The Bridesmaid

Title: THE BRIDESMAID

Author: Beverly Lewis

Publisher: Bethany House

September 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7642-0978-9

Genre: Amish

Twenty-five-year-old Joanna Kurtz has made several trips to the altar, but never as a bride. The single young Amishwoman is a closet writer with a longing to be published something practically unheard of in her Lancaster County community. Yet Joanna's stories aren't her only secret. She also has a beau who is courting her from afar, unbeknownst even to her sister, Cora, who, though younger, seems to have suitors to spare.

Eben Troyer is a responsible young Amishman who hopes to make Joanna Kurtz his bride--if he can ever leave his parents' farm in Shipshewana, Indiana. Yet with his only brother off in the English world, intent on a military career, Eben's hopes for building a life with his dear Joanna are dimming, and patience is wearing thin. Will Joanna ever be more than a bridesmaid?

THE BRIDESMAID is the second book in the Home to Hickory Hollow series, but it easily stands alone. I wasn’t too impressed with the first book, The Fiddler, rare for me and Beverly Lewis’ books. I did enjoy reading THE BRIDESMAID. It is mostly written in Joanna’s point of view. I did love Eban, such a wonderful kind Amish man. Joanna was more distant than I like, but by the end of the book she did grow on me. It is rare to see such sibling rivalry in Amish books, so that was a realistic touch that added to the conflict of the story. With the relationship being long distance, it needed conflict of this sort.

If you like Amish fiction you’ll want to read THE BRIDESMAID. It is easy to see why the Queen of Amish fiction won the Christian Retailing Award in Amish fiction for this book. I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series (in my to-be-read pile). $14.99. 320 pages