Rachel's Garden

2010 • 343 pages

The next in a series of Amish-set novels in which a woman's close- knit community helps her through challenging times. It has been almost a year since the Amish community of Pleasant Valley lost Ezra Brand to tragedy. Now his wife Rachel struggles to raise their three children and run their farm.Rachel's friends and family have come forward to help. But all of their constant advice, however well intentioned, puts undue pressure on Rachel. And when Gideon Zook, Ezra's best friend, asks her permission to build the greenhouse Ezra had always promised her, she finds his presence too painful a reminder of losing her husband.As spring turns to summer, and Rachel puts her heart into growing the plants that have always brought her joy, can she discover the courage to embrace new beginnings?

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Series

Featured Series

2 primary books

#2 in Pleasant Valley

Pleasant Valley is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 2010 with contributions by Anna Brooks and Marta Perry.

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The Sassy BookwormSupporter

This cover is OK. A fairly good representation of the hero. The composition is OK. I am not crazy about the font, size, or placement of the title.

I had to think on this one a bit before I sat down to write my review. I think overall I really enjoyed it. This author has an engaging writing style. The pace moved along nicely and kept my attention throughout. It had some interesting side characters. Some fairly hot sex scenes. It had a good amount of angst and drama. No (real) OM/OW drama and a sweet epilogue.

My issue, and why I had to think a bit about this one was the two main characters. The heroine was a bit...I don't know...annoying I guess. The whole situation with Bryan just seemed to be a bit MUCH for someone who was just 22. Especially since the situation started when she was 20. Why did all the adults around her allow her to continue with such unhealthy behavior? I could see letting it go on for a bit, but two years?! Then she basically snaps out of it lickady split when she meets Vaughn.

And Vaughn was no better. A few years older than the heroine and he had a list of issues a mile long. There was just so much baggage connected to the two main characters that I sometimes found myself rolling my eyes and disconnecting from them. Not to mention the ridiculous miscommunication issues. That type of angst drives me NUTS because I just want to yell F-ING TALK already!

But like I said even with ALL that I was still sucked into the story. I still enjoyed it a lot overall. I'm interested in going back to read book one (Fixing Fate) and I will be keeping an eye out for book three (Steady) So this one earns one thumb and one pinkie finger up from yours truly.