Hope Crossing: The Complete Ada's House Trilogy, includes The Hope of Refuge, The Bridge of Peace, and The Harvest of Grace / My Review / Five Stars on this one!!

Hope Crossing: The Complete Ada's House Trilogy, includes The Hope of Refuge, The Bridge of Peace, and The Harvest of Grace

 My review: I've probably read Cynthia Woodsmall's stories at one time or another although I don't remnember doing so.  From the time I opened the first book in this trilogy of three books in ome, I couldn't seem to put the book down.  I love to read about the Amish I find their way of life fascinating.  There are many Amish who live in the same town as my Grandmother and when there I see them with their horse and buggies coming and going quite often.

Cynthia Woodsmalls' books gave me another glimpse into their lives.  The book wasn't something I could put down easily.  I found myself picking it up for a few pages to read before bedtime and then putting off going to bed or doing whatever else I should have been doing and instead reading.  

She takes you into her books and involves you right into the stories.  You feel as if you know the characters, or at least want to know as much as you can about them, their lives and you want to keep reading to find out how she is going to end each story, and in this case, you don't have to end it, as their are three books and you can get started right where the last one ended.

 Only from the beginning of each book, other characters in the same towns paths crossing each other so you feel as though you are reading on about old friends as each book unfolds to the next.  The books are rich in the characters faiths, as well as their doubts with their faith in some cases and the problems their lives cross over, problems that happen to the non-Amish  as well so that makes these characters seem even more believeable.  I do wish I had as much faith and could remain as steadfast in my faith of what is to come as they are.  I think at times by reading books such as these, their doubts and challenges and the solutions that come their way help me in some small way as I enjoy their stories.

Warning, if you are a person who has problems holding on to books of great weight, this book is pretty heavy.  I found that I would be sitting at my table reading there or in bed anywhere that I could prop the book open to keep reading.  I should have chosen to read the kindle version as this is pretty hard on the hands and wrists for someone with arthritis problems.

I received a copy of this book from “Blogging For Books” in exchange for a fair review.

More About The Book: 

Hope Crossing: The Complete Ada's House Trilogy, includes The Hope of Refuge, The Bridge of Peace, and The Harvest of Grace
by Cindy Woodsmall (Goodreads Author)
Hope Crossing…where Ada’s House stands as a haven for weary souls looking for kindness, faith, and second chances.

The Hope of Refuge:

Two very different women are pulled by their strongest desires. Deborah Mast joined the Amish church and longs to marry her fiancé, but he is changing. Cara Moore is forced to look into a life that was meant to be hers. Will Ada’s House help them realize their hearts’ desires or will it force them to accept what life has done to each of them?

The Bridge of Peace:

Living out her passion for teaching, Lena Kauffman’s work is suddenly interrupted by a series of pranks and accidents targeted toward her and her students. When tragedy strikes her dear friend Grey Graber’s family on school property, the school board begins to blame her for the trouble. As grief and confusion take their toll on Grey and Lena’s friendship, they are both forced to face a new reality that may offer the peace and love they each long for.

The Harvest of Grace:

Fleeing a terrible mistake, Sylvia Fisher dedicates herself to saving the failing Blank farm. When prodigal son Aaron returns, he is surprised by this unusual farmhand who opposes all his plans. Will Aaron and Sylvia’s unflinching efforts toward opposite futures mask the bigger picture—a path to forgiveness, grace, and the promise of love?
This three-in-one collection includes the entirety of the best-selling Ada’s House trilogy, now at a new low price

More About The Author:

Cindy Woodsmall

Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times and CBA best-selling author of numerous works of fiction and one of nonfiction. Her connection with the Amish community has been featured widely in national media. She lives in the in the Foothills of the North Georgia Mountains with her family.

Michael Phillip Cash's "The After House" A Fabulous Read!! Paranormal, Suspense, Mystery, Romance and even Humor!

