The Rescue / Handspun Hearts

Title: THE RESCUE

Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher

Publisher: Revell

May 2014

ASIN: B00IARZY10

Genre: Novella, contemporary

Will is back at Eagle Ridge, but this time he’s finished with Vet school and ready to take on the world. There’s the girl he wants and birds to save and everything is rosy.

Until he learns his school loans are coming due, his dad won’t help with bills, and the electric company is threatening to shut off power. And the girl—she’s nowhere to be found.

Will Will learn to trust God and not trust himself? Does God even have a plan? What if Plan A fails and Plan B is nowhere to be found?

This was a short enovella – which is why I picked it up to read today. Short and sweet and de-stressing. In Ms. Fisher’s signature style, the story is engaging, gripping, heart-felt, and totally lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed THE RESCUE. It is short – but I knew that. And like a taste of a forbidden sweet, oh, so good.

Don’t miss THE RESCUE. $1.99. 55 pages.

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Title: HANDSPUN HEARTS

Author: Rachel Bauer

Publisher: Bauer Publishing (self-published)

December 2013

ASIN: B00FPZSAP2

Genre: Amish / serial

Nineteen-year-old Amish teenager Stella Sommer works on her family farm near Ephrata, Pennsylvania, raising sheep, spinning wool, and making cheese for sale. Happy in her Amish family’s life, Stella hasn’t met anyone she’s romantically interested in since they moved to Ephrata over a year ago. She’s industrious, bright, and a devout Christian who dreams of a marriage as secure as her parents’.

Everything is turned upside down, though, when Stella meets two men – one who may test her faith, and another who is everything she is supposed to be looking for. What will Stella decide? Will she stay true to her Amish roots, or will she venture out into the world? Will she follow the path that God has planned for her? 

HANDSPUN HEARTS is part one of a serial story that some self-published writers are doing to make more money. At virtually $3.00 a story by the time they write six parts of the book they’re getting $18.00 for it. A rip-off. (I am not saying there are six parts in this serial. I don't know how many are planned.) Not only that, but part 1 of the serial is poorly written with typos, point of view glitches, and way too much back story. Plus she slams other Amish authors. Does Ms. Bauer think she’s the only one who writes it correctly?   

The parts about how wool is dyed is interesting, as is the information about making cheese.

If you like serial stories and unfinished, poorly written books, then you might enjoy HANDSPUN HEARTS. As an avid fan of Amish fiction, I “bought” this when it was offered as a free hook to draw the reader in. I won’t be reading anymore of Ms. Bauer's stories. 108 pages. $2.99.