Arms Of Love (An Amish Beginnings Novel) (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Arms Of Love is the first book I have read by Kelly Long and I must say that I really enjoyed it! This book is set in the Revolutionary Pennsylvania and touches on the persecution that the Amish endured at the hands of both the Patriots and the British. The main characters in the story are Adam Wyse, a troubled young man with a dark past and Lena Yoder, the love of his life. Adam, though he is troubled, is an honorable and caring man who is loved and admired by Lena's mother, Mary. Though she cares for Adam deeply, she worries about the welfare of her daughter if she should move into the Wyse home, as is the tradition of a young Amish couple. Adam's father is very abusive of him and Lena was an unfortunate witness to a brutal beating of Adam. Mary is fearful that Lena may also be subject to abuse if Adam were to continue to live in the home and she makes Adam swear a vow to her as she is on her deathbed that he will leave Lena until he can afford to build his own home. Adam agrees as he fears for his own sanity. He is plagued by nightmares that he can't explain and is missing gaps in his early childhood. Lena's father has been imprisoned by the Patriots for refusing to surrender their last cow that the family needed for milk and Adam is determined to help him. However, Samuel sees a darkness in Adam and he is determined to let it be known that he wants Adam to leave his daughter alone. So, reluctantly, Adam breaks things off with Lena. At the urging of her father (and to the meddling of Adam's father) Lena agrees to marry Adam's brother, Isaac. Adam is desperate to find out the reason behind his father's hate for him and also to find a resolution to his own violent desires and tendencies as well as a reprise from the horrible nightmares that haunt him. In doing so he wishes to fulfill the promise he has made to Lena's mother and hopefully win back the heart of his one true love. This story was filled with raw emotion and even passion which I found very refreshing for a christian romance novel. I'm in no means saying it was raunchy but it was nice to see real characters that strongly desired and longed for each other. It gave a realistic human element to the story that made it very easy to connect with the characters. I will be looking into other novels written by this author in the future! Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. 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 Set in colonial America, the Amish families suffer persecution from the colonists because they do not fight against the British and from the British because they are colonists. Adam is the son of an Amish family that holds some authority in their neighborhood Amish community. Adam has loved Lena for several years and they look forward to marrying, but on her deathbed, Lena's mother Mary makes Adam promise to stay away from Lena until he is no longer under a dark cloud. When Adam tells Lena that the can no longer be together, she vows to marry is brother. Between the difficulties of life, Adam discovers a truth that he has tried to forget for many years, and comes to forgive his father for beating him.This is a very tender story of strength, forgiveness, and love, with well thought out characters, and involving plot twists. One rarely remembers that while fighting for their own freedom, colonists were lax to extend those same ideas to others. Viewing the Amish way of life through a historical lens adds interest to the story, as does other elements of the setting such as the frequent deaths that surrounded everybody's lives. This is a book for readers that enjoy a love story deeper than a mere romance, along with the interesting history of the setting.Received Galley from NetGalley.com
What do You think about Arms Of Love (An Amish Beginnings Novel) (2012)?
perfectly average for the genre...amish christian historical fictionset in 1777 pg
—jp87
I've never read an Amish historical novel before...great way to start!!
—Tiff
