I absolutely love the Amish! Their lifestyle is just so interesting to me. I love how focused on God they are, I love how simple their lives are, I love how everyone knows their duties and are happy to do their part. I also love their quilts, lol! I suppose part of my fascination with the Amish is due to the fact that I live about an hour or so away from Holmes County here in Ohio. We visit regularly and I enjoy it every single time.
I also love to read Amish fiction but had only read books by Beverly Lewis up until this point. When I was given the opportunity to review The Keeper, which is written by Suzanne Woods Fisher, is jumped at the chance. I was anxious to see how I would feel about another author because of loving Beverly Lewis.
Happily, I can report that I was not disappointed at all. As a matter of fact, I really loved Suzanne’s style of writing. I loved that she took her time in telling me the story. I also really liked the bee keeping aspect to the book. I’d never read anything like that and enjoyed it a lot. I look forward to reading lots more of her books!!!
Here is a little bit about the book…
Julia Lapp has planned on marrying Paul Fisher since she was a girl. Now twenty-one, she looks forward to their wedding with giddy anticipation. When Paul tells her he wants to postpone the wedding–again–she knows who is to blame. Perpetual bachelor and spreader of cold feet, Roman Troyer, the Bee Man.
Roamin’ Roman travels through the Amish communities of Ohio and Pennsylvania with his hives full of bees, renting them out to farmers in need of pollinators. He relishes his nomadic life, which keeps him from thinking about all he has lost. He especially enjoys bringing his bees to Stoney Ridge each year. But with Julia on a mission to punish him for inspiring Paul’s cold feet, the Lapp farm is looking decidedly less pleasant.
Can Julia secure the future she’s always dreamed of? Or does God have something else in mind?
I don’t want to give anything away, but let me tell you that you will be surprised at the twists and turns. You’ll also think you know some of the characters only to be pleasantly surprised by their true intentions. I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes Amish fiction or even just gentle fiction in general. It’s an awesome book by an awesome author!
Be sure to check out the “Honey of a Giveaway” by Suzanne Woods Fisher as well as the blog book tour!
Bye,
Lisa
12 Days Left 
4 Days Left 
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
Last Day! 
Contest Closed 
That book sure does have a lot of twists and turns I loved it! It migh make you cry though.
I’m prepared to cry when I read this book – I can’t imagine that I won’t =)
I hadn’t heard of Suzanne before this blog tour started, but I am fast becoming a fan of hers. I am so excited to say that I won a copy of The Keeper on an earlier blog stop and it’s on it’s way to me now…I can’t wait to read it!!
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Hi Lisa!
I think your review will be one of my favorites–to think you liked Amish fiction (so many reviewers start out by saying they don’t! Yikes!), but only read Beverly Lewis. So grateful you were willing to give another author a try, and even more grateful that I didn’t disappoint you! Thanks for sharing my book with your readers, Lisa. Blessings to you and your loved ones in 2012! Warmly, Suzanne
Wow, Suzanne! Thank you so much for commenting on my post. I’m honored to hear that my review is one of your favorites too! I really do love Amish fiction, it’s probably my favorite style to read. You’re an awesome author and I’d love to review more of your books!
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and she ends up mnyirrag someone else… it goes through love, forgiveness and about the choices we make that it’s never too late to find ourselves with God… I even cried, and it takes a lot of me to cry in a book! Whether your Amish or not this book has a lot to offer, the characters show depth and the emotions run raw in this book. I loved how much turmoil the main character when through and yet she learnt from it. So often we wonder why we go through things and we learn about forgiveness and God’s real grace through it all. It was sort of ironic that one of the books I just finished, Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris started off with the discussion of rumspringa, so the bit I had been learning about the Amish fit in nicely to this book and gave it more flavor for me. If I could give a story 6 cherries I would! She’ll be on my top author’s list! ** review copy provided