Ariana’s comfortable Old Order
Amish world is about to unravel. Will holding tightly to the cords of family
keep them together—or simply tear them apart?
Twenty-year-old Ariana
Brenneman loves her family and the Old Ways. She has two aspirations: open a
café in historic Summer Grove to help support her family’s ever-expanding brood
and to keep any other Amish from being lured into the Englisch life by Quill Schlabach.
Five years ago, Quill,
along with her dear friend Frieda, ran off together, and Ariana still carries
the wounds of that betrayal. When she unexpectedly encounters him, she soon
realizes he has plans to help someone else she loves leave the Amish.
Despite how things
look, Quill’s goal has always been to protect Ariana from anything that may
hurt her, including the reasons he left. After returning to Summer Grove on
another matter, he unearths secrets about Ariana and her family that she is
unaware of. His love and loyalty to her beckons him to try to win her trust and
help her find a way to buy the café—because when she learns the truth that
connects her and a stranger named Skylar Nash, Quill knows it may upend her
life forever.
Ties That Bind is
the first book in Cindy Woodsmall’s The
Amish of Summer Grove series, and is also the first book I have ever read
by her. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going in, but I was pleasantly
surprised by how wonderful this story is! It captivated me from the moment I first
read the synopsis, and I’m still dying to know the whole of the story. Though I
am fully aware of a good amount of the secrets that all of the characters hold
now that I’ve finished the book, I still want to know how everything works out
in the end. I’m already sooooo ready to read the next book in the series, so I’m
super glad it comes out next month.
Ariana Brenneman is by far one of my favorite Amish women I have
ever been introduced to (in the books I’ve read of course). She is so sweet,
and brave, and loving, and always cares for her large family, and I just know
if circumstances were different—and if she were real—we would definitely be
friends. I absolutely love her relationship with her twin, Abram, as well. They
are so, so close, and their bond makes me wish I had a twin of my own. Most of
all, though, I love how Ari handles everything that is thrown at her throughout
the course of this book. She handles everything, even the worst nightmares,
with such an amazing amount of patience and grace, and I cannot help but admire
her for that.
I haven’t really come to a decision on what I think of Quill
as of yet, so I’m not going to spend very much time on him. I know he seemingly
has reasons behind all of the not entirely on the up-and-up things that he has
done, and I even am fully aware of some of those explanations, but I still feel
like he really seems to throw Ariana under the bus every time he tries to help.
I love his devotion to her and his longing to keep her safe, but really all he’s
ever done is just cause her pain, so I haven’t decided if I like him yet or
not.
All in all though, I really loved this story! It’s so
interesting, and there are so many elements woven together to make it captivate
me from beginning to end, so I can easily give it all five bookshelves. Cindy
has definitely become a favorite author of mine, and I can’t wait to read more
of her books—namely the second installment, Fraying
at the Edge—in the future!
Happy reading!
To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party
page.
All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Cindy
Woodsmall and WaterBrook Publishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment