Delightful start to a new series -- Promise Lodge (with excerpt and giveaway info)

If you enjoyed the stories of Miriam and her other strong Amish female friends and family in Charlotte Hubbard's Seasons of the Heart stories . . . well, as we southerners often say, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"  In Promise Lodge, Mattie, Christine, and Rosetta are three Amish sisters establishing a new community, and they have very definite ideas about how it should be run.

You can't help but fall in love with the characters of this new series from the very beginning.  They have experienced hurt and loss but are moving beyond those circumstances to start a new life for themselves and anyone God leads to join them.  Of course, making big changes proves challenging, and trouble continues to find its way to their new home.  But Charlotte shares their sweet story of compassion, love, forgiveness, and patience in a delightful way.

Fans of great Amish fiction should find Promise Lodge a joy to read and be left wanting more in the other books still to come.  Thanks to Charlotte and her publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

About the Book: 

Energetic widow Mattie Bender Schwartz is working day and night to get Promise Lodge going. She’s also hoping the change will help her son Noah’s heart to heal after his broken engagement. But his former fiancée, Deborah, is looking for a fresh start too. Filled with regret, and cast out by her dat for a reason she can’t yet reveal, Deborah can only pray Noah will forgive her foolishness.

Deborah is the last person Noah expected to show up at Promise Lodge. But with her cruel words still ringing in his head, he’s reluctant to accept her apology—even if the Old Order ways demand he try. If only he could obey Christ’s most important commandment: love one another. But one thing is certain—his mother and aunts, and their beloved Preacher Amos, will do their best to help him get there.

Exclusive Excerpt from the Book:

Deborah closed her eyes over a crispy chicken thigh that was still warm.  Her heart swelled with Mattie and Rosetta's can-do attitudes, the firm belief that they'd made the right decision when they'd sold their farms to start a new life.  "Have you had any response to your ad in The Budget"? she asked as she buttered her bread.  "Some of the folks in Coldstream are still surprised at how quickly you left, saying maybe you leaped before you looked."

Mattie and Rosetta exchanged a smile that suggested they'd heard this sentiment before.  "We Bender sisters have stuck together through thick and thin by the grace of Jesus," Mattied replied without a moment's hesitation.  "He wouldn't steer us wrong."

"And with Mattie and Christine losing their men, and our parents passing on to their reward last winter,” Rosetta took up the thread, “we all thought it best to look forward rather than letting our losses hold us back. ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions,’ the Bible tells us. Our lodge and cabins aren’t as grand as God’s dwelling place, but with His help we’ll create a little section of Heaven in this old campground for folks who need to set down new roots.”

That would be me, Deborah mused as she bit into her chicken again. She was happy to let the two women keep talking so she didn’t have to reveal her predicament yet.

“The letters are coming in, from folks interested in buying plots of our land,” Mattie replied as she checked a pan of something in the oven. “Amos has called a few of them, and we think we’ll see new families by the end of June if they can sell their farms quickly.”

“That’s only a few weeks away,” Deborah murmured.

“We’ve got a lot of fixing up to do before then, too,” Laura remarked.

“But we’ll have plenty of time to chat about our plans for Promise Lodge and show you around while you’re here,” Rosetta said. “How’s your family, Deborah? What’s the news from Coldstream? While we don’t regret leaving some of the recent goings-on behind us, we sure do miss our friends.”

Deborah swallowed hard, her half-eaten chicken thigh poised in front of her face. No matter which question she addressed, these two women wouldn’t want to hear her answer. “Oh, you know how it is,” she hedged. “Things don’t change a lot in Coldstream from one day to the next.”

Mattie frowned doubtfully.

Rosetta raised an eyebrow. “Why is your face telling me something different from your words?” she asked. “Has there been more trouble, Deborah?”

About the Author:

Many moons ago—like, in 1983 while she was still a school librarian—Charlotte Hubbard sold her first story to True Story. This launched her into writing around seventy of those “true confessions” stories over the years, and she’s been a slave to her overactive imagination ever since. Over the course of her writing career, she has sold nearly 50 books—most recently, Amish romance series she’s written as Charlotte Hubbard or Naomi King,

Charlotte lived in Missouri for most of her life, so her Amish stories are set in imaginary Missouri towns. These days she lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband of 40 years and their border collie, Ramona. 

Charlotte will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N giftcard to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.   Enter to win a $15 Amazon/BN.