Kelly's Chance is the first in the Brides of Lehigh Canal Series by Wanda E. Brunstetter. The book is set in the late 1800's and based on the life of a girl who works on the canal for her father. Kelly is expected to do the work of two people and is not paid anything for her time. Her father has a short temper, especially after Kelly's sister, Sarah, took off to get married. Kelly promises herself that she will not get married because she sees her mom and dad in a working relationship, not a true marriage. Mike Cooper, the owner of the store along the canal where Kelly and her family frequent, has been praying for God to send him a wife. The local preacher's daughter, Betsy, has her eye on Mike, but her superiority turns Mike's stomach.This is the first non-Amish book I have read by this author. When I first started reading it, I assumed it was Amish, not having paid attention to the summary of the book. I was a little confused the first few pages, then I read the summary and realized it wasn't Amish. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." I thought this was a great verse from Psalm 34:19 to sum up the book. Kelly faced daily aggravations with her Dad, who was cantankerous and strict. She didn't enjoy the canal life, even more so now that her sister took off and left her to do all the work, and especially not getting paid for her hard work and long days. Her dreams of making enough money on her own to own an art gallery are looking bleak. Kelly becomes frustrated with praying because she feels like God isn't listening to her since her prayers aren't being answered. Her mom encouraged her with this verse by saying that we all face trials, but that doesn't mean that God doesn't love us. God loves us so much that he allows us trials to help us grow and depend on him more, and he will see us out of each and every trial he has set before us. What a great lesson for all of us to learn and remember for future trials. I won this, so 'yay' for that.Honestly though, I didn't really enjoy it all that much though... Sorry! but it was sorta boring...EDIT: Re-read it. Here's the skinny on why I didn't think much of this book: The author did the whole "told, not shown" bit. I was TOLD Kelly and Mike liked each other. I was TOLD that her dad was mean and didn't think much of her painting. I was TOLD of the 'annoyingness' of that other girl. I wasn't SHOWN anything. There was not enough description, I think. Fleshing out how or why or who did what. That is what is missing, in my opinion.
What do You think about Kelly's Chance (2010)?
Good book. A couple of parts dragged on but all in all it was a very good read.
—ShotgunFiend
great read interesting and keeps your interest
—LuminescenceDove
A very nice quick read, and a feel-good story.
—luckygoldencat
