A Mother's Secret Book Review

I signed up online for a bunch of book reviews which all came at the same time because I just click on the things that sound interesting when I am reading them.  I never write down anything like the books that are coming in or when they need to be read by because I figure that if I picked to review the book then there will be a note with all that information inside the book.  Well, I must have been in a really accepting mood over a few day period and said yes to all of the book reviews because I had three in one month which is really not like me!  I try to spread them out so that I can do everything that I need to with my family and not be rushed to read any one book so that it gets my honest opinion.  I guess what they say is true that things come in threes.  This time it was three good books!!

I got A Mother's Secret (Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel) by Amy Clipston in the mail and didn't remember anything about what I read earlier about the book and I just put it in my pile.  I was on a roll with the other books that I read and started reading this one right after the last book I reviewed.  I was hooked and couldn't put it down!!

In this book, Carolyn Lapp is dealing with the stigma of being an unwed mother in the Amish community.  There are very strict standards and she believes that she is never going to find a man to marry her and accept her son, Benjamin.  Carolyn's brother finds a widowed man who is looking for someone to raise his child and Carolyn doesn't want to enter into a marriage of convenience but she feels like it might be the only solution for her.  Benjamin gets in trouble at a horse auction for actions of his cousins but he is now in an agreement to work at Joshua Glick's farm to pay off the vet bill for the injured horse.  The work is the best thing for Benjamin because it gets him away from his troublesome cousins and he learns that he loves horses!  There is so much going on in this book that you are going to have to pick it up to find out. If you want to see the full summary of the book, check out the publishers summary here.

There were so many times in the book that I forgot that the people were Amish because they were going through so many things that are similar to "regular life."  All of the people were dealing with everyday life problems including looking for love like Carolyn.  It was great to read the stories about how the horse farm worked and all of the issues that the characters went through in order to grow.  The best part was the antagonist in the story who was Joshua's mother.  She was so negative and almost to an extreme with her strong opinions.  All of the characters grew and changed through the story and I was glad to read about it.  It really makes you believe in love!

I hope that you pick up this book at your local library or bookstore soon.  If you can't find it there, it is available on Amazon with the link at the top of the page or you can go to the straight to the publisher and buy here.

*I was given a copy of this book for my honest opinion and review but all of the opinions expressed here are my own.  I posted my review on my website, Goodreads and Amazon.