An Amish Summer by Shelley Shepard Gray, Amy Clipston, Kathleen Fuller and Kelly Irvin contains four novellas for your reading pleasure. In the first Sharon and Sherilyn are sisters who are returning to Shipshewana for a little vacations with a couple of girlfriends. Sherry has been writing Graham Holland since the last time the two of them met at a wedding. Sherry is the plainer of the two sisters and since her sister is such a looker she doesn't get much notice. Graham is also a quiet man but he thinks that he is writing to the beautiful sister. When the two meet again he realizes his mistake but doesn't know how to tell them. He doesn't even remember meeting Sherry but decides to get to know both girls better in order to decide who he likes better. He talks this over with his friend, Toby who is also on the trip with Graham. Toby would like to get to know Sharon but he is disgusted that Graham wants to keep both of them until he makes up his mind. Toby says that if Graham won't tell them then he will so Graham tells the girls. Of course they are just furious with him and don't want to speak to him. How will this summer vacation end?
In the 2nd novella Amy Clipston tells the story of the summer before Arianna is to marry Jesse. They have been friends all their life but as they grew up this friendship grew into a love that both wanted to last a lifetime. Arianna's brother Tobias is Jesse's best friend but Tobias has been brooding lately and seems kind of depressed. Tobias has been fighting with his father lately about taking over the family farm. Tobias is the only son and is expected to inherit the farm but he doesn't want to farm and has been drinking to avoid the constant fighting with his dad. The day that Tobias got drunk and wrecked the buggy because he was driving the horse so recklessly was the final straw with his father. The two had a horrible fight and Tobias ran off that night to live with a relative in another state. Marvin Arianna's dad also said that Arianna and Jesse had to stop seeing each other and it was Jesse's fault that Tobias started drinking and wrecked the buggy. What to do? Arianna is so sad but she knows that she can't go against her father. How will they all survive the summer?
In the 3rd novella Kathleen Fuller writes of Esther and Sarah Coblentz. Sarah is beautiful and Esther is not. Sarah is very social and everybody wants to date her and Esther is not. Esther has loved her father's hired hand Judah for as long as she can remember but Judah only has eyes for Sarah. Judah only thinks of Esther as Sarah's sister and treats her kind of like a sister. The only person that seems to have noticed that Esther has eyes for Judah is her brother, Rueben. Rueben teases her about it and tells her not to be so obvious about it but also gives her hope that maybe someday Judah will love her in return. That summer Esther's parents have allowed a college intern to stay at their home to learn about the Amish religion. Sarah notices the good looking intern, Rhett, and wants to interest him in her but Rhett seems only interested in learning about the farm and how it works. Rhett in fact only notices Esther which makes Sarah very jealous. Esther is very interested in Rhett but only as a friend and quickly finds out that Rhett is engaged to his sweetheart back at home. The interest that Rhett shows to Esther makes Judah notice Esther and for the first time as a woman that he could be interested in as a lifetime partner. Will Judah and Esther ever get together?
In the final novella Ms. Irvin tells of the sweet love story of Martha Byler and Jacob King. Martha is very concerned that Jacob only seems interested in having fun and none in growing up. Martha is also concerned that even though her father has remarried and everyone loves their new mother Martha feels responsible for caring for her younger brothers and sisters as she has done since she was a preteen. Jacob feels that he IS grown up but he just wants to have a little fun. This is the summer that Martha learns to trust Jacob's judgment and Jacob figures out that maybe he does need to change some of his behaviors if he wants to be Martha's husband. The sweet story has a few twists and turns as Martha and Jacob learn to rely on each other and truly love each other.
These novellas are a great read for summer time pleasure. You will not be sorry that you purchased this thick book to enjoy these stories.
I received this book from BookLook for this review.
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