Another Terrific Amish Tale from Author Serena B. Miller!
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| Hidden Mercies by Serena B. Miller Copyright 2013 Howard Books ISBN: 9781451660357 |
At seventeen, Tobias Miller smashed his cousin’s car into a tree, killing his brother only four hours before he was scheduled to marry Claire Shetler. Unable to live with his father’s bottomless grief and anger, Tobias left the Amish church and ran away to join the Marines. Twenty-seven years later, Tobias, now called Tom, returns to Mt. Hope, Ohio, a wounded, decorated Marine helicopter pilot, and rents an apartment over Claire’s workshop.
A widowed Amish midwife, Claire is struggling to support her family. When Tom rents her room she does not recognize the disfigured soldier as the boy she once knew. She only sees the money as a godsend, though she is nervous about having a strange man so close by. Claire never dreams that she will end up falling in love with a battle-scarred soldier.
As Claire and Tom fight their way through the traumas of the past, they discover the tender mercies God has hidden along the way—including a loving father who has been praying for his prodigal son to come home and a God who makes all things new.
My Thoughts:
Even though Hidden Mercies is not labeled as a series we are once again in Mt. Hope, Ohio, with some old familiar characters from An Uncommon Grace (a good book!) as well as some new faces. Each character, Amish and Englisch alike, struggle with their pasts. Claire, with the sudden death of her young fiance that changed her life forever and Tom, the one who believes he was responsible for causing the accident that took his older brother's life. After decades of grief, despite leading two very different lives, Claire as an Amish midwife and Tom as a helicopter pilot for the Marines they come full circle and are once again brought together.
My favorite thing about this story was the authentic feel that it had. Grace and her husband from the first book set in Mt. Hope play a part in this story as well and I absolutely loved that everything wasn't bright and sunny 100% of the time for them. Where some books tend to gloss over what struggles very different people face when they marry or have a serious relationship, this book doesn't do that. I think there was more headbutting in this book between those two than there are cowboys at a rodeo! I don't mean to overlook Claire and Toms's story. That in and of itself made this book hard to put down but I just loved to get to read what happened next to two of the very likeable Amish fiction characters from An Uncommon Grace.
Hidden Mercies is a great combination of real-life strife along with a sweet love story and a HEA that makes any romance just about perfect! Serena Miller writes good historical fiction stories but I think Amish fiction is her sweet spot. I look forward to hopefully reading more about Mt. Hope and its residents. Hopefully Becky, Grace's sister, will make an appearance soon!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.*
Happy Reading!
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