Along Wooded Paths (Big Sky Series #2)

A Wavering Heart

Surrounded by remote mountains in Montana, where the Amish and ¿Englich¿ mingle, Marianna¿s heart is pulled in two directions. Aaron offers a secure love within the realms of the Amish faith. Ben, an ¿Englicher¿, has shown Marianna¿s new ways to draw close to God. His kindness to her family and others is deeply valued. He offers his heart and a simple life.

This is a delightful story, filled with the struggles of young love and the consequences of choice and accountability. It is one of closed doors opened to serve one another in a closed knot community. The characters are well rounded, full of emotion, and there is plenty of adventure to keep the pages turning.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting story but could use a bit of tightening in the writing

I didn’t realize it at the time, but Along Wooded Path was actually the second book in the series. I have to admit, I did feel like I was starting the story in the middle of something. At times I wasn’t quite clear on why the characters were separated in two different states. Eventually, enough details were given throughout the book, that Along Wooded Path acted almost as a standalone novel. In fact, I don’t see myself going back to read the prior book, yet I am looking forward to the next work in the series. So I mentioned almost a standalone novel. Along Wooded Path ended with an unfinished story. I’d expected everything to be wrapped up in the epilogue… a happily ever after feel. Instead, the epilogue ended with the next day with a very open-ended feel to it. How do the characters fare? Do they go through with their plans? And what happened with the losing guy? I guess I’ll find out with the next book. As far as the story line it self, interesting. The entire work kept me intrigue. I never knew whom Marianna would choose as her beau. Would it be Ben, the man who captured her heart? or Aaron, the safe choice? In most romances, one might say Ben, hands down. True love trumps all right? But when taking into account an Amish life, the choice isn’t nearly as clear, especially since Marianna had no intention of giving up her Amish ways, and Ben was a musician. Anyway, you’ll have to find out for yourself what her decision was. Most my issues with Along Wooded Path were more technical. For instance, the writing style was a little repetitious at times, and I hoped Ms. Goyer would move on with the story. I’m not sure if I became so engrossed in the story or Ms. Goyer did indeed slow down with the repetition, but the further I read, the less noticeable it became. I also wondered if the author worked hard to meet a particular word count. A good portion of the book included letters the main characters wrote to others. Personally, I didn’t find the letters moved the story forward, just reiterated events which had occurred. Filler. Other than those small items, I enjoyed the read. Like I said, I look forward to reading the next in the series. As a side note: Though I received the ARC through Netgalley in exchange for a review, I was surprised at the number of errors (typos, putting the wrong name, spelling). It would be interesting to compare the final copy with the Galley.

Love this author!

This book was enjoyable. I like how she writes and enjoy this story line very much! I am excited to read the next one to see who Marianna chooses for her husband. Thanks Tricia for sharing your talent with us!

Highly recommended - I couldn't put it down!

Along Wooded Paths A Big Sky Novel impressed me with the depth of knowledge the author had and conveyed of Amish traditions and ways. Unlike novels set in traditional locations, this one plays out in Colorado. The heroine is so believable as she struggles to find her way with her God, her life, and her way to love. A talent for description adds to the ambiance of the story and provides a beautiful setting for the characters, all of whom are extremely believable. I ached for Marianna as she searched for her answers - and loved her for her very human feelings and choices.

Amish readers - a must read

Having lived in southern Maryland for five years in an Amish area, this book took me back. I liked the insider look at the Amish and the struggle they have with the outside world kept me turning pages. The specific faith issues were intriguing. I had never considered how contact between the Englisch and Amish might bring up questions of faith.

A SWEET BUT COMPLICATED LOVE STORY

This is the second book in a series, the first being BESIDE STILL WATERS. The book's main character is Marianna Sommers. She is Amish but has grown to love her new neighbors in Montana. She has become very fond of Ben, an English man who introduced her to God and music. But she still has feelings for Aaron, an Amish man that she always thought she would marry. To complicate things, Aaron travels to Montana to see her and has an accident and must stay with her and her family while he heals. Both Ben and Aaron care for her deeply. But Ben walks away to keep from hurting her but they are both missing each other so much. You can just feel Marianne's heart hurting as she tried to do the right thing, to obey God in her decision. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the third book to come out so I can see who she marries. If you love reading sweet, Amish love stories, you will not be disappointed in this one. Also, reading the first in a series is always a good idea not mandatory for this series. I would like to thank B& H Publishers for giving me a complementary copy of this book to read and review honestly.

