The narrator was good for this book. Unfortunately the stories were lacking. They were so wholesome with no intrigue. I wish there was more to it.

Young Amish Love

Audiobook Review:
This book contains several stories about young people in the Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The first story is about twin sisters who are about to reach their 16th birthdays, which is when the Amish community considers them to be young women of dating and marriage age, not children. Despite the description, this isn't about one young man choosing between the sisters. It is actually more about overcoming naivete When you've lived a very sheltered existence and understanding that blood is thicker than water. This novella actually has several romances, two for one sister and one for the other. The second story is actually about three couples who are a little bit older. Involved in these romances are a brother and sister. In this story, we see young people who are uncomfortable with their present circumstances, whether familial or religious. It almost becomes the story of musical chairs... who will be in and who will be out. I don't doubt that young people in the Amish community question their faith and the tenets of their community, especially before, during, or after their Rumspringa. I felt like the author gave short shrift to the non-Amish couple, nor did she spend enough time on the brother’s decision to not become baptized and leave the community. I had an issue with the narrator. I don't think she pronounced all the Pennsylvania Dutch words correctly. It really annoyed me the way she had the characters say “thank you.” She pronounced it precisely like the animal donkey! From my research, it is pronounced more like “denki” or “danki.” I also think she mispronounced the word for “sister” as well.

Amish Celebrations is a lovely collection of stories that transports the reader to a very different way of life.

As ever with a novella collection, I liked some stories more than others. The book begins with The Gift of Sisters. Fifteen year old wins Hannah and Rachel are feuding over a new man in the district. I didn’t enjoy the cattiness between the two, but as a mom of two girls, I understand how quickly that can happen. The ending is very sweet and made working through the initial quarrels worth the effort.

The second offering provides more romantic upset when Rebecca and Noah struggle with miscommunication as their wedding approaches. This story adds in the impact of the English or non-Amish way of life on the strict, conservative community. This story intrigued me and I was very happy with the surprising conclusion.

In the third story, hiccups play a central role when wedding plans are thrown into disarray by outside forces. Chester and Priscilla are convinced of their love, but a ruined dress, missing money and problems with their future home cause both to question their upcoming marriage. This is a sweet reminder that faith is equally important in the tricky times as the good ones.

My favorite tale came at the end with A Christmas Miracle. Young mother of five, Mary is struggling to keep her husband, children and home in order until and English woman, sent by Santa steps in. This is a lovely story of second chances, forgiveness and lifelong learning.

Connect with Beth Wiseman’s website here…

To sneak a peek or grab a copy of Amish Celebrations, click here…

For another fun novella collection, check out The Kissing Tree…

Delightful collection of four Amish stories. They aren't really connected but they flow together well. I chose the audio version. It was nice to listen to one story in a sitting and then another when I had a chance later. It was a nice treat to be able to get some work done while listening. The narrator was pleasant to listen to..

This is a sweet book made up of four different Amish stories centered of four different important Amish life events.
Book one is The Gift of Sisters. This story centers on Amish rumschpringe. Twin sisters are about to turn 16 and the time of rumschpringe in the Amish community. The sisters are very different from each other and they both fall for the same boy in their community. Will a sister's bond be stronger than the love of a boy?
Book two is A New Beginning This story centers on the baptism into the Amish faith. A young couple are about to be baptised and then be married. But the young man extends his rumschpringe and now she is having doubts about his commitment. Will this couple manage to get past the doubts and make a go of it?
Book Three A Perfect Plan This story is about preparations for an Amish wedding. Poor Priscilla, the saying if it weren't for bad luck I would have no luck is the story of Priscilla's wedding. Everything is going wrong. Her little sister cuts up her wedding dress, the house they are building has all kinds of problems, family members can't make it to the wedding. So much has happened that they are beginning to wonder if they should get married. Will they have the wedding of their dreams or will it all fall apart?
Book four. A Christmas Miracle. This one might be my favorite. This one is about Christmas. Mary is a young wife and mother. She is overwhelmed with her five children and one more on the way. She has no family to help her and her young husband is getting a little frustrated with her because she never seems to be able to run their household. Enter Santa Claus. Mary's oldest daughter see Santa and tell him her wish for Christmas is help for her mother. Now enter Santa's Elf. Santa's Elf is feeling her own empty nest and is looking for a project. She takes the young mother under he wing, despite Mary's husband's disapproval, But life because much nicer for the young family and the Elf found her own Santa as well.

