Hopeful
February 12th, 2014. Filed under: This & That.Hopeful
By Shelley Shepard Gray
Return to Sugarcreek, Book One
In the Amish town of Sugarcreek, love comes in many forms. But will it come at all for Miriam?
Miriam Zehr has worked at the Sugarcreek Inn longer than she cares to admit. The restaurant is a favorite of town residents as well as the many tourists who come to taste the famous Amish fare. Though she always tries to have a smile for every customer, deep down Miriam knows something’s missing: a family of her own.
Miriam has never felt particularly beautiful, especially because she’s always been a bit heavier than other girls her age. When Junior, the man she’s pined for all her life, suddenly seeks her out, she’s thrilled to be noticed . . . until she realizes he’s only asking her to help get the attention of Mary Kathryn Hershberger, her pretty friend.
If Miriam helps Junior court Mary Kathryn, she’ll get to spend a lot of time with him, but she might lose him in the process. Are these few stolen moments worth a lifetime of sacrifice? Is Miriam right to even hope for the life she dreams of?
ISLAND BREEZES
That hope never seems to die. Miriam has loved Junior for years and hopes that some day he’ll return that love. Then as he seems to be noticing her, Junior stomps on that hope.
He just wants her to help him get the attention of her friend, Mary Kate. It’s not easy for her, but Miriam agrees to help Junior, knowing how difficult it’s going to be every time she sees the two of them together.
It seems that Miriam isn’t going to get her turn at love, marriage and family like all her other friends. But she remains hopeful.
Ms Gray has given us another good read in this first book of the Return to Sugarcreek series. I’m looking forward to book two.
***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***
Shelley Shepard Gray is a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, 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.