Ties that Bind Book Review

I was excited to see a new series coming out and I quickly signed up to review it.  Ties That Bind: A Novel (The Amish of Summer Grove) by Cindy Woodsmall is the first book in the Summer Grove series.  I was super excited to start this new series but bummed because as soon as I finished this book which was only released 9/8 then I might be in trouble while waiting for the next book to come out!!!  I have loved everything by this author so was excited to get started on this new series.

Ariana’s comfortable Old Order Amish world is about to unravel. Will holding tightly to the cords of family keep them together—or simply tear them apart? Twenty-year-old Ariana Brenneman loves her family and the Old Ways. She has two aspirations: open a café in historic Summer Grove to help support her family’s ever-expanding brood and to keep any other Amish from being lured into the Englisch life by Quill Schlabach.  Five years ago Quill, along with her dear friend Frieda, ran off together, and Ariana still carries the wounds of that betrayal. When she unexpectedly encounters him, she soon realizes he has plans to help someone else she loves leave the Amish. Despite how things look, Quill’s goal has always been to protect Ariana from anything that may hurt her, including the reasons he left. After returning to Summer Grove on another matter, he unearths secrets about Ariana and her family that she is unaware of. His love and loyalty to her beckons him to try to win her trust and help her find a way to buy the café—because when she learns the truth that connects her and a stranger named Skylar Nash, Quill knows it may upend her life forever.

I had trouble putting this book down from start to finish.  I was exhausted and still reading (and crying at the end) when I went to bed at 1 am.   I went through at least three tissues at the end of the book and really wanted to go straight out and buy the next book to read.  I am totally going to be keeping my eyes on this series waiting (less that patiently) for the next in the series.  I love the writing of Cindy Woodsmall because she pulls you in from the beginning with the fire and the birth of the children.  I was surprised to see the big jump in the years to when the kids were much older but I quickly jumped with the author and was excited to figure out to what was going to happen next.  It was a great and emotional story that has to draw you in and I think that you will be as surprised as I was to follow the story.  I hope that you check it out and enjoy it as much as I did!!  Let me know what you think when you read it!!

**Please note that I got a copy of this book for my honest opinion and review but all opinions here are my own.