Amish Celebrations by Beth Wiseman was an incredibly enjoyable collection of stories by a wonderful author. The narrator did an excellent job bringing each story to life for me.
I love reading Amish Fiction and learning about their way of living and their culture. These stories focused on Celebrations, which I greatly enjoyed.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Amish Celebrations contains 4 novellas. The first three have the same theme of teenagers trying to find love, the person they will marry. The details of each story differ, but they are largely the same. The fourth story was my favorite, the story of a young mother of five overwhelmed by caring for her children and home, with help coming from an unexpected place. Each was a short, simple story where the main characters grew over the course of their novella. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because Ann Richardson did a lovely job with the narration.

Beth Wiseman has put together four stories surrounding various celebrations within the Amish community. If I had to choose a favorite it would be a toss-up between the last two, A Perfect Plan, and A Christmas Miracle. A Perfect Plan was fun! Priscilla King is a perfectionist who doesn't know how to handle all of the mishaps that are happening as she prepares for her wedding to Chester Lapp. From her wedding dress being used by her little sister as doll clothes, to their brand new house not passing inspection, she is convinced these things are happening because she isn't on "God's path for her." Can she and Chester find their way through the mire to realize that life isn't perfect, and can't be expected to be?

I also fell in love with Mary King. Since she was an only child and her mother died when she was very young, she has had no one to teach her how to be a wife and mother. Of her five children, her oldest has heart issues, her second two are twin mischief-prone boys, her fourth is a toddler, and her fifth is still a babe in arms. Is it any wonder she has trouble keeping up with the housework and keeping her children out of trouble? It all comes to a head when her oldest visits a mall Santa to ask for help for her mother. If her child sees her need, why can't her husband see it, too?

I enjoyed being able to listen to this book on my nightly walk. The stories went by fairly quickly and I got involved in the lives of the characters as I walked.

I received this audio copy free from Thomas Nelson/Zondervan but every opinion here is my own.

Amish Celebrations is a collection of four novellas by bestselling author Beth Wiseman. Each of the novellas are geared around a celebration of some sort and explore life within the Amish community. The four novellas are: The Gift of Sisters, A New Beginning, A Perfect Plan, and A Christmas Miracle.

The Gift of Sisters explores a story of twin girls Hannah and
Rachel who are approaching their 16th birthday—a time when they will be allowed to break free a little and enjoy their rumschpringe.

A New Beginning brings us Rebecca and Noah, a couple in love and about to be baptized. A few weeks before the ceremony, Noah decides to spend one last night enjoying his rumschpringe—which leads to him doing something which causes Rebecca to reconsider his proposal.

A Perfect Plan follows the story of Priscilla and Chester. Priscilla has been in love with Chester since she was sixteen years old. When Chester pops the question on her 19th birthday, the wedding plans can begin!

A Christmas Miracle brings a story of one little Amish girl’s Christmas wish. Mary’s daughter broke the rules to ask Santa to bring her mama help for Christmas. Mary is an exhausted mother of five at the ripe old age of just twenty-seven. Married since eighteen, she wasn’t quite prepared for motherhood—and her exhaustion and frustration are sending her in a downward spiral.

I thought that all of these novellas were very well written. It was easy to understand the characters and their situations. The characters in these novellas had real life “baggage” which affected their day-to-day lives and decisions they had to make.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson & Zondervan Publishing for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gift of Sisters

Amish twin sisters fall for the same guy, but after a couple dates Hannah knows he is not only wrong for her, but wrong for anyone in their community. She continues to date him for a while to protect her sister from his untoward advances. Meanwhile Rachel is roped into a fake relationship with her best friend to lift the spirits of his mother after a diagnosis of diabetes. A series of lies and lying by omission nearly dissolve the girls' relationship and put Rachel at risk of a handsy beau.

