The Amish Groom (Men of Lancaster County Series #1)

After six long years, it's time for Tyler Anderson to come to so

After six long years, it's time for Tyler Anderson to come to some hard decisions about his future. He's thankful that Rachel Hoeck hasn't decided to find someone else to marry, after all she's been baptized into the Amish faith and has waited patiently for Tyler to finally propose to her now that he is twenty three but he can't just yet. He doesn't know what is keeping him from moving forward. Is it the fact that he was left with his Amish grandparents when he was six after losing his mother unexpectedly and watched his father walk away to continue his military career? Or is it because he wonders what made his Amish mother walk away from her faith at eighteen and marry an English man?

It seems Tyler is at a crossroads and no matter how much he prays for God's guidance, he senses that God is quiet on what he should do. All he knows for certain is that Rachel deserves more from him. She is everything he could ever imagine in a future wife. He has a strong stable job working for his grandparents Buggy shop, he has developed a long standing relationship within the Amish community and it seems like his English dad, has moved forward in his new life with his wife and son. But there is just something nagging at the back of Tyler's mind that keeps him from moving forward in either life.

After careful consideration, he mentions his feelings to Rachel who wonders if Tyler will ever commit to her and wonders if she has been wasting her time waiting for him. If he heads back to the English world, he may never come back. But if she doesn't give him this time to discover what has been holding him back he will always wonder if he did the right thing in marrying her. She wants to marry Tyler for all the right reasons and pressuring him to commit won't make either of them happy in the long run.

So Tyler heads to Southern California to take his father up on the offer to housesit and watch over his 14-year-old brother Brady who sits on the cusp of being the next NFL hopeful and his dad believes Brady isn't taking his potential opportunity seriously enough. Without some guidance, he fears Brady will simply quit and later have regrets on the future he gave up. Tyler agrees to spending the time in Southern California hoping that time in the English world will give him the time and perspective he needs to know which path he should choose, Amish or English for his future.

I received The Amish Groom by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and Harvest House Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions are strictly my own. I love combined genre's and in this case it's contemporary romance coupled with Amish fiction. I love that Mindy and Susan decided to complicate a typical Amish romance with the fact that Tyler is struggling to come to terms with his English roots and the unresolved questions he has about his mother leaving the Amish faith. I think it's a valid question for Tyler to consider and I applaud how it all came together in the end. Thank you for answering Tyler's questions in the manner you did. Now I can't wait to see what happens in the next book! I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars and this is the first novel in the Men of Lancaster County Series. You have me as a fan now!

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Joy Hannabass for Readers' Favorite Tyler Anderson

Reviewed by Joy Hannabass for Readers' Favorite

Tyler Anderson was a military kid and when his mother passed away his 6-year-old life changed forever. With his dad’s assignments, he couldn’t take care of a kid so he asked his in-laws, who happen to be Amish, to take care of the boy until he comes home. But at age 23, Tyler still lives with his Amish grandparents and has been raised Amish. Then the chance comes for Tyler to visit his dad as well as his dad's other family. And his time in California is what it takes for Tyler to really find himself and discover where he belongs. 

I loved Tyler’s story in The Amish Groom. Mindy Starnes Clark and Susan Meissner do a fantastic job weaving together the Amish lifestyle with the California lifestyle and writing a great story. My heart went out to Tyler throughout the story because of the way his dad treated him, even remarrying and having another son. But this second son had the chance to grow up with his dad, a chance that the dad didn’t give Tyler. And I can say that I was not happy with this military rich dad because he really acted like a jerk. But the story does end well, and that is all I am going to say because you need to read the book to find out what happened. If you enjoy Amish stories, this is one you must check out. Ms. Starnes and Ms. Meissner give the story a few twists that will have you wondering and keeping your nose in the book. You just can’t go wrong with The Amish Groom.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Boring

I plan to get through these last 70pages but it has been a long, slow slog. Just can't seem to find a reason to really care about the protagonist's journey to his decison about whether to remain Amish. Finding the characters contrived and stereotyped. Not nearly as compelling a read as her previous books.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Enjoyed

I have read other books by this author that I have enjoyed but I wasn't sure about this one. I really enjoyed the story. It is fairly long but I didn't have any trouble finishing it up. In fact sometimes I was just drawn to reading. I'm excited to read the next one in the series.

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