The story starts with Nelson Bontrager who is about to propose … and then …
Ella Yoder has a problem. She has several — the man who is about to purchase the empty warehouse next to the family store, the warehouse Ella had planned to use for expansion. Her sister, Junia. And Ella was tired. Tired of having to do everything. No wonder she was bossy; she had to be or nothing got done. Her daed saw Junia shirk her duties. At the store. At home. And he did nothing.
And yes, the man interested in the warehouse is Nelson. He and his nephew Malachi are viewing it and Ella marches — not better word — barges in asking if they are the new owners. And the fur starts to fly. After what happened to Nelson, he was not receptive to any woman, especially one like Ella. And who follows Ella into the empty building minutes later, her sister Junia. and Malachi’s mouth drops open and he starts drooling. Okay, okay. Ms. Fuller didn’t write that but if it was a cartoon that’s what Malachi would look like.
One more major character, an Englisher woman, a lawyer. A big city lawyer. New York City no less. Her name is Wendy Pearson; she moved to Marigold to care for her mother. I found her very interesting and hope Ms. Fuller writes another book with Wendy as the lead. Wendy finds she doesn’t miss NYC at all and the laid-back atmosphere of Marigold and the Amish community is calming.
When I start a new book, I want to like the main character or characters. The author has to make me care about them. Well, with The Proposal Plot, I didn’t like Ella much. That business of her flying into the warehouse uninvited and asking a question not very politely didn’t sit well with me. Junia I wanted to take out behind the shed and give her a good spanking. Spoiled brat. I do not like spoiled brats. Don’t like wimpy men either and Ella & Junia’s father, Barnabas, was a wimp. He let Junia get by with just about anything and said nothing. I think the first character I DID like was Wendy. Fortunately, she appeared at 6%.
The story starts to evolve. To change just as people do when things happen. Junia gets just as sappy about Malachi as he is with her and I chuckled my way through several passages where Ella is in the vicinity of the love birds and — well, you gotta smile at the scenes. I had to feel for Ella — she was being worked to death and like all of us … when we are bone-tired, we are not at our best. That’s when the attributes that we hope most people don’t notice — come out. And Ella’s does but I could understand why.
Barnabas grew on me too. I began to like the man. Malachi and Junia are slurpy, sloppy, in love to the point of ad nauseam. And Wendy seems to have found peace. The reader will like her mother too.
I loved that her mother’s favorite restaurant was Panchos. Brought back fond memories of eating at Pancho’s Mexican Buffet which is NOT where Wendy and her mother come for Taco Tuesdays.
There was one thing that made Nelson abnormal in my book. He doesn’t like chocolate. What!!! Now that is weird. Plain weird. But he does like gooseberry pie. My mother would make this pie and it was delicious. That combination of sweet and sour. Maybe even better with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Then, I think almost everything tastes better with ice cream. Or chocolate.
So, I ended up loving this book. I hardly could put it down the last 40%. This is book two of “An Amish of Marigold” series. I also reviewed the first book, The Courtship Plan, but didn’t like it nearly as much as I did this one. A core underlying element of this story is coming close to God. The reader will feel it most with Wendy. Rating: 5 stars.
I received a complimentary DRC (digital review copy) of The Proposal Plot via NetGalley from the publisher, Zondervan Fiction | Zondervan. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Rating: 5 stars
Series: An Amish of Marigold, #2
Cover: Good. Matches book #1 which will make them eye-catching in a display.
Pages: Unknown at the time of review but probably about the same length as book #1 which was 320.
Publish Date: 7 May 2024
#TheProposalPlot #NetGalley #KathleenFuller