A Continuing Story

This is the second book in this series, and you do not have needed to have read the first one to enjoy this book, but I would recommend you do.
Marianna continues to strengthen her relationship with God. Her boyfriend Aaron arrives in Montana, with a broken leg from an accident that happened on his way there. He ends up staying with the Sommers, and makes Marianna questioning her relationships in both the English and Amish worlds.
I loved the heart of the people of this small town, they seem to be there for people in need.
There are some questions answered in this book as to whom Marianna will end up....Aaron or Ben? Also what happens to Levi, and what has been bothering Mam.
A very enjoyable read!
I was provided with a copy of this book by the publisher, and was not required to give a positive review.

2nd in Big Sky series is romance with real emotional heft

Along a Wooded Path by Tricia Goyer is the second book in the Big Sky series about Marianna Sommer who moved with her family from Indiana to an Amish community in Montana to start anew. At the end of Beside Still Waters, the previous book, Marianna had decided to stay in Montana and continue enjoying the new depth of her relationship with God, despite her growing feelings for Englischer, Ben. Aaron, the man Marianna left behind in Indiana, decides to head to Montana and determine whether she still loves him and will return with him to the house he built with her in mind. Shortly after his arrival, Aaron is in a car accident that leaves him with a broken leg and forced to live with the Sommer family and rely upon their mercy. While there, he can't help but notice Marianna's comfortableness with working outside the home, as well as her relationship with Ben. Goyer does a terrific job at keeping readers guessing in this romance. In many romances, it's obvious who the heroine should choose, but here it's not so obvious. Both Aaron and Ben are good men with genuine feelings for Marianna, but if she should choose Ben, it means leaving behind her whole way of life and family. Marianna's choice will not be an easy one, and with the shocking revelation at the end of this story, Goyer will have readers highly anticipating the next book in the series.

fascinating Amish tale

After her older brother chose the Englisher world over his Amish roots, eighteen years old Marianna Sommer's father decides to move the rest of the family from Indiana to Montana. Marianna had a choice, but with her mom pregnant, she left behind her beau Aaron Zook to travel with her family to Big Sky country (see Beside Still Waters).

While Aaron writes letters to her he never sends he tries courting Naomi. Marianna and her family find the mountainous environs forces them to be more involved with their Englisch neighbors than they did back in Indiana. She even works with Annie an Englischer friend at the store where both groups intermingle. She also has begun to fall in love with Ben the Englischer who is more attuned to God than her Amish family, but unacceptable by her father who has lost one offspring to the outside world.

The second Big Sky Amish tale is a fascinating novel that asks philosophical religious questions as to whether the Lord delineates in lifestyles between groups who adhere with their hearts and souls in God's words. The support cast is solid but this is Marianna's tale as she is caught between the Amish desires of her parents who prefer Aaron or any Amish for their daughter and her feelings for an Englisher that clearly has God first in his heart and soul. Although Ben's feelings for God complicate the difficulty of Marianna's family rejecting him, it also simplifies her potential for accepting him. Regardless readers will enjoy Tricia Goyer's thought provoking tale of whether walking with God is enough to cross man-made cultural biases.

Harriet Klausner

Her heart is torn between an English man and an Amish one, which will she choose?

If you have read any Amish fiction, then you know based on the Amish lifestyle and principles that most Amish that stay within their church communities, marry other Amish people. However when one Amish family decides to move to Montana, they find themselves working side by side with Englisch neighbors. It is here that the readers of Tricia Goyer's latest novel, Along Wooded Paths, find themselves at the beginning of this story.

This is the second book in the Amish Big Sky series with the first being, Beside Still Waters, where the Sommer family has moved to Montana to start a new lifestyle yet in the process separates Marianna from Aaron Zook who was hoping to being a courtship with her before she left. Now their relationship survives on what letters they write to one another and just when Marianna was going to move back to Indiana, she changed her mind and stayed with her family, who needed her help.

During the time apart, Aaron has tried to forget Marianna and tried seeing another local girl Naomi, but deep down inside, Aaron has his heart set on Marianna. He has been writing her since she has gone, but has never sent the letters. He hopes that he can win her heart again if he heads to Montana to see her and give her all his letters face to face.

