The gorgeous Amish girl on the cover with her perfect makeup did not make me want to pick up this book right away, but the story was not as tacky as I imagined it would be. The hardship that the Amish mother, Lettie, has placed upon her family when she mysteriously walks out on them in Lancaster, Pennsyvlania, is portrayed heartbreakingly well. Her "secret" is revealed very late in the story, making for suspenseful reading. This book is the first in a new series by Beverly Lewis called "Seasons of Grace." It is clear that there is more story to tell. ( )

The first book in Lewis' new series, Seasons of Grace, tells the story of the Byler family. Members of the Amish, they are goat farmers in Pennsylvania. Their seemingly tranquil lives begin to unravel when the mother, Lettie, abruptly runs away in the middle of the night. The book focuses on the struggle, particularly for the eldest daughter, Grace, as the grapple with trying to make sense of Lettie's mysterious disapperance.

Finally Beverly Lewis is getting back to writing a series more like her Abram's Daughters. Her last few books have, in my opinion, fallen into the unfortunate category of Christian Romance. Not there is anything wrong with that if that's your type of literature, however I find that genre seems to be plagued by one basic, predictable story plot. That is, boy and girl fall in love but find themselves separated by faith differences, then through tragedy or struggle the person in the "wrong" finally sees the light and "correctly" accepts Jesus. The two can now be together and they live happily ever after. This is exacty what Lewis has been doing for her last few novels. In The Secret, Lewis appears to once again try for a more universal appeal by focusing on a story involving characters who lives are definied by their faith (in this case the Amish), but the plot doesn't revolve around their faith. While she does reuse old material such as unplanned teenage pregnancy, adoption and broken engagements this book is by far her best in awhile. ( )

This was the first Christian book about the Amish I have read. Once I got used to the language, the book flowed very well. I found the story engaging yet predictable. It was easy to see from the beginning why Lettie was leaving and the "surprise" twist was assumed. I would still want to read the next book in the series as the characters are very likeable. ( )

I was excited to receive this book after reading the synopsis on the Early Reviewers website. This excitement was short lived. The Secret is the story of an Amish family, a mother who leaves them and a girl on the outside who was diagnosed with a terrible disease and runs to the Amish community to clear her head. I was frustrated by the novel because while I understand that this was the first of a series, little was resolved in the novel and the stories weren’t tied together very well. The book was very slow and predictable. I don’t think that I’ll pick up the next book in the series. ( )

I really did not care for this book at all. The characters were not believable, the plot was predictable, and the story moved along at a snail's pace.

I especially didn't like the endless rehashing of the main characters' thoughts. For instance, how many times can one bear to hear the father of the story inwardly complain about his aching neck?

I will not be reading any more books in this series. ( )