Deal Sharing Aunt: The Guardian by Beverly Lewis Book review via CFBA

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Guardian by Beverly Lewis Book review via CFBA

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Guardian Bethany House Publishers (March 26, 2013) by Beverly Lewis

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Beverly's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."

ABOUT THE BOOK

When schoolteacher Jodi Winfield goes for a morning run, the last thing she expects is to find a disheveled little girl all alone on the side of the Pennsylvania road, clad only in her undergarments, her chubby cheeks streaked with tears. Jodi takes the preschooler home with her, intending to find out where she belongs. But Jodi is mystified when no one seems to know of a missing child, and the girl herself is no help, since she can't speak a word of English. It's as if the child appeared out of nowhere.

As the days pass, Jodi becomes increasingly attached to the mysterious girl, yet she is no closer to learning her identity. Then an unexpected opportunity brings Jodi to Hickory Hollow--and into the cloistered world of the Lancaster Old Order Amish. Might the answers lie there?

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Guardian, go HERE.
My review:
I love the title of this book. It is not what you think though. The woman is not this girls' guardian (on the cover). The Guardian is God. He is Guarding all the characters in this book until they find God and their happiness.
Amish is not my favorite genre, but it is my mom's and I have gotten many books passed down to me from her. Beverly Lewis is a queen of this genre and she has not let me down yet. This is part of a series and I recommend that you read the whole series so you get all of the character development. However this book does stand alone.
This is about Jodi and her second chance at having children. Her issues are not medical. Her issues are with God. She finds a lost child and rethinks her past decisions. She brings the child home to Hickory Hollow, and finds a lot more there instead. She finds a teaching job, and answers to questions she thought that she didn't deserve to ask herself anymore. She also becomes a friend to the lost child's mom. As a friend she helps the child's mom in ways she never thought she could. Not that she was trying to help her, but everything happens for a reason. Especially when you trust in God.
I am giving this book a 5/5 and definitely recommend it. I was given a copy to review by CFBA, however all opinions are my own.