Building Trust
Grace and Joel gave me such a solid story in just a short span of pages. I felt like certain elements were a little too easy and pat (yet pretty outlandish in their happening - I mean seriously lightening strike?!? sorry spoiler, oops) and wrapped up too neatly with little actual reasons played out on the page. Yes, that tends to bother me. However, in this book it was just an annoyance and not something that set my teeth on edge. I just fell in love with their story.

Surprised by Love
I loved Emily and Reuban. In very few words Kathleen was able to draw out beautiful complex characters in them, and Emily's Mamm, while not feeling forced or rushed. I feel like their romance was a bit too whirlwind and felt rushed but I also loved that it wasn't perfectly tied up at the end. If was left open for things to grow and change without the need for that forever commitment. I would love to see these two brought back with more depth in their story with less need for things to progress so quickly and more of those realizations truly being played out on stage. The old novel vs novella debate I find myself in frequently.

A Gift for Anne Marie
I know a few people feel like Anne Marie was the girl who protested too much. I didn’t see it that way. She was the girl who didn’t make assumptions. She also hadn’t yet started to view her friendships and relationships, despite being an adult woman of 20, as adult instead of the youth she was leaving behind. She just wasn’t in touch with her own feelings. Nathaniel really wasn’t either. Therefore I don’t feel like they were purposely obtuse or even protesting their burgeoning feelings overly much as a lack of total self awareness. There’s so much more than just a couple of new adults actually figuring out they are adults. And lifelong best friends. And that sometimes that makes for perfect couples. There’s family and friendship and changing lives and well for a mere 89 pages it’s got a lot going on in it’s snapshot.

A Heart Full of Love
Oh. My. Gravy. This book packs a LOT of emotion into a few short pages. I almost feel like saved the best for last, so to speak. I felt like I had read an entire novel full of amazing characters in an amazing story line and family. I would love to have gone back in time through Ellie's accident and courtship with Chris but I didn't need to in order to understand their situation. I felt Ellie's frustration and honestly couldn't stand her mother, Edna. Like, I didn't like anything about this woman and felt like Ellie's dad didn't do a thing to try and help curb her behavior. She was beyond Gibbs' smacking even, I mean she's that bad. By the end I understood her better but gah I still didn't trust her not to go off the deep again.

An Amish Family Wow what a beginning. Imagine this - you have been secretly meeting your significant other when something extra special happens - you want to tell your parents before your spying little sibling tells them - then when the two of you are sitting down to eat and tell the parents and Daed (Dad) comes in - sits - throws a fit about your significant other - he then throws them out - no explanation - just get out - now wouldn't that be enough to get you to read? Well there is oh so much more to this story. More intense - so very interesting I can tell you. GOD is in charge - what happens? Do they get together? What does GOD have in store for them? Can Daed get over his anger and unforgiveness in his heart?

These four sweet stories are full of hope and promise along with misunderstandings and reconciliation. Two have been published before, two are new, and all are refreshingly honest with believable conflict that takes time and careful thought to resolve. True love does prevail, but not without prayer, introspection and humility. A must-read for fans of Amish romance.

In “Building Trust,” Grace and Joel have been courting in secret, but Grace’s father is furious when they reveal their engagement. Can Joel find a way to make amends to Vernon for a mistake he made years ago, or is his future with Grace doomed? In “Surprised by Love,” stargazer Emily wants nothing to do with dating in spite of her mother’s matchmaking efforts, choosing instead to spend her time watching the stars and taking life as it comes. When her mother pushes her too far, Emily pulls handsome heartbreaker Reuben into a false dating scenario, unaware that love will blossom amidst the pretension. Anne Marie and Nathaniel have been best friends since childhood in “A Gift for Anne Marie,” but when her friend Ruth wants to date Nathaniel, Anne Marie is surprised by jealousy. Will she and Nathaniel admit their love for each other, or will their friendship come to an end? In “A Heart Full of Love,” Ellie and Chris are thrilled at the prospect of becoming parents, but Ellie’s mother is as overprotective as ever. Ellie is tired of her mother’s hovering and is sure that her blindness won’t keep her from being a good mother, but the practical aspects of life with newborn babies is daunting. Can she and her mother find a way to reconcile her mother’s fears and Ellie’s desire for independence? (posted on RTBR, see link below)

really enjoyed this collection of four Novellas, and no you can’t read just one. Once I finished a read, I was quickly turning to the next, and yes, they are all equally good.
Whether there are long deeply held grudges, over protecting mothers, surprising an unexpected beau, or pretending to court to stop the matchmaking.
Something for everyone, and they sure kept my attention, I couldn’t wait to read the next one, they are that good.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Zondervan, and was not required to give a positive review.

