Another Chance at Love -- Second Chances on Huckleberry Hill

Jennifer Beckstrand keeps the same theme going through all the books in her Huckleberry Hill series -- matchmaking by the most caring and fun mammi and dawdi in Wisconsin! But she manages to keep the stories fresh by going a little different direction, with just a little different twist, in each of the stories. Second Chances on Huckleberry Hill finds an additional character playing a big role in the matchmaking dilemma, in the person of a 13-year-old boy who is not happy with the fear of losing his dad to an unwanted stepmother.

This may be my favorite in the series so far. Jennifer Beckstrand has given us an engaging story filled with fun and with struggle. In addition to Anna and Felty and their beloved granddaughter Martha Sue, the story is complete with competing potential husbands and a couple of spirited and sneaky kids who make the matchmaking adventures extra fun and extra challenging. At some points you can't quite be sure which match-up Annie is really working toward -- or whether she herself is sure which is the main plan and which is a back-up plan. But after lots of twists and turns, of course, everything works out just as it should.

I highly recommend Second Chances on Huckleberry Hill to any fan of delightful Amish stories. In fact, if you haven't read the previous books in the series, I would suggest you give them all a try. (The order of the books is not terribly important in reading, but FYI, this is #11 in publication order.)

About the Book

As Huckleberry Hill, Wisconsin's most irrepressible matchmakers, eighty-somethings Anna and Felty Helmuth never quit a challenge -- especially when one heartbroken couple is about to part . . .

Martha Sue Helmuth wishes she could just relax and enjoy her extended visit with her beloved grandparents. Instead, she is nursing a broken heart over gentle widower Yost Beiler.  Yost’s thirteen-year-old son, Jonah, refuses to accept Martha Sue, and she refuses to risk coming between them. For now, she is just trying to avoid her Mammi’s choice of yet another eligible suitor. But when Yost moves himself and Jonah to Huckleberry Hill to change Martha Sue’s mind, she can't help dreaming that somehow, some way, she and Yost will have a miraculous second chance to be together . . .

 
After his wife’s untimely death, Yost did everything he could to help Jonah through his grief.  He hopes that Martha Sue's outgoing family—and her generous ways—will show his son how loving and trustworthy she truly is. But Anna and Felty's matchmaking antics are inspiring Jonah to drive Martha Sue off for good. And when he goes too far, can Yost and Martha Sue find the understanding to forgive him—and the strength to prove they can overcome differences to make one joyous forever family?

About the Author

Jennifer Beckstrand is the RITA-nominated and award-winning author of The Amish Quiltmakers Series, the Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill, The Honeybee Sisters series, The Petersheim Brothers series, as well as a number of other novels and novellas. Novels in her Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series have been RITA® Award and RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award finalists. Huckleberry Hill won the 2014 LIME Award for inspirational fiction and Huckleberry Hearts was named a Booklist Top 10 Inspirational Fiction Book of the Year. Jennifer has always been drawn to the strong faith and the enduring family ties of the Plain people.

 

Jennifer has four daughters, two sons, four sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and eleven adorable grandchildren. She lives in the foothills of the Wasatch Front with her husband and plays pickleball and cuddles her grandchildren when she’s not writing. 

Please visit her online at JenniferBeckstrand.com.

Camping for Love? -- Home on Huckleberry Hill

The one thing you can be sure of in a Huckleberry Hill story by Jennifer Beckstrand is this -- you can't be sure what kind of scheme Anna and Felty Helmuth will come up with in their quest of matchmaking for their grandchildren! And Home on Huckleberry Hill just might involve their most unusual schemes of all!

In this story, the Helmuths' granddaughter, Mary Anne, is already married, so the matchmaking task involves keeping that marriage intact. In no other Huckleberry Hill story (or likely any other story) have so many friends, relatives, animals, camping supplies, and vehicles been involved in trying to salvage a relationship. Just when you think things might be working out, along comes another wrinkle in the story. And under most of those wrinkles you will find the creativity of a couple of loving, eighty-something grandparents.

As usual, Jennifer Beckstrand has crafted an entertaining Amish story filled with fun characters. Their stories are a delight to read as you watch them stumble and soar through all kinds of challenges. I don't think you can read a Huckleberry Hill story without a few chuckles along the way.

I highly recommend Home on Huckleberry Hill to any fan of enjoyable, out-of-the-box Amish stories.

About the Book

The irrepressible eighty-something matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill, Wisconsin, Anna and Felty Helmuth, are at it again. And this time they’re willing to rough it to get the job done . . .

Mary Anne Neuenschwander knows she should be content with what Gotte has given her. She has a comfortable house, a fruitful farm, and a good, steady husband. But after nearly six years of marriage, she still longs for a baby. Yet her husband, Jethro, seems to care more about fishing than about his wife. Unable to bear Jethro’s indifference, Mary Anne moves into a tent in the woods where he won’t have to be bothered with her. But when her mammi and dawdi find out what she’s done, they’ll stop at nothing—including a little camping trip of their own—to help save their granddaughter’s marriage . . .
 
Jethro’s greatest blessing is his beloved wife, Mary Anne. Nothing else in his life has turned out anywhere near the way he expected. Rather than burden Mary Anne with his disappointment, he shields her by spending less and less time at home and more time on the river. But when he finds that she’s moved out, he’s shocked. What will people think? What is Mary Anne thinking? And what clever plans are her grandparents hatching?

About the Author

Jennifer Beckstrand is the RITA-nominated and award-winning author of The Amish Quiltmakers Series, the Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill, The Honeybee Sisters series, The Petersheim Brothers series, as well as a number of other novels and novellas. Novels in her Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series have been RITA® Award and RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award finalists. Huckleberry Hill won the 2014 LIME Award for inspirational fiction and Huckleberry Hearts was named a Booklist Top 10 Inspirational Fiction Book of the Year. Jennifer has always been drawn to the strong faith and the enduring family ties of the Plain people.

 

Jennifer has four daughters, two sons, four sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and eleven adorable grandchildren. She lives in the foothills of the Wasatch Front with her husband and plays pickleball and cuddles her grandchildren when she’s not writing. 

Please visit her online at JenniferBeckstrand.com.