The Promise of Palm Grove Book Review

I missed the sign up for this great book and I was super sad when going through my emails because I saw the email from the publisher on this and quickly send a message.  I was super excited to be added at the last minute to review The Promise of Palm Grove: Amish Brides of Pinecraft, Book One by Shelley Shepard Gray. The book arrived within just a day or so after I sent the email so I was super excited.  I picked the date at the end of the tour because I was afraid that I would have trouble because of my late response.  I was excited that I got to read it shortly after I got it and beat the beginning of the tour dates by finishing it because I couldn't put it down.

A young Amish woman finds herself torn between the man she’s pledged to wed and the man her heart desires in this heartwarming story of chance, duty, and choice in the face of love—the first volume in the new Amish Brides of Pinecraft series.  Amish bride-to-be Leona is thrilled to be in Florida, on a mini-vacation in the pretty town of Pinecraft. Her girlfriends think she’s happy because she’s away from the stress of wedding planning. They have no idea that Leona’s real joy is in being away from her fiancé.  Edmund is a good man, and will make a decent husband but Leona just isn't sure he is for her. The more time she spends with him and his overbearing ways, the less she wants to be his wife. Her friends are so excited for the wedding and their certainty makes Leona begin to doubt herself. But when a chance encounter with a wayward cat brings her face-to-face with a handsome, fun-loving Amish man named Zachary Kauffman, Leona’s faced with two vastly different futures.  Leona must decide what she is going to do next but you have to pick up the book to find out what she picks.

I loved this book!!!  I previously read Joyful from her and enjoyed it so much I tried to get a few of her other books in that series but they weren't in the library.  I thought about getting some of her other books but totally forgot since I was trying inter-library loan to get the others that never came through.  This book did remind me that I love her writing and need to get more books by this author!!  I reserved another series and can't wait to start reading it.  I am hoping that I get a chance to read a few more of her books soon but I know that you will enjoy this great writing and great characters.  The characters are so life like that you feel like you are one of their friends following around their lives and trying to resolve all the issues that they are dealing with...even though they are Amish and I am not.  The great twist on this book is that the setting is in warm and sunny Florida instead of cold and dreary Ohio or Pennsylvania where most of the Amish books are set.  This is a refreshing twist on other Amish fiction books with the warm change of pace that I know everyone will enjoy!!  I hope that you pick up this book and others by Shelley Shepard Gray and enjoy her writing as much as I did!

**I was provided a free copy of this book for my review and honest opinion through Litfuse Publishing.