Four Amish novellas perfect for an uplifting read. Each story is about a different family facing very relatable issues. Some characters might be recognizable from other books in different series. These stories give the reader a glimpse into Amish lives and show their strong faith and family. Highly recommended!

I've read several of these Amish collections, but it's rare that I've thoroughly enjoyed every single story included in them. I loved all of the stories in this collection....each brought a unique flavor to the table, and they all centered around the theme of family. Family doesn't always look like we picture - mom, dad, kids - even within the Amish community. (No, there is no LGBT or transgenderism...that's not what I was getting at.) Sometimes your family is your friends, or you have mixed families because of past grief, or you have family members who are carrying deep, hidden burdens that affect those around them. You will enjoy these stories of coming together as a whole and healing as a family!

A well written collection of Amish stories. I enjoyed each story and recommend this book to fans of Amish fiction.

Fans of Kathleen Fuller will not be disappointed in this collection of clean, sweet Amish stories. Each story has loveable characters; honor the strong Amish family and community; and centers on a sweet romance that works out just the way you hoped. Each storyline is interesting and kept me turning pages to see what happened next. A lovely book for those times when you want light, heartwarming reading.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.

A book of four Amish novellas showing God’s love to each family.

Building Trust

A young couples love will go through a test as Grace Miller’s father refuses to give his blessing for Grace and Joel King to marry. She has no idea why her father feels this way toward Joel, a good, upstanding young man, and seeks to find out. Will they be able to survive the trials ahead and end up with his blessings and marry?

Surprised by Love

Emily Schwartz is enduring her mother’s continual nagging to her about finding a husband. In an effort to get her to stop, Emily tells her she is actually seeing someone, Reuben Coblentz. Some Amish groups “date” without letting even family members know who they are dating, so she figures this is what her mother will think. Reuben agrees to “play along” as it will benefit both of them, because his mother is the same way towards him. In their actions of “pretend dating”, they find there may be more to their relationship than they anticipated. Will this really be love?

A Gift for Anne Marie

Anne Marie and Nathaniel have been best friends since they were children. They have always spent much time together. To her consternation, her widowed mother decided to marry again and the family will have to move, making her leave Nathaniel. She tries to convince herself and Nathaniel that she is okay with this, but in her heart she realizes her feelings toward Nathaniel are much more than friendship. When he realizes she is truly leaving, he, too, realizes he has deeper feelings than friendship for Anne Marie. Will they lose their special friendship when she moves or will their friendship really develop into something more?

Heart Full of Love

Ellie lost her eyesight in an accident and since then, her mother has been very protective of her. We now find Ellie married and pregnant and her mother even more overbearingly protective, to the point of creating real problems with their relationship once Ellie delivers.
Can Ellie find out the real reason her mother is so overbearing and find out the real reason? Can they once again have a pleasant mother/daughter relationship?

I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it to those readers loving the Amish genre. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

An Amish Family 4 novellas by Kathleen Fuller is a quick, easy read.
The four stories are all different families and each has their own problems from blindness, trust, match making mothers and being a new mother.
Fuller does a great job making all four stories have great flow and characters that are real and relatable. The stories show that the Amish have the same insecurities and problems that the English deal with. She takes you to Amish country in every story. I didn't want to put it down.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan through NatGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

An Amish Family includes 4 stand-alone novella Amish romances. Each one takes place in a different community with different characters, but all feature romance, real-life dilemmas, and family relationships. Kathleen Fuller's writing style is easy to read but includes a depth not always found in romance novellas. In a short novella, she easily delves deeply into relationships and circumstances, bringing the reader into the world of the characters on the pages. Very difficult to put down!

Whether it is a full novel or a novella such as this, Kathleen Fuller always writes an interesting faith based story. This current book has stories involving Amish families and the way they interact when dealing with different situations. It was a great read.

An Amish Family is a collection of four novellas by Kathleen Fuller. These novellas include:
Building Trust
Surprised by Love
A Gift for Anne Marie
Heart Full of Love
I enjoyed this collection. My favorite was A Gift for Anne Marie. I give it 4 stars.

