Lydia's Charm: An Amish Widow Starts Over in Charm, Ohio

After her husband's death, Lydia King and her young son move to Charm, Ohio to help her mother take care of her grandfather. Lydia is not sure if she is ready for love again, but she can't help noticing two men: Menno Troyer, a widower with four young sons, and Levi Stutzman, the only one in his family who is not a dwarf, devoted to his family, and afraid to marry in case he passes the dwarfism gene onto his children. Someone is leaving gifts for Lydia and her mother at the times they need them the most and Lydia is trying to find out who it is. Before she can, tragedy strikes again, and Lydia wonders if her heart will ever heal enough for her to love again.

"Lydia's Charm" is a nicely done, if at times achingly heartbreaking, novel set show more in the Amish community. Author Wanda E. Brunstetter has created several memorable and realistic characters, starting with Lydia herself, who has to start her life over again several times, struggling to please her mother, suffering more than one devastating loss, and has to make a major decision regarding her future. Her mother Mae has struggled her whole life to please her father and realizes almost too late how that not only hurt Lydia, but her own happiness. Menno Troyer still mourns the loss of his wife but is willing to do what is best for his children - but does he really know what is best? Finally, Levi Stutzman often sacrifices his own needs to take care of his family and is finally realizing he needs to have his own happy life. All of these people have deep storylines, and it is interesting to watch each character grow. Although the book has several very sad moments (as in put down the book and grab a tissue) there are also some happy moments, particularly for Lydia and her mother. I loved the relationship between the Stuzman's - they are a genuinely caring family. Included in the book are some discussion questions and a few recipes. I wouldn't want to try and make it myself but I sure wish I knew someone would make Frogmore Stew so I could try it out!

"Lydia's Charm" is a nicely done novel set in the Amish community that will linger in readers minds long after they've finished reading it. show less

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. There is a lot of sadness, but some humor, too. It was a refreshing change from a lot of the Amish fiction where someone was in danger of getting shunned. I enjoyed reading about eating frogmore stew and was surprised to find it in Amish cooking, because it is generally a Southern dish. The book had a good ending and perhaps not much of a surprise unless you were rooting for Menno to find a mother for his boys.

After the death of her husband and the loss of her job, Lydia King moves to Charm, Ohio to help her mother care for her ailing grandfather. Along the way Lydia meets with happiness, tragedy, and two suitors who want to court her. I enjoyed this story of love, loss, and new beginnings set in the Amish community of Charm, Ohio.

To me, this book had a serious mismatch between the tone and the content.I was expecting a sweet, gentle romance-- and in many ways, the tone matched that. Not much emotion came through, which was particularly surprising considering the events of the book.The book dealt with parent child relationships; the death of a grandparent; the death of a child; choosing whether to marry for convenience or live alone; unemployment; the long-lasting effects of childhood trauma, and more.Even with all that, the same gentle tone pervaded the book. Nothing seemed to affect the characters for long. I do understand that the characters had a deep religious belief that comforted them in time of crisis. I just don't see the reason for including all of show more these crises if the reader wasn't going to see a noticeable effect on the characters.In addition, most of the characters seemed flat and/or unlikeable. I liked Lydia well enough in the beginning, but I never felt any change from everything she encountered. Her mother was unlikeable. She probably showed the most growth of any character in Lydia's Charm, but I never really believed it. Menno (love interest #1) was self centered, and love interest #2 (Levi) was so nice as to be boring, and this from someone that really likes nice guys as characters and in real life. The kids were interchangeably rambunctious. There were no bad guys, no one challenging authority. Everyone in the community was nice and did their best to be helpful. Even the kids that were briefly mean had a good reason for it.In the end, I liked many of the parts. I could have liked the gently love story, I could have liked the exploration of the effect of so many problems on a group of people. Unfortunately, this didn't come together as either of those books for me. I didn't dislike it, but I was disappointed. show less

I've been a fan of Brunstetter for some time now, and this is a reread for me. Lydia's Charm has been on my shelf for sometime and I loved going back and seeing the characters. The pages turned quickly for me, as I was engrossed in this beautiful story. Before I knew it, I was at the end, and wanting more.

