Leah's Choice (Pleasant Valley Series #1)

Finally, out of the bubble Amish fiction

This book is one of few Amish books that I think really gets it. By it, I mean it allows the reader to enter the Amish world, yet does not try to push Amish beliefs on them, does not paint the Amish lifestyle as ideal or makes the world feel as if you're living in a bubble. I really enjoyed this book for the realistic way the Amish and the English worlds are portrayed.

This book talked a lot about subjects that I have never read in Amish fiction before. The one that stood out the most was the medical issues. This book mentioned a great deal about birth defects and other medical problems that stem from communities that continue to live in close proximity and only marry within that community. This is something I have never read in any other Amish book I have picked up and is a topic that I have always wondered about due to the circumstances of who someone can marry. Therefore kudos to Marta Perry for bringing this up. It may be a sore subject that no one wants to talk about but to deny that it exists because it makes the community look not so ideal is not helping anyone either. Honestly I feel like other authors don't bring it up because it breaks the bubble of the image that they are trying to portray of making Amish lifestyle appealing.

I thought I was going to have problems with Daniel due to comments he made early in the book but after finding out about his background, I understood him a lot better. His family's past was unique to the typical Amish storyline and even more so by the way he handled the situation. As for Johnny, I really liked the way his storyline played out. Everyone (for the most part) ends up where they want to be.

Honestly this is one of the most refreshing Amish novels I have ever read. I didn't feel as if this book was unrealistically portrayed and the outside world is seen in a positive light for once. If the rest of the series continues to be written in the same manner and tackles difficult but necessary subjects, it might possibly rank as one of my favorite Amish books. That being said, if you want a dose of reality with your Amish fiction, pick up this book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful

I loved it and all the other ones in this series!! If you like Beverly Lewis you will like Marta Perry!

Leah's Choice

Great book! I love Amish romance novels.

This is an entertaining but somewhat by the book Amish romance

Widower Daniel Glick moves with his three young children to Pleasant Valley in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish townsfolk welcome the single dad and his brood especially since everyone believes he is perfect for their schoolteacher of then Leah Beiler; and she would be the perfect wife to him and an ideal mom to his three young kids (Matthew, Elizabeth and Jonah).

Daniel is attracted to Leah, but he has doubts after his unhappy first marriage. Adding to his growing hesitation is the return of Leah's ex-fiancé, Johnny Kile who wants a second chance with her. Will Leah choose a ready family, the man who broke her heart or neither?

This is an entertaining but somewhat by the book Amish romance that although for the most part provides nothing new fans will still enjoy it. The conflict is the relationship choices that Leah must make and for that matter Daniel too. Whereas she must choose between her first love who dumped her for the outside world and a steady man who has proven to be a good mother and father to his kids. He knows he must put those kids ahead of his desires. With a nod to Roy Orbison's Running Scared, readers will appreciate Marta Perry's fine passionate contemporary mindful of the works of Wanda E. Brunstetter.

Harriet Klausner

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