Author: Stephanie Reed
Publisher: Kregel
October 2014
ISBN: 978-0825442162
Genre:
Amish / Women’s fiction
In this sequel to The
Bargain, Betsie Troyer is back home in her Amish community where she knows
she belongs, free from the confusing Englisher way of life. She and Charley
Yoder have made promises to each other, and her life is back on track--until
Gerald Sullivan shows up with his young daughter, asking for Betsie's help.
He’s on his way to find his estranged wife, and begs Betsie to take young
Sheila in.
When she agrees,
Betsie's carefully planned life is shaken up again. Sheila's newfound faith is
troubling to Charley--and his attraction to another girl is beginning to be a
problem. But how can Betsie confront him when she is still trying to confront
her own feelings about Sheila's brother, Michael?
Keeping the peace
between the Amish man she's always loved, a twelve-year-old Englisher girl, and
a draft-dodging hippie is more than she ever thought she’d have to deal with in
her simple, orderly life. Still, Betsie is convinced she can keep things from
falling apart completely.
Then during her best
friend's wedding, tragedy strikes and her world is upended. She has to make a
decision: does she love Charley or Michael . . . or is she craving a deeper
love that only God can give?
The compelling second
novel of the Plain City Peace series, THE BACHELOR deftly weaves
together the strands of a solid, simpler time with the turmoil of an era of
change, revealing the strengths of both in its powerful narrative.
It has been a long time
since I read the first book in this series, and I had some trouble remembering
what had happened. It would help if there was a blurb reminding readers what
happened The Bargain in this book so readers would remember the story better. Either that or read
the books together. I was hopelessly lost at first.
The Amish district in
this book is very strict, very harsh. I didn’t connect with the characters in
this book at all. Looking back I did enjoy The
Bargain. Betsie had no problems lying and there is a lot of discord among
her family, future in-laws, and the community. But that may be realistic since
it is based on a real life Amish community that the Englisch world is
swallowing up. In fact, in the author’s notes, she says there are only four
Amish families living there at the time this was published.
THE BACHELOR is well
written, and I loved the diary entries and quotes at the tops of the chapters.
The third book in the series, The Bride,
will be coming in winter 2016.
Available in ebook and paperback. 256 pages.
Stephanie Reed lives on the outskirts of Plain City, Ohio, site of a once-thriving Amish community. She gleans ideas for her novels from signs glimpsed along the byways of Ohio, as she did for her previous books,Across the Wide River and The Light Across the River. 
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