I loved Lydia's character, along with her sweet son. They were beautifully chiseled by the talented hands of Wanda Brunstetter and really came to life with this story. As Lydia and her son moved back to be with her mom, I traveled right along with her. When she was set up by her mom to gain a new father figure for her boy, I felt her emotions like they were my own. I turned each page of Lydia's story with wonder and anticipation. I show more love when a book can fully envelope me like that and make me a true part of the characters lives!

This book is tender and emotional, and full of God's grace and mercy. I loved watching Lydia fall in love, I loved watching her mend her relationships with her family, and most of all, I loved how Wanda Brunstetter, once again, had me falling in love all over again with another one of her books. This author is one of my go to authors, buying her books without knowing what they are about, and I'm so glad I revisited this 5 star book! I highly recommend it!

*I purchased this book for my collection. All opinions, negative or positive, are my own.* show less

I can never get enough Amish! I am a die hard Amish fiction fan and the first Amish novelist's work I read several years ago was Wanda Brunstetter. Since then, I have been hooked on all her work. She's a wunderbar novelist and each book she writes just gets better and better!

Lydia's Charm is a wonderful story set in Charm, Ohio. There are so many emotions throughout this novel and each of Wanda's tenderly created characters portray those emotions flawlessy. Lydia, Levi, Nona and Menno (just to name a few of the awesome characters!) are gripping and true-to-life. They quickly become your family. Each character has a struggle that they are dealing with and through Wanda's fantastic work, each of those struggles felt like my own, show more especially Lydia's. She really reached out to me and tugged my heart. But, Levi.....now THAT is an awesomely sweet character!

Wanda fills this 5 star book with everything from sadness to love and hope. She weaves God's love and grace through her amazing work, make this novel unforgettable. If you are new to Amish fiction, grab a copy of Lydia's Charm now....you'll be forever hooked! If you're already a Brunstetter fan, then you MUST add this book to your fabulous collection!

*This book was provided for review purposes by Barbour Books* show less

This is hard to believe but this was actually the first Amish book that I have read by Wanda Brunstetter. I'm a big Amish fiction reader but even though I have many of Brunstetter's books, I haven't actually sat down and read one until now. I know she's very popular with Amish readers but I just haven't gotten around to reading her. This book brought together something I never thought I would read in a book: Amish and midgets. It's a very unlikely combination that sounds like it would never work out but Brunstetter makes them both flow together naturally to make an interesting story.

The main focus of the story deals with recent widow Lydia and the two men who want to court her. Both would like to make her their new wife but they feel as show more if they have roadblocks holding them back. For widower Menno, it is his four unruly boys who holding him back from offering a good home. For storekeeper Levi, he is ashamed of his family who are are dwarfs. The two men battle between courting Lydia and trying to help her see which is the better pick for her. I enjoyed getting to know the two men and there were times during the story where I had no idea who she was going to end up picking. I really liked Levi's family as they are not the norm that you read about in Amish fiction. I also liked learning about frogmore stew and would love to try it out for myself one day, thanks to the recipe included in the back of the book.

While I enjoyed the story, there were some things that got on my nerves while reading. I was confused as to why Lydia's son is four years old and still not speaking any English at all. I felt that she was way too lax with him and didn't seem to want to punish him at all. Therefore I totally sided with her mother when she would try to discipline him for not following rules. But then after a certain tragic event happens, I felt bad for thinking all this. Still, that event seemed way over dramatic and very soap opera-ish to happen in the middle of the book.

Overall, this was an interesting read. It's very safe Christian Amish fiction meaning there is nothing in here that will offend anyone. There's no antagonist and the story just basically deals with Lydia's decision of which husband she is going to pick. It's not the best writing but for those that do enjoy a clean story and also enjoy Amish fiction, this book will probably find high favor in their eyes. As for me, it was an ok read. Nothing about the Amish faith is really mentioned and while there are some insights into their culture, it's more for the setting of the story than anything. I wouldn't mind though going back and reading more of Brunstetter's stories as they do offer a nice relaxation read from all the stress of the holidays. show less