An Amish Heirloom: A Legacy of Love, The Cedar Chest, The Treasured Book, A Midwife’s Dream by Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Irvin
Published by Zondervan on April 10, 2018
Genres: Amish & Mennonite, Literature & Fiction, Religious
Pages: 381
Format: Paperback
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A Legacy of Love by Amy Clipston – Local volunteer fire fighter Leon King agrees to repair his ex-girlfriend Susie Bontrager’s grandparents’ antique rocking chairs for her future home with her fiance and is forced to acknowledge that his feelings for her have not quite gone away. As Susie spends time with Leon, she begins to recognize she is marrying the wrong man for all the wrong reasons.
The Cedar Chest by Beth Wiseman – Decades after inheriting her great grandmother’s cedar chest, Emma Fisher decides to pry it open only to discover a beautiful love story in the form of letters between her great grandparents. But as Emma immerses herself in their story, family secrets are revealed, and she must decide whether to share them to preserve family history or honor her great grandparents’ decision to leave them hidden.
The Treasured Book by Kathleen Fuller – For the past two years, Shane Broyles has felt God leading him to join the Amish. He’s staying with his friends Noah and Ivy Schlabach in Birch Creek, OH, where he is reunited with Lucy Fisher, an old friend of Noah’s family. Shane and Lucy have never revealed their feelings for each other, but when they stumble upon an antique Bible at a flea market, they feel drawn to each other and to the mystery of the contents found within.
The Midwife’s Dream by Kelly Irvin – Iris Beachy serves as a midwife in her district where she longs for a family of her own. When her friend’s brother Mahon Kurtz seeks her help in delivering the baby of two young teenagers who have sought refuge in their town, they begin to see each other in a different light. Unprepared for parenthood, the young couple leave their baby girl behind in an antique crib quilt resembling the one destined for Iris when she becomes a mother. Mahon and Iris come together to take care of the baby as they try to find her parents, and they begin to see new possibilities for their future
Being a book blogger with the Fiction Guild’s Elite Reader Program is a blessing because I receive lots of books that my mother and I love to read by authors we have come to love over the years. Today’s book is no exception since it includes short stories by four great authors! Since my mother read this one, I’ll share her review with you:
“This is a collection of four novellas: Legacy Of Love by Amy Clipston, The Cedar Chest by Beth Wiseman, The Treasured Book by Kathleen Fuller, and The Midwife’s Dream by Kelly Irvin. All have a specific treasured heirloom, sweet romance for four young Amish couples and biblical truths to learn to trust God for both the Amish and English to live their lives by. Here’s a little about each story:
Legacy of Love by Amy Clipston is a story of Leon King and Susie Bontrager. Leon is a lonely man that works as a master carpenter and also volunteers as a fireman. Susie is his ex-girlfriend who is now engaged to be married to another man. Susie wants Leon to repair her grandparents’ antique rocking chairs for her future new home. After visiting Leon at the woodshop to check on her chairs and as her wedding is approaching, she now questions if she is marrying the right man. This is a sweet short story.
The Cedar Chest by Beth Wiseman – This amazing story explores family secrets. Emma Fisher had inherited her great-grandmother’s cedar chest with the key broken off in the lock. When Emma and her daughter, Catherine decided to pry the chest open they discover beautiful love letters written between Emma’s great-grandparents. As Emma reads some of the letters she learns family secrets that she does not feel right to reveal to the family. Should she share what she has learned or honor her great-grandparents wish and keep them hidden?
The Treasured Book by Katherine Fuller – This is a story about Shane Broyles a wealthy New York lawyer who felt God calling him to join the Amish faith and Amish Lucy Fisher who he met several years ago in Iowa when she and her father helped Shane renovate a home. Lucy still has the miniature Bible that Shane gave her after helping him. Shane is staying with his friends Noah and Ivy Schlsbach in Birch Creek, Ohio while he decides where God is leading him. Lucy Fisher is arriving to Birch Creek to take care of Cevilla Schlabach while she recovers from a sprained ankle. Shane picks Lucy up at the bus station and after spending time together realize that they have feelings for each other and are becoming closer. An unexpected visitor shows up, Shane’s ex-finance who wants him back, will this cause friction between Shane and Lucy? Does Shane join the Amish faith or return to his wealthy life in New York? Does Lucy stay in Birch Creek, Ohio or return home?
The Midwife’s Dream by Kelly Irvin – Iris Beachy is the midwife for her district and dreams of getting married and having her own children. When her friend’s brother, Mahon Kurts, needs her help to deliver a baby of two English teenagers she knew that God would want her to help them. Shortly after the baby girl is delivered, the teenagers leave the infant covered with a beautiful old baby quilt. Coming together to take care of the infant, both Mahon and Iris try to find the missing parents and begin to care for each other and see a new future for themselves. The mother promised Iris she would return for her baby—does she?
This book is another collection of beautiful stories by four of my favorite authors. I have been a fan of each of their work for many years and their talent continues to impress me with every book of theirs that I read. While I loved reading all four of these stories, I really do wish each one was a full length book of its own. I will admit that I felt that The Cedar Chest was my favorite story out of the four!
I received a paperback copy of this book without cost from the publisher through The Fiction Guild, a Thomas Nelson/Zondervan Elite Reader book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own, or in this case, my mom’s.
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