Amelia Kinsinger is the perfect Amish woman—at least according to her neighbors. And while Amelia takes pride in her role as homemaker, she’s also harboring a secret: She’s been in love with bad boy Simon Hochstetler for as long as she can remember. Too bad he’s about as far from “perfect” as an Amish man could get… but that’s exactly why she’s so drawn to him.
Life hasn’t been kind to Simon. He ran away from an abusive home at fifteen and things went downhill from there. Eventually, Simon landed in prison. But the experience changed him. Now back in Charm as a grown man, he’s determined to make a new life for himself and not think too much about his wild past…unless it pertains to Amelia.
He’s loved Amelia for years. To him, she represents everything good and kind in the world. When he realizes that she returns his affections, he starts calling on her in secret, even though her older brother Lukas—who just happens to be Simon’s best friend—has made it perfectly clear that Amelia deserves better. Simon disagrees and believes he’s the only one who can truly make her happy.
But when Amelia gets hurt, it sets off a chain of events that forces them to consider their future together—and face their past mistakes. There’s a chance for love… but only if Simon dares to trust Amelia with the secrets of his past.
My Thoughts:
As the youngest sibling of the Kinsinger clan, I was a bit worried Amelia’s story was going to be boring. I was so wrong!
We learn in the very first chapter just how much Simon has always loved Amelia. But they were kids and Simon has been through so much since then. He has returned to Charm, and this book is as much about him as it is Amelia.
Simon knows that he loves Amelia so much, but he has so many secrets from his past that he is ashamed of. He is also under the belief that if everyone knew his secrets, he would no longer be welcome in Charm. We seem his struggle with this throughout most of this story. It breaks my heart that he went through so much, and then feels he must hid it all from those who seem to care the most about him.
Amelia is young, but not so young she does not know what she wants in life. More than anything in the world, she is annoyed that her siblings think they can boss her around and treat her like a child. It is when Amelia suffers a serious injury we see this family finally sort out their differences and realize that Amelia needs to be allowed to be an adult and make her own decisions.
As we watch the relationship between Simon and Amelia grow, I could not wait for them to get together. But it appears life is getting in the way of their happiness. I was so annoyed at both of them for the way they handled some of the situations, but was happy when they both came to their senses and figured things out.
This turned out to be a great book, and I am so glad I had the fourth book already in my possession because I could not wait to see how this series is going to end.
Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town's bike trail.