Marianna has a confusing lifestyle, she lives in the Amish community but works with Annie, an Englisch woman at the store/bakery where she has been enjoying seeing both worlds mix together. In the process she has grown to see her heart fall in love with Ben, an Englischer who walks with the Lord in all he says and does, more so than most of the Amish around her. But Marianna's family does not want her to give up her Amish ways, but does God only love the Amish or can God have other plans for her with Ben?

I received Along Wooded Paths by Tricia Goyer compliments of Litfuse Publicity for my honest review and since reading Beside Still Waters I wondered how the next book would play out with the Englischers. I was not disappointed and even though I had read the prior book, anyone can read this one as a stand alone. The question about where the religious beliefs of the English play into how the Amish view them is up for grabs in this book. Does God see a difference between the two who place God first in their lives and try to live according to His word. To find out, you'll have to pick up this latest Amish book and see who wins Marianna's heart after all? Will she stay true to her Amish ways or will a God-loving English man show win her heart? I rate this one a perfect 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait for the next one!

Easy Fast Read--- A Should Read

This is the first book that I have read, from Tricia Goyer. I had to put an other book down, to read this particular book, due to a review date. I had only read a page or two the night before; before I sat down and read around half the book the next morning before my husband woke up. So this book was a great joy. Not sure why, but when my husband woke up I was glad to have just noticed that I was almost half done with the book. This book was so well written that it just flowed, like water while I read it. I was just relaxed as could be to be sitting with this book. I was glad to have the quite time to sit and read, this heart felt story. I think that most all of us have that thought of what do I do. Do we do what is right by following tradition, or do we follow our hearts and see what might or might not happen?

Great read and educational

Great new book from Tricia Goyer! Have you read any of her books? I don't typically read Amish fiction but I really enjoyed this book. It was written by someone who is learning what it means to love Jesus, regardless of what "religion" you are.


Although proud of living apart from the world, Marianna Sommer's newly relocated Amish family is discovering that life in the remote mountains of Montana requires working together with the Englisch.

As Marianna pours her life into helping those around her-and receiving their help-her heart further considers two directions. She's torn between the Amish man from Indiana whom she has long planned on marrying and the friendly Englischer who models a close walk with God like she's never seen before.

Who should have young Marianna's heart? What is God asking of her through ongoing family struggles and this romantic and spiritual tension? The answer is found along the wooded paths.

This is a series that follows an Amish family. I am looking forward to the next installment - I want to know what Marianna's been up to!

Thank you B&H Publishing Group, Netgalley and Tricia Goyer for the advance reading copy, which I received free for my nook in exchange for an honest review.

great book

This was a great book! I enjoyed it so much and it helped me understand book one more. Marianna is back in Montana helping her family out after her younger brother's accident. What she has found is that she is loving being back with her family and growing closer to God and to her family. She and Ben are getting very close, which is worrying her, she knows that he can never be Amish and she knows she can never leave. And what of Aaron Zook back in Indiana?
Well Aaron isn't in Indiana after all he is in Montana, in fact he is at her home. With a broken leg sustained from an accident on the icy roads. Now Mari feels cornered, how will she handle all this pressure that she is feeling with Aaron in her home.
A great story that will leave you looking for book three with great anticipation. I look forward to finding where Mari's future will be? While this book is following an Amish book tradition, with an ongoing story book to book, it differs very much from other Amish stories, in the way that the Amish in Montana are not as 'separate' as other Amish stories portray. Which at first confused me, but later as I read this book it became more clear to me, that it was setting the story. I have to say a great book!! Loved it! 4.5 stars, 294 pages US $14.99


This book was provided by B & H Publishing for review purposes only, no payment was received for this review.

Stunning Amish novel

I can't stop thinking how stunning this novel is! I love it. It doesn't romanticize the Amish people, but instead portrays them with their weaknesses and struggles. I read that Amish people don't favor bonnet fiction much because they are usually portrayed as super holy with hardly any problems. This book certainly doesn't do that. Marianna is in her rumschpringe and is somewhat more "liberal" than the Amish in her hometown. She mixes and befriends her Englisch co-workers and neighbors. She helps them and learns about God from her experiences with them. Since she is human too like all of us, she also makes mistakes.

Along Wooded Paths is the second book in the Big Sky Amish series. It can be read as a stand-alone. There was only one part where I got a little confused. Marianna writes letters to someone name June-Sevenies. I wish there was a slight note about who this June-Sevenies is. There is a third book in this Big Sky Amish series - Beyond Hopes Valley. It is high on my TBR list; I cannot wait to read it. There is a short teaser chapter of Beyond Hopes Valley in Along Wooded Paths and I was surprise to learn that it isn't uncommon for Amish girls to get pregnant before they're married. I've never knew this was the case and am certainly looking forward to reading the novel because it will probably give more information about the real Amish life.

