| Genre: | Amish |
| Pub. Date: | 27 Dec 2022 |
| Pages: | 261 |
| Publisher: | Revell |
| Cover: | She should have been facing forward w/hadher arms crossed & a scowl on her face. |
| Rating: | 3 stars |
Not until Lindsay Prescott is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer does she decide to break a years-old promise. She must tell her daughter the truth about her birth. And why her identical sisters were raised by Amish parents, Katie & Roman Yoder.
And learns why the triplet’s father never knew of their birth.
My review…
My tagline is “… an honest review, always” and I’m being honest when I say I had a hard time liking this book. The description as given by the author and/or publisher gives too much away about the story. Fortunately, I had forgotten most of it when I started to read “The Amish Mother’s Secret”. I just remembered it was about a woman who couldn’t keep her triplets and was thankful an Amish couple was going to raise two of the three girls.
The book is a standalone and does have a HEA ending but getting there was this reviewer was not an enjoyable read. I know the book has had several 4 & 5-star reads. For me, it was a 2-star read receiving a 3-star review. And here is why…
- Katie, the Amish mother, has no faith. She lives in fear and that fear exhibits meanness. She is cruel to Lindsey more than once. I did not like her from the first moment her character was introduced and didn’t buy her sudden change at the end.
- Roman, Katie’s husband, shows eventually how Katie’s mean streak is affecting him yet he remains his romantic self 99.9% of the time. It would have been much more believable if he hadn’t.
- Katie was much older than Lindsey when she got her promise. Fear is a powerful emotion and a big part of this story. But Katie’s fear is really never dealt with. I never got the feeling that Katie regretted any of her actions.
- Harris, the girls’ biological father, is just too good to be true.
- Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. The book has 261 pages and quite a bit is the same scene rehashed again. And again. If this had not been a NetGalley book, I would not have finished it.
- Little things. Like Harris seeing Lindsey for the first time in 20+ years and the author costumes him in a short-sleeved shirt. Harris is a surgeon and a very successful one. Professional men do not wear short-sleeved shirts for such occasions (if ever). They wear a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
The positive aspect for this reviewer was Lindsey’s cancer treatment although I thought Harris should have INSISTED she gets a second opinion. Lindsey was diagnosed with stage 4, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer. Turns out there was a very good reason why the author, Diane Craver, wrote this part so well. Make sure you read the section *after* the end.
So, no — I did not like the book even though other reviewers have. For me, it was a two-star read until I read “the rest of the story”.
I received a complimentary DRC (digital review copy) of “The Amish Mother’s Secret” via NetGalley from the publisher, Revell. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Rating: 3 stars
#TheAmishMothersSecret #NetGalley #DianeCraver
