish) man. But it was more than that. It was a story of love, promises, death, war and PTSD. Life is not easy whether you are Amish or an Englisher. The book centers on two neighbors and their friends. The Amish neighbor is a widower with several kids. His never married sister lives with him to take care of the kids. She had promised her sister-in-law on her death bed that she would always care for her children.

The other neighbor is a family whose husband was injured while serving in Irag. He still recovering from his injuries and having problems coping with what happened in Iraq. His wife is expecting their second son and trying to work while caring for her family. 

While reading this book the story involves other people into both family lives. There are struggles and pain but loving your neighbor solves a lot of life difficulties. 

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House for my review.

HUTTERITE DIARIES

HUTTERITE DIARIES BY LINDA MAENDEL

Author: Linda Maendel

Few outsiders know anything about the Hutterites, a Plain Christian group related to the Amish and Mennonites. Maendel’s story, Hutterite Diaries, invites readers into deeper understanding of this community of faith, calling us to take seriously the example of Jesus and the early church in our daily living. Hear straight from plain Christians as they write about their daily lives and deeply rooted faith in the Plainspoken series.

What would it be like to share all your possessions and live in Christian community?

In Hutterite Diaries, Linda Maendel offers a rare glimpse into the daily routines and communal faith of her people, the Hutterian Brethren. From stories of working together to bring in the fall potato harvest to laugh-out-loud tales of sisterly love laced with revenge, Maendel invites readers into her Bruderhof, or colony, nestled on the prairie of western Canada. Here children and adults work, play, eat, and worship together, crafting a community of goods and living out an alternative to the individualism and consumerism of mainstream society.

Few outsiders know anything about the Hutterites, a Plain Christian group related to the Amish and Mennonites. Maendel’s story invites readers into deeper understanding of this community of faith, calling us to take seriously the example of Jesus and the early church in our daily living.

My Review:

This book was interesting. I had never heard of the hutterites  before reading this book. The author lives in a Hutterite Colony. She shares the lifestyle and the ways of  the community life.
They do share everything in common but each family lives in their own homes. they share all meals together and have church services each day. They believe they are living the life of the early church as described in Acts of the bible..While the author goes in more detail of their way of life, I ways left wondering what was their true belief in Jesus and His Word.
I wish I had heard of the hutterites years ago because I found out I once lived close to one of the colonies.

I received a review copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my review of this book.