An Amish Family by Kathleen Fuller is a collection of novellas about love in an Amish community.
In Building Trust, Grace and Joel are in love and can’t wait to share with their families about their upcoming marriage. However, when they tell her parents, her father quickly puts a stop to the engagement and forbids Grace for even seeing Joel! They are determined to fix whatever the issues may be and work to convince her father that their union is God’s plan. I loved how the writer wrote this novella from the viewpoints of all three main characters.
In Surprised by Love we meet Emily and Rueben, who find common ground with the pressure of mothers who just want their child to find that perfect match and marry. In an attempt to get their mothers to stop with the match matching, they develop a plan to pretend to date. Without realizing it, each soon discovers they aren’t pretending any longer. This was a delightful little story and it left me wanting to learn more about their story.
In A Gift for Anne Marie we read about two best friends, Anne Marie and Nathaniel. When Ruth asks Anne Marie to play matchmaker between her and Nathaniel, she is torn between helping her friend and the realization that she has developed deeper feelings for Nathaniel without knowing it. When Anne Marie’s mother shares that she is re-marrying and moving the family away, it may be just too much for Anne Marie and Nathaniel to handle. This was a sweet story of friendship and love.
In A Heart Full of Love, Ellie and Chris Miller are expecting twins. Ellie’s mother, however, does not think Ellie can handle motherhood due to her blindness. When her mother volunteers to help, she quickly becomes overbearing and takes charge instead of letting Ellie and Chris run their household and bond with their children. This was a great tell of acceptance and faith.
I received a free copy of this story from Zondervan and Net Galley in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

In this collection of short stories from Kathleen Fuller, we get four times the fun and love! Fuller brings us romance and excitement in her stories about finding love in the Amish community.
The first story is Building Trust. Grace and Joel are in love and can’t wait to marry. When Joel proposes, Grace doesn’t think she can be any happier. However, when she tells her parents, she is shocked that her father doesn’t want them to marry! She is determined however and she and Joel work hard to convince her father that they would be a good match. I really enjoyed this story, especially as it was told from all three viewpoints. We got Grace’s, Joel’s, and her father’s thoughts, which made for great reading.
The second story, Surprised by Love, brings us Emily and Rueben. Both of them have overbearing mothers who are worried that the two of them are not married yet. In an attempt to get their mothers to quit matchmaking, the two pretend to date. Little do they know that pretending will only lead to wanting the real thing. This story was so great. I laughed and smiled and really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t mind reading more about their adventures when the story ends!
In the next story, A Gift for Anne Marie, Anne Marie and Nathaniel are best friends. When Anne Marie’s friend Ruth asks her to set her up with Nathaniel, she gives it a try. But does she really want him to date her friend? When she realizes that maybe she wants to be with him instead, it may be too later. Her mother wants her to move away with her because she is planning to remarry and will be living in another town. Will she and Nathaniel have a chance to even discover what love has in store for them? This story was also fun and engaging. I really enjoyed it!
The final story is A Heart Full of Love. Ellie and Chris Miller are expecting twins. However, Ellie is blind and her mother doesn’t think she is ready for the challenge of motherhood. Rather than being supportive and excited, she is anxious and decides she needs to move in with the couple in order to assist them once the babies are born. Her assistance soon takes on a manic level though and Ellie is frustrated. Will this strain ruin her relationship with her mother or will it lead to a closeness they never expected? This story is especially heartwarming and I really liked it!
I am so thankful to Kathleen Fuller for sharing her stories with us. I truly enjoy reading them and am so grateful for the glimpses into the Amish world that we get. I look forward to her next set of stories! I received a free copy of this story from Zondervan through Net Galley for my honest review. All opinions in it are expressly my own.

An Amish Family by Kathleen Fuller is a charming collection of stories by a very talented writer. What a treat! And definitely a collection I would enjoy reading again!
In the first story, Building Trust, Grace and Joel have decided to marry after courting for a year. Unfortunately, when they announce their intentions, they are met with harsh opposition by Grace's father. Joel sets out to try to sway her father's extremely negative view of him, and to win his trust and permission to marry Grace. This is a touching story about love, family loyalty and the importance of second chances.
In Heart Full of Love, Ellie and Chris are excited to welcome newborn twins. Yet, they are anxious how they will best care for the babies due to Ellie's blindness. Ellie's domineering mother practically moves in and takes over the twins care, not giving Ellie an opportunity to really mother her own children. Ellie and Chris must work together to find out what is driving her mothers' behavior.
In Surprised by Love, Emily is desperate to avoid being fixed up with a man she thought was mocking her. To avoid her mothers' matchmaking attempts, she convinces her friend Reuben to pretend to court her. However, surprising feelings start to rise up on their pretend dates. Will they actually share with each other how they have come to feel?
A Gift for Anne Marie tells readers the story of Anne Marie and Nathaniel, lifetime best friends who have a weekly game night and are inseparable. However, when it seems like Anne Marie's family might be leaving the town of Paradise, Anne Marie and Nathaniel are forced to think about where their friendship can lead them.
This collection was a beautiful page turner! I heartily recommend An Amish Family!