Friday, January 2, 2015

Review: A Love Undone

I just finished reading A Love Undone by Cindy Woodsmall. Though she is a New York Times and CBA best selling author, this was my first time reading one of her books.

About This Book

A husband and son abandoned to forge a path alone.
A young woman who sacrificed her dreams.
How will the God of grace and hope help them find their way?

At nineteen years old, Old Order Amish Jolene Keim was on the brink of happily-ever-after when everything changed, stealing the future she expected and burdening her with an unbearable decision. For the next ten years, Jolene throws herself into family life—and then she meets Andy Fisher. The horse trainer and father to a sweet nine year-old challenges her and holds up a mirror to issues Jolene has been unwilling to face.

Andy is cautious about his deepening friendship with Jolene, but he believes she knows the truth about him – that he is a grass widower. As a man whose wife has abandoned him six years past, he is unable to divorce or remarry according to the Amish ways. Andy has wrestled with God concerning his reality, and he had found peace with the solitary future facing him…until he met Jolene.

As Andy and Jolene find themselves confronted by difficult choices, will they trust in God's guidance—or will the allure of their deepening friendship only lead to further temptation?


Review:
I read a lot of books set within the Amish life but this one had several unique elements. First, Andy (the main male character) is a grass widower. His wife left him and that makes him unable to remarry because of the high standards of the Amish community. Second, Jolene (main female character) makes the difficult and sacrificial decision to raise her siblings. And third, one of those children has some disabilities due to a childhood injury. These plot twists set this book apart from the many others I have read.

I enjoyed reading A Love Undone and look forward to reading more of Woodsmall's books in the future.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.