A Wedding for Julia 

The Pebble Creek Amish Series #3

Paperback, ebook

July 1, 2013

by Vannetta Chapman 

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers 

ISBN-13: 978-0736946162

A Wedding for Julia, the third book in a romantic series from popular author Vannetta Chapman, takes a last look at the Amish community of Pebble Creek and the kind, caring people there. As they face challenges from the English world, they come together to reach out to their non-Amish neighbors while still preserving their cherished Plain ways.

Julia Beechy is so stunned, she can hardly breathe. Her mother’s announcement that she must either marry or move from the family home upon her mother’s imminent death catches Julia by surprise. How can she leave the only home she has ever known? What about her dream of opening her own Plain café?

When Caleb Zook offers support, comfort, and a solution, Julia is afraid to accept it. Can she marry someone she barely knows? Is it the right thing to do? Is this God’s plan for her future?

Caleb thought his time for marrying was long past, but he feels a stirring in his heart he cannot shake for this beautiful, forlorn woman. Amid the circumstances of this life-altering decision, the people of Pebble Creek weather the worst storm to hit Wisconsin in the last hundred years. Where will Julia and Caleb be on the other side of it?

My thoughts: I've grown accustomed to Ms. Chapman's Amish mysteries and other more issue driven fiction, so this earlier sweet romance by her was rather a shock even though I read the others in this series way back when they first released. 

Julia is an old maid, almost forty years of age. Her father has gone to glory, her mother is dying and Julia has a plan to open her own cafe. But her mother plans to send her to unknown relatives in Pennsylvania, insisting that is what she and her dad want. Julia wouldn't be allowed to stay alone in the family home. 

Caleb offers marriage after he prays for a friend and discovers Julia must marry or leave town. The two do become friends, but the idea of a marriage based on anything other than the traditional love bothers Julia. 

Add a secondary story of a teenage Amish girl running around with a bad news English boy. I wondered how the two stories would end up coming together.  

Fans of Ms. Chapman will want to read A WEDDING FOR JULIA if they haven't already.  Recommended.