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23343135-the-after-house" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The After House" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413178671m/23343135.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23343135-the-after-house">The After House</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7060225.Michael_Phillip_Cash">Michael Phillip Cash</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1157650025">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
As soon as I saw that this book was available through shelf awareness I believe, I had to enter to get a copy, of course the premise is you give an honest review in exchange for the gook.<br><br>I've read a lot of Michael Phillip Cash's books and this latest one did not disappoint  me.  The After House is a book that covers many genrs, paranormal, suspense, mystery, romance and even has some humor included. The author doesn't mess about with a lot of frivolous extra to the story, he gets right at it. I get pulled in right from the beginning and I didn't want to put this book down.<br><br>It was intersting to me because it was based on the ghost of a captian of a whaling shiip and I knew nothing of that.  There was a story in the beginning that was pretty exciting telling so much about a whaling ship going down from a sperm whale that they hit and it didn't do what it usually would do it turned on the ship and tore it apart.  <br><br>Next we are going to a woman who is newly divorced moving into a home with her little girl, only to find that from the beginning the little girl could see the ghost in the house.  The ghost had been there in the home he had bought for his family, where he had come back looking for them and they were gone.....<br><br>He had a painter in the house for years a male whome he spent time with whispering in his ear as he slept and the painter turned out fabulous artwork of whales, whaling boats in action, and he painted a mural in the house which the woman is told must be left intact during her rental time.<br><br>The story is fabulous and a real must read and I don't want to tell the entire story for you here....<br><br>Here is the description as found on Good Reads: Remy Galway and her daughter Olivia are rebuilding their life after a failed marriage in a 300 year old cottage in historic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Little do they know, another occupant is lurking in the haven of their own home. Will the After House be their shelter or their tomb?
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2429900-brenda">View all my reviews</a>

"A Love Undone" An Amish Novel of Shattered Dreams and God's Unfailing Grace. Written by Cindy Woodsmall - My Review

 A Love Undone

An Amish Novel of Shattered Dreams and God's Unfailing Grace 
Written by Cindy Woodsmall

I do so love to read about the Amish, my Grandmother lives in a small town up north where we see Amish buggies in town all of the time. They do like to purchase/sell things and see the homeopathic practitioner there.

On to the book....Joline Keim lost her parents both at the same time in a buggy accident. she was supposed to marry the love of her life Van, and he just couldn't take on her entire family of brothers and sisters younger than she, she wouldn't leave them to be split up, so she takes on the raising if her sister and brothers.  and Van goes off and within a year is married to someone else. She meets horse trainer and father to a sweet nine year old.  The book is really all about Andy being a "grass widower".  Joline didn't hear him when he said he was a grass widower and she helps out with training horses that have been abused to get them to be ride able again.  Joline thinks Andy is a free man being a widower to marry again and she falls for Andy almost from the first day.

A Grass Widower is someone who marries and their spouse leaves, they can't divorce it isn't allowed and in Andy's case he doesn’t even know where his spouse is she had a mental problem wouldn't be treated for it and just left one day and never contacted him again.  Didn't try to see her son.  So Andy is not someone who can be marriage material.  Joline one day tells him how she feels about him, she also lets him into her secret, she paints paintings and she is good. Since their Bishop believes that pictures are not something that would be allowed by God she has to hide away in her Uncles Attic to paint.

So we have a husband and son abandoned to forge a path alone and a young woman who sacrificed her dreams, how will the God of grace and hope help them find their way, the book asks?

The book is rather complex in its story. There is quite a bit of information on how the Amish live, not quite as much as I've seen in other stories.  The book held my interest and I found myself reading when I should have been doing something else...a true sign that it is a interesting Amish story about a romance that can't happen and how they get around it or do they?

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

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?

About This Author:

Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times and CBA best-selling author of numerous works of fiction and one of nonfiction. Her connection with the Amish community has been featured widely in national media. She lives in the Foothills of the North Georgia Mountains with her family.