It’s true. I do
read a healthy amount of inspirational fiction, though I still read more YA
(young-adult) novels. I don’t just read inspirational fiction titles direct
from publishers. I do purchase them as well (including every Amish fiction
title that Beverly Lewis writes, as part evidenced in this post). This
compilation is a second round of such that I have purchased.
*This is the final novel in a series.*
Years have
passed since Luke Gallagher was with his closest friends in Baltimore. He has
been working as a CIA black ops operator. He reminds himself that he’s been
working to help save his country from a major terroristic threat, especially
when his actions, under orders, involve morally gray areas. Following the
threat takes him back to Baltimore where reside his family and friends. He
essentially went off the grid, but he’s kept track of those he cares most about,
including Kate Maxwell. He’s never stopped loving her, but the years have
changed him, and he can’t be sure she’ll accept the man he’s become, for it’s
not always been good.
Though she won’t admit it right
away, Kate hasn’t stopped loving Luke, and she never gave up on her search for
him. He’s suddenly back and now the threat he’s trying to stop is a threat to
her, too. They will have to work together to unravel the tangles of a terrorist
and his twisted mind before a grand biological disaster is released and
innocent lives are taken. Working with Luke stirs deep feelings and former
hurts and reminds Kate why she closed her heart off after he left. Will she let
him back in? Is he here to stay?
It’s okay for others to disagree,
but to me, Dani Pettrey is a powerhouse when it comes to inspirational romantic
suspense. The last in her Chesapeake
Valor series has showcased this with protagonists and antagonists that are
both distinct and dynamic on a timeline like ours but with a plot that could
shatter a city’s population if the threat is not stopped. There are no
downtimes in this book, as the action is continuous and tension rises as the
danger intensifies. This has been a satisfying literary thrill ride, and I look
forward to her next series.
Book One: Cold Shot (did not review)
Book Two: Still Life
Book Three: Blind Spot
*This is a standalone novel.*
In 1951, Maggie
Esh is going on 18 years old. While still technically in Rumschpringe, she is attending baptismal classes. She occasionally
participates in Singings, but is
tempted to quit despite her younger sister, Grace, encouraging her to attend.
Everyday life is not as easy for Maggie as it once was. She has a cane handy
when she needs it and is sometimes in such excruciating pain that it’s hard
just to walk across a room due to what she’s been told is juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis. Because she does not live as easily as other youth in her district
and therefore sees herself as undesirable, she is convinced that no man would
want her as his wife.
Her cousin, Lila Witmer, asks her to
attend a revival tent meeting, and her excitement is so genuine that her
curiosity is piqued and she goes. Attending opens up in her a closer
relationship to the Lord, and she also hears stories of healing. She cannot
understand why He would heal some and not others (such as herself), but her
faith is strengthened. She does worry some of her father’s quiet disapproval of
the revival meetings, but she reassures him she will be baptized this year.
Maggie has also noticed that handsome Jimmy Beiler has been seeking her out.
Presupposing that he only feels sorry for her, she tries to keep him at arm’s
length, but that’s hard to do when she’s liked him for awhile.
The “First Love” referred to in this
story is not, perhaps, the first love you might be expecting. Lewis has portrayed
Maggie as a wonderful character of faith with conviction. She isn’t faithful
only because she’s been brought up that way, but because she truly believes in
it, and her faith is only strengthened after the revival meetings. It is in our
nature to question, and Maggie does, but she also accepts that her life may be
filled with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis where no treatment – prescription
or homeopathic – will help long-term. Maggie shows us that we can persevere
despite the struggles in our lives, large or small or somewhere in between, and
create an even stronger bond with God through it. This inspirational,
contemporary fiction novel is uplifting and full of promise and hope.
*This is a standalone novel.*
When a jarring
tragedy befalls the Schwartz family, Lena Rose and all of her siblings find
themselves displaced, Lena most of all, as she is the only sibling to move
outside of Leacock Township, Michigan. And she’s not just in another county,
but another state. She moves in with Harley and Mimi Stoltzfus; Harley is a
cousin to her father. Lena, an able seamstress, assists Mimi with her
seamstress work. Though homesick, Lena is moved by the care of Harley and Mimi
and the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, community. She befriends Rebekah
Petersheim, who’s got a history to talk about, though Lena Rose doesn’t push
it, Lydia Smucker, sweetheart-gal to Eli, Harley’s and Mimi’s youngest, and
Arden Mast, a handsome fella with a good soul. Lena has made it known that she
has a beau back home. But talking with and spending time with Arden is far more
effortless than spending time with her Hans. Unfortunately, it would not do to
be involved with a fella in Pennsylvania when she plans to return to Michigan
as soon as a family there can take her in.
“The Road Home” is another sweet
story of Amish fiction from Lewis. I continue to be impressed by the storylines
she comes up with time and time again. Like her other inspirational fiction
novels, Lewis’ books are heartfelt and inviting. They invite us to a warm
hearth to get to know new characters and want to know them, though, like any
hearth, it can get cold when the embers have burned too low and those
characters you’re now rooting for are dealing with tough stuff and obstacles in
their paths. Dedicated fans of the author have long since added this novel to
their bookshelves, but for anyone looking for Amish fiction literature, this
standalone novel may suit you.