Marrying Matthew is a story of Tabitha, daughter of a successful Amish businessman, who wants to marry a man of her own choice, someone who doesn´t know about the money in the family. Her ad is answered by Matthew, who knows the name and wants mainly to get an apprenticeship with her father. They start as a marriage of convenience but their relationship develops with time just as the attitude of Blackberry Falls Amish towards Matthew.
This book left me a bit confused. It is a very good read - the story and characters are interesting and complex, the plot is a bit unusual but still believable, the mix of romance and mystery was just right and overall it was certainly not a boring book. What surprised me were the sexual references and innuendos all over the book. People certainly are sexual beings, even Amish people, I just didn´t expect to read about this in a Christian novel.. I can recommend this book only if you don´t look specifically for a CLEAN Amish romance.

Definitely not your average Amish but good nonetheless! You will be taken on a journey of love and leavening to love. It’s a good read!

Marrying Matthew was definitely a different sort of Amish romance then I'm used to. I do read a lot of Amish romance, and Amish fiction and I can honestly say this book took me by shock.
The story takes place in Blackberry Falls, PA in the Appalachian Mountains. They don't give a date but I'm guessing its early when the Amish were starting to come over to North America because of the language used. They were using Der Herr when speaking of God sometimes, they would interchange it with Gott.
I liked the idea that Tabitha took charge of her life and got a mail order groom, and that satisfied her father's wishes to have his daughter married and have an heir for his woodworking business. But Tabitha decided to marry on her terms and not her father's and I do give it credit for that.
Matthew, the man who answered the ad was a little different, and looking to further his career, but turned out to be an honest decent man.
The characters in the story are good. They are very loyal to Tabitha and her father. The 2 main supporting characters are the housekeeper Anke and Abner Mast, Tabitha's guardian, her father's step brother and right hand man.
So the things I didn't like. In the majority of the Amish books I read, (and I read a lot).when a new Amish word is introduced, or even when an Amish word is used, the Emglish word is usually used.within the next couple of sentences to let the readers know what the word means. Not so with this book, there were many words I had to look up the definitions of.
The thing that bothered me most is the way the characters acted. For example, Matthew was very disrespectful to Abner. From my understanding respect to the elders is something the Amish hold in high regard.
The other thing I especially didn't like was the way the beginning was almost like a soft core porn novel. Honestly I almost stopped reading it. I've never read a "Christian" novel that had that much sexual innuendo and sexual content in it. I was honestly appalled. The 2nd half of the book changed some and got better but the beginning of the book really was a lot of sexual innuendo and sexual content really turned me off. I did a lot of skimming and skipping over areas because of this. I won't be reading any more stories in this series, even though it turned out good at the end....I kind of want to read them because of the ending and the love story in it, but the sex and sexual innuendo was enough to turn me off to the series. Not what you expected for an Amish novel!
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advanced ARC. I was only asked to give my honest opinion in a review and this is my honest opinion.

My thoughts: I loved the premise of this one. Not so much the Amish aspect of it but the mail order aspect of it and use of the marriage of convenience trope. Reading the description made me think I'd enjoy this one. The story is good, with accidents happening, a girl is murdered, and mystery of that is included, but for a Christian book, there are some vivid descriptions of their physical relationship that kind of ruined it for me.

Marrying Matthew is an interesting story. Tabitha is in need of a husband, so she puts out an ad for a mail order groom. Unusual for an old order Amish woman. Matthew answers the ad in hopes of becoming an apprentice in the woodworking at her father's mill. When he gets there, she is prettier than he expects, and he is more handsome than she expected. They get married that day. The story is good, with accidents happening, a girl is murdered, and mystery of that is included, but for a Christian book, there are some vivid descriptions of their physical relationship that kind of ruined it for me. Too many referrals to her breasts as an example. If that doesn't bother you, then it's a great book. I won't be reading it again.

Totally enjoyed this story of Tabitha and Matthew at Blackberry Falls. Their story is one of finding Love and building a relationship. Very enjoyable.

Overall, not a bad book, and did read it enough to want to see the HEA. This is an Amish Taming of the Shrew, and while the concept is fine, at times it seemed very different than the usual Amish romances I've read. Different dialog and sentiment that seemed off. Still though, would recommend as it kept my interest.

First sentence: WANTED: An Amish Mail-Order Groom. Age 20–35. Must be willing to live in remote Appalachia and build life in said community. Must love books, horses, and possess good teeth. Appearance must be tolerable at least, though bride would favor a gut mind over looks. Must understand a woman’s sensibilities and not be judgmental. Must realize that Gott is the Third in a marriage. Reply to . . .

Premise/plot: Tabitha Stolfus, our heroine, has placed an ad for a mail-order-groom. She hopes to be married before her father--a very successful businessman (wood carving is his business) returns home. He wants her married, no question. But she's not convinced that he would approve of her advertising for a husband. The man who responds to her ad and comes to Blackberry Falls is none other than Matthew King. King has his own reasons for responding to the ad--namely he wants to learn woodcarving from Tabitha's father. Will these two fall in love after their marriage?

My thoughts: I loved the premise of this one. Not so much the Amish aspect of it but the mail order aspect of it and use of the marriage of convenience trope. Reading the description made me think I'd enjoy this one. (Even though as I mentioned Amish fiction isn't my favorite or best sub-genre or sub-sub-genre.)

Can you feel a "but" coming???? BUT. What I wasn't expecting was a SMUTTY Amish romance. It is a bit of a puzzlement, in my opinion, granted I am not representative of every reader. Perhaps there's an audience of romance readers that would welcome the Amish/religious aspects of it (the God-talk) that are still looking for a liberal dose of smut. I would venture a guess that I'm in the minority of romance readers. That is by preferring CLEAN or clean-ish romance novels I am in the minority. The majority of romance being published is smutty and I would guess that's how the majority of romance readers want it. It sells. I didn't realize there was a market for smutty Amish fiction though!!! Maybe this isn't the only one? Maybe there really is a whole sub-sub-sub genre of smutty Amish/Mennonite romance novels out there??? But it still felt odd to me.

There's another but coming. But I will say that it was nice to have a SECOND love story added in. And the mystery element was also nice

Not a fan at all... was tempted to give it one star, honestly. Kind of raunchy, kind of dark, and very all over the place. Plot is scattered but also overly predictable. Characters are out of place in the culture and narrowly developed. Mostly just couldn't stand the amount of sexual tension/references there were, especially because it was all extremely immature and unrealistic. Skimmed the second half just to avoid all of it. Wouldn't read this author again.