The second novel in The Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series, A Mother’s Secret, by Amy
Clipston (Zondervan) is an engaging, page-turning, stunning success. A
Mother’s Secret stands alone perfectly without reading the first
book in the series, A Hopeful
Heart.The third novel in
the series, A Dream of Home,
will be available in the fall of 2014.Fair warning however, A
Mother’s Secret is so enjoyable that readers will want to
purchase the entire series.
The protagonist, Carolyn, has been judged
harshly by some the people in her Amish community for a mistake she made when
she was 16-years-old. She became an unwed mother and now at age 31, she still
feels the sting of the mistake she made. She and her son, Benjamin, age 15,
live with her parents in the daadi haus on land owned by her brother Amos. Amos
is constantly belittling Carolyn for her past, and in addition, his sons bully
Benjamin.
At the Horse Auction, Benjamin is accused of throwing a
rock at Joshua Glick’s horse, causing injury and a veterinary bill. In reality,
Amos’s boys threw the rock but blamed Benjamin. Benjamin is made to work at
Joshua’s horse farm to pay the vet bill and finds he loves working for Joshua
and with the horses.
Amos begins pressuring Carolyn to find a husband and
marry so she will be more legitimate and give her son a father. Carolyn doesn’t
want a marriage of convenience; she wants to marry for love. Still, Amos
introduces Carolyn to widower Saul and she agrees to get to know him. Saul has
a 10-year-old daughter, a successful cabinetry shop, and a kind heart, but he
has difficulty expressing his feelings. Joshua, on the other hand, has no
trouble expressing his feelings and he is beginning to fall for Carolyn. She
needs to figure out which man is right for her.
A
Mother’s Secret incorporates several important messages within
its pages. Carolyn works through shame
and isolation to find true happiness. Amy Clipston writes brilliantly on the subject
of forgiveness, not just God’s forgiveness of sins but each person forgiving
themselves and each other. In addition, the book includes the theme of trusting
in the plan God has for each individual.
Amy Clipston gives readers a wonderful romance in the
pages of A Mother’s Secret.The romance is sweet, exciting, and
refreshingly realistic. She perfectly captures that butterflies-in-your-stomach
feeling between a couple as they first start to fall in love. There is also
some very interesting conflict between the characters. The book is totally entertaining
with creative three dimensional personalities having relatable problems, both
good and bad characteristics, fears and successes, happiness and loneliness. It’s
simply a pleasure to read Amy Clipston’s novels. A Mother’s Secret will be available on June 3, 2014.
Gloria is a 59-year-old retired RN and former accountant who has
a life long love of reading. She has spent the last two years reading every
Amish novel she can get her hands on. When not reading, Gloria spends her day trading stocks and options,
tweeting under the name of @gloriason, and expressing her gratitude to God. She blogs at amishreader.blogspot.com.