Book Reviews

Amish Promises – A Thought-Provoking Tale – Review by Susan Scott Ferrell

Whenever a new release from Leslie Gould comes my way, my heart races just a bit. She won me over in her first collaborations with Mindy Starns Clark. When she branched out on her own with her Courtships of Lancaster County series, I could not devour them quickly enough! So to see yet another new Amish series (Neighbors of Lancaster County) by Gould, with the first installment titled Amish Promises come out, I was thrilled!Whenever a new release from Leslie Gould comes my way, my heart races just a bit. She won me over in her first collaborations with Mindy Starns Clark. When she branched out on her own with her Courtships of Lancaster County series, I could not devour them quickly enough! So to see yet another new Amish series (Neighbors of Lancaster County) by Gould, with the first installment titled Amish Promises come out, I was thrilled!

Amish Promises is a complex tapestry of storylines. It follows Iraqi veteran Joel Beck and his family, who have moved to Amish country to get away from the fast-paced city life to heal. Their Amish neighbor, Eve Lehman, who lives with her widowed brother and cares for him and his brood of children are soon thrown together when an awful accident affects both families. Somewhere in the midst of this, a forbidden attraction develops between Eve (already baptized into the faith), and Joel’s best friend and military buddy, Charlie. Now what will happen?

I received this book in exchange for my honest review. As I’ve said before, I’ve adored everything that Leslie Gould has ever written. However, I will have to admit that Amish Promises was not my favorite. The romance between Eve and Charlie seemed forced from the beginning. I almost thought I had skipped a couple of pages. I kept hoping it would get into some kind of a “groove”, but it never happened. That being said, I applaud Gould for taking on such a difficult and delicate subject such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – and she tackles that with gentle precision and honesty. I look forward to seeing what Gould will do with the characters in the next novel of this series.

To Purchase a Copy of Amish Promises by Leslie Gould Click Here


Susan Ferrell and her husband make their home in the Atlanta Metro area. Although Susan struggles with chronic migraine headaches, she stays very busy as a stay-at-home mom to one very precocious little girl. While catching her breath, she feeds her Amishaholic tendencies by reading vast amounts of Amish literature!

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