I've read many praises for Tricia Goyer books but I didn't really thought her book would be this good! After reading Along Wooded Paths, it is clear why her books are acclaimed. Her writing style and the way she develops the plot makes the reader want to read more and more and more. The emotions and problems of the characters are real and as a reader, I felt them keenly. I will definitely be reading more of Goyer's books.

Sweet

Along Wooded Paths is the second book in the series that follows an Amish young woman, Marianna, through the difficult choices she has to make throughout her life. Although I did not read the first book, I was able to get the hang of the story without problem, so don't let that dissuade you from picking the book up.
The story is well-paced, never allowing the reader to grow dull. There isn't too much tension, since we don kind of know what Marianna will choose, even from the beginning, but it is not boring to read about her struggles. What I found a tad frustrating was her indecisiveness as a character flaw. Her seeming love for two different men get annoying when she has no clue what she wants. She feels guilty about loving both, yet she also feels jealous when any other woman pays attention to either one of her beaus. You just want to shake her and tell her to pick one already! This was probably done on purpose by the author, but I found it a bit overdone.
The writing itself is very nice, simple, yet full of intricate moments that add depth to an otherwise clichéd plot. If you like sweet romance novels, then this one might be a perfect fit for you.

Very good book

Though this is a sequel to another book, I started with this one, and didn't feel like I was missing any part of the story. It's an easy read that I didn't want to put down until I was finished. You really feel the struggle this young Amish girl is going through in trying to decide which she should follow--heart or head.

Another good AMish book

As I began to read this book, I remembered I had the first in the series "Beside Still Water" I didn't think this one was as good but it is an unedited edition and had a lot of mistakes. But that is fine as I received the book from B and H Publishing for sending it to me to read and review.

As Marianna Sommer and her family was trying to get used to the move from Indiana to Montana. She had left her love behind but as she started to return she decided she was not ready and turned around on the way and came back to her family. She had meet some Englishers there that she really was interested in and really liked Ben, so she was torned between Ben and the Amish man Aaron she left behind.

She worked in a restaurant that was run by the English and she begin to notice the different in their beliefs in God and the Bible. She could not understand why the English could pray out loud and do the things they did and she had to be so limited in the Amish faith. If God loved the English in the same way then why would they not love the Amish in the same way. So she begin to slip around and read an English Bible and to ask questions.

A very good book as this is the first one that I have read where an Amish questioned the difference between the faiths as this family does. Be sure to pre-order this one or pick it up as soon as you see it on the shelves.

Interesting

I received a copy of ALONG WOODED PATHS by Tricia Goyer, from B & H Books. I was thrilled to see the cover and realize the novel is about the Amish (the cover depicts a young Amish woman walking along a path, surrounded by a misty sky, towering trees, and a homey wooden fence). I planned to only read a few chapters this morning, but ended up reading the whole thing - I literally couldn't put it down except for lunch. All of the characters cook and eat plentiful meals, so it made me hungry. The back of the book includes recipes, and I am eager to make them. Some of them include meat, but can easily be transformed into vegetarian versions.

This story is the sequel to BESIDE STILL WATERS, and is the second in the BIG SKY series. I never read the first book, but now feel the overpowering urge to. You don't have to be familiar with the first to enjoy this one, although some parts confused me. The back of the book contains an excerpt from the next BIG SKY novel, and it sounds just as exciting as this one. I look forward to reading that one as well.

ALONG WOODEN PATHS tells the story of Marianna Sommer. She lives with her family in a small Montana community, where the Amish dwell side-by-side with the English. Marianna must deal with the loss of her sisters and her brother, who decided to leave the Amish faith, while coming to terms with her own love of God. She questions reading English Bibles and going to prayer meetings. She also questions her love for two men. Ben is an Englishman who loves God, but because he isn't Amish, her family frowns on their relationship. Aaron, her other interest, used to be her beau before her family left Indiana for Montana. He is now visiting her, and she wonders if when he leaves, she should go with him. While she lives in Montana, though, she works at an English restaurants and befriends her English coworkers.

The story shows a different side to the Amish than most novels I have read. The love story brought a smile to my face.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.