Restless Hearts

I got a free gift from Love Inspired yesterday, a larger print version of Restless Hearts by Marta Perry. So when the guys sat down to watch the soccer match (Liverpool won) I curled up to nurse the dregs of a day-long headache and quietly read. I found that my reading rate, with headache, is approximately one Love Inspired romance per soccer match, but perhaps I’d have to read a few more samples to confirm that. Unfortunately, even though their prices are really good, and only a dollar extra for the larger print, my books budget is currently dead in the water. I guess the experiment will have to wait a while.

Restless Hearts was a pleasant way to end my day. I was slightly dubious about yet another book set in Amish country—why do I show more see so many of them in the stores? But the characters were interesting, particularly as the protagonist shared most of my pre- and misconceptions about the culture. I learned things I hadn’t known about the Pennsylvania Dutch. And I enjoyed the insights into relationships, the misunderstandings of caring people that turn into bitter anger, and the hope that heals.

The book is clearly a Christian novel, but I was pleasantly surprised by how naturally it was written. I’ve read other Christian novels that assume I’ll agree with everything said, or that paint any non-Christian as hopeless sinner or saint-about-to-be-redeemed. In Restless Hearts the faith of the characters was just a part of how they felt. It came into their despair as much as their hope, and led to questions answered by the lessons of life.

Fiona comes to her father’s family in Pennsylvania, with secrets about her mother and her past. The sudden, accidental revelation of some of those secrets threatens to destroy her hopes of being a midwife to the Amish. Meanwhile the local policeman has secrets of his own, and… Well, it is a romance.

I enjoyed the book. I’m not sure what qualified me for a free gift, let alone a larger print free gift—oh dear, am I getting old? But I did enjoy it. And the guys enjoyed the soccer. Did I mention, Liverpool won! show less

It's more of a story about "outsiders" within an Amish/Mennonite community. Both main characters have familial ties to the Amish but for various reasons choose to live a more contemporary lifestyle than the Amish do. Fiona is a midwife, who expects much of her practice to eventually be from the Amish community. Ted is a lawman. Fiona's mother was Amish, but she left the community during her rumpschpringa to marry a non-Amish man. She never contacted her family and died giving birth to Fiona. Ted grew up Amish but left before joining the church.

I liked that there was some good information on the "shunning" process within the Amish community. Shunning isn't used for those who aren't members of the Amish church. Fiona assumed her mother show more was shunned by her relatives--instead it was that her mother never communicated with them so they didn't know what had happened to her. Though, honestly, at one point, it did seem like her mother's relatives were giving her a type of shunning (at the auction).

I couldn't quite figure out Fiona. She seems to try to hide or not be noticed. I don't know if that stemmed from her years in the foster care system or her years with her father, second wife, and their family. I can understand not wanting to get an innocent person in trouble, but she almost seems like she doesn't want to stop the vandalism that's happening around her new hometown.

I think I'd have given up on Ted long before she did--but love can do strange things to a person. show less

Fiona Flanagan is a young woman set to start a life far away from the family she has known, that has never really wanted her. She travels to Pennsylvania Dutch Country, a place where her mother’s family was from, partly to get in touch with her roots, but mainly because she feels called to go there and open her practice as a Nurse/Midwife. Almost as soon as she enters the town of Crossroads, Pennsylvania she gets on the wrong side of the town police chief, Ted Rittenhouse. He thought she was breaking in to the house she was looking over to buy! Ted is in a tough place having to straddle two worlds, the world of the Dutch and the outside world, and he thinks this city woman, an outsider, won’t make it. Fiona on the other hand is show more determined to make this work and to make Crossroads her home, a place for her to belong for the first time in her life.

Being a Christian novel I wasn't too surprised at the over all tasteful approach to romance that the book took. I was surprised at how the relationship was developed and about how the Christianity was worked into the very fiber of the story telling itself.

The relationship, history and background of the characters was all done surprisingly well. There was depth and detail and believability in all of these aspects and with the back story of the Dutch country, a place a lot of people are not overly familiar with, it was engaging and interesting as well. Probably just for the back story and background alone I would recommend this book to people unfamiliar with this part of Pennsylvania. For me, it was all old hat, but I did find words and ways of explaining my background that I hadn't thought of before and will probably make explaining who I am and where I'm from a lot easier in future.

As for the Christian aspect of the book, it was woven into the story and instead of preaching to the reader it was presented just as a part of who these people were. It also didn't sugarcoat it, it showed not only the good times of being a Christian but the hard times as well, the times when faith is tested and when trust and belief become paramount, even when all seems to be lost. There was only one scene that went a little over the top with the prayers and, for the first time, quotes from the bible, but I was able to forgive it as it gave important back story and set up for one of the main characters.

This ended up being a surprising page turner in a book which I picked up with no to low expectations and so ended up being blown away by the well written and engaging story I found. It is standard romance fair in that there is a couple presented at the beginning and they can't be together for a variety of reasons, but since the set up of the characters' stories and their believable and well rounded back story was so interesting it made up for the predictable set up with a refreshingly engaging story and resolution.

Favorite Quote:
Ted Rittenhouse saw the relief that flooded the woman's face. She'd obviously come up with a solution she thought would satisfy him.
"I'm staying with a cousin, Gabe Flanagan." She was so relieved that the words tripped over each other. She snatched a cell phone from her bag. "Look, you can call him. He'll vouch for me. Here's my cellphone. You can use it."
"Seems to me I've heard of those newfangled gadgets," he said dryly, pulling his own cell phone from his uniform pocket. show less

Fiona Flanagan's mother left the Amish community in order to marry. When she dies, shortly after childbirth, Fiona's father places their only child in foster care. Now Fiona is grown and has returned to her parents’ hometown in order to open a nurse-midwife practice. When she accidently crosses paths with her mother’s family, they walk away without acknowledging her.

This book was okay, but not up to par with Perry's other works. I found myself skimming through several pages, especially near the end. I wish the author had concentrated more on the teens that were wreaking havoc in the community, especially since one of the teens was Fiona's young Amish cousin.

Love Inspired paperback meets Amish romance, but since the main characters weren't Amish or no longer Amish, it was a bit different than something like a Beverly Lewis book.
I enjoyed it for a lightweight book for travel.

This is a romance book I received for free in the mail. It is a Love Inspired book by Steeple Hill. They are trying to get me to join a club. This is the 2nd book I have received and read by Steeple Hill.

This book is about a woman who moves from San Francisco to Pennsylvania Dutch to become a mid wife. I found the story fast moving and couldn't stop reading it. It is nice to read a book about love and god together. Fiona moves to Pennsylvania Dutch and finds the families she has been missing all her life. Her mother's family is Amish and her father's family is not. I enjoyed this story considering I live in Pennsylvania and it was nice to see the Amish depicted so well in this story.

I rate the book 5 out of 5 stars.

This paperback came in the mail, unexpected and free, as an inducement to join a book club. The cover said it was "a wholsome, tender romance," and it was. It was the story of two people who had to learn to trust themselves as well as others. The Amish community was used as a backdrop, which was very interesting. I found the story quick to read, and entertaining.