The Mending
Mass Market Paperback, ebook
August 28, 2018
by
Malinda Stauffer is happy that her gut frienden Phoebe Yoder may soon be married. Of course, Malinda can't help wondering about her own future. She hopes someday to find the same contentment as a wife and mother that she has helping her own mamm care for Malinda's father and five brothers. But a challenging health issue has her convinced no man wants the burden of a fraa who needs rest when there are farms to tend and businesses to run. Adding to her stress is the unwanted attention of an aggressive big city doctor smitten by her--an unsettling distraction she has kept to herself.
Timothy Brenneman works alongside Malinda's brother, Sam, handcrafting the finest Amish furniture in St. Mary's County. He can't recall when Sam's little schweschder blossomed into a beautiful young woman--but he would do anything to hold Malinda close and soothe the sad yearning in her eyes. Sensing her unease at the mention of her doctor only confirms his desire to protect her. Healing, however, is in Gott's hands, and a hard lesson in the true meaning of love may soon bless them both in ways they never imagined . . .
My thoughts: THE MENDING is the second book in Ms. Simpson's series, and while it does stand alone, fans will want to read The Promise to learn Phoebe's story since it is mentioned in the story.
Malinda suffers from Crohns Disease and compares her plight to Paul (in the Bible) but unlike Paul she wants to marry and have babies. Unfortunately, all the young men in her district knows she suffers from a disease with no cure and no one will have anything to do with her. She's forever doomed to being an old maid.
Not quite true of course. Timothy has known and noticed and liked Malinda forever, but for whatever reason he never asked her for a buggy ride or expressed his interest or anything, so Malinda thinks his sudden concern for her is pity. That's all everyone feels. Even her own mamm thinks she's sickly....
THE MENDING is a sweet romance with all the trauma of young love. My heart hurt for Malinda and I wanted her to know that even with an incurable disease she was still worthy of loving and being loved. Timothy was a true sweetheart, kind and caring and oh-so-considerate. I felt bad for him and his traumatic experience.
I figured the third book would be about the third girl in the trio of friends mentioned in this one, so I read the excerpt for The Reconciliation included at the end of the book and was surprised to see I was wrong! I will admit my interest is piqued by what I read.
Fans of Amish fiction will want to read THE MENDING by Ms. Simpson. It is a sweet, clean, romance with a good faith message the characters have to learn.
I was given a copy free. All opinions are my own.
2 comments:
Wonderful review of The Mending. I've been wanting to read this book since reading the excerpt in The Promise.
I agree; this is a wonderful review of The Mending. I enjoyed The Promise and this book is next on my reading list.
My nephew was diagnosed with Crohns Disease when he was 21 (he is now 37) and since it is hereditary he doesn't date and will never get married. It makes me sad, so even though The Mending is a work of fiction I hope Malinda finds true love, gets married and has a baby.
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