It was frustrating at the beginning with Hannah's choice to stay with a bad guy instead of just telling Rachel the truth that he was only interested in sex. It seemed ridiculous, but then I remembered that she was only 15 and thus was probably perfectly logical to her still developing brain.

It was corny at times, but didn't topple into the realm of cheesy.

A tasteful teen romance.

A New Beginning

It centers around 6 college age people. Pail and his sister, Rebecca, and Rebecca's fiance, Noah, are Amish. McKenna, Penny and Gavin are not. Their lives intermingle many times over and after a friendly hug and peck on the cheek is misinterpreted, several relationships are left in the balance until emotions are brought into check and the truth is brought to light. Add to that parents with drug abuse and anger issues and people second guessing the faith (or lack there of) that they were brought up with, and you have a very interesting and intriguing book.

A Perfect Plan

Priscilla and Chester are an engaged Amish couple. As the wedding approaches they are met with one snafu after another. They start to wonder if God is telling them that they shouldn't marry, or if they need to toughen up and put their trust more fully in Him. At the last moment, inspiration comes from an unlikely source and the couple are able to set aside doubts and start their life together.

A Christmas Miracle

Widower, Bruce, has lost his faith in God since the death of his wife 3 years ago. His Admin for the past 25 years, Joan, has been a widow for nearly 2 decades and let's her faith guide her daily decisions. When Bruce is required to do community service after driving under the influence, they find themselves dressed as Santa and an elf at the local department store. They are surprised to see a small Amish girl in line, and when she asks Santa to send her mother some help it starts a change reaction of events that brings these two English people into the normally sheltered lives of the Amish family.

The narrator was the same for all 4 stories. She did a very good job with the adults, both Amish and English, but fell a bit flat on the children's voices.

Overall the collection was very good. I really enjoyed the inclusion of Christian faith and even occasionally some scripture. These are great for adults, teens and even tweens. I would feel comfortable letting my 10 year-old read/listen to these, with the exception of A New Beginning due to the drug use.

I loved this story it was great and I really enjoyed it!!! The reader was awsome and did different voices for different character's keeps you interested in the stories.

I Received An ARC from Netgalley but this review is my own opinion.

I was listening to this book on audio and kept saying to myself that these are such good stories! I still agree with the statement.

This book is a collection of four novellas (that I kept thinking would be shorter than they actually were which was completely fine by me!) about Amish women. Besides being Amish and women, they didn't have that much in common. Two were almost-16-year-old twin sisters (from The Gift of Sisters), another two were engaged and faced some problems of a very difering nature leading to the wedding (A New Beginning and A Perfect Plan) and the last one was a married young mom of five (A Christmas Miracle). They all faced different struggles and surpassed them.

But what really made me not wanting to stop listening and all of them such good stories is that they were stories about real people. The stories had Amish characters (and some non-Amish too) but they could have been about anyone. Sisters that loved each other but were angry and sometimes envious of each other. A bride-to-be wondering if she chose the right path. A overwhelmed mother that struggled with everything life asked of her and that had never learnt how to run a household. We know these struggles, we know these people, sometimes we are like them.

I also liked that the characters were in situations that make you wonder: what would I have done in this situation? What if that was me? And even some more deeper questions: what does it mean to love someone? How do we know we are following God's will and not our own?

Other random things I enjoyed: The existence of a character with a severe mental disability (not a main character but still good to see one somewhere), families loving each other even if they sometimes were not perfect, babies!, the narrator and, certainly, other things that I can't remeber right now.

This was a very good surprise because good stories are hard to find!

A collection of four heartwarming Amish holiday celebrations. I found the story’s to be fast paced, which I quite enjoyed. They are novellas, which was nice for a change. It was easy to connect to the characters. If you enjoy Amish and or Christian stories you will enjoy these.


***I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***.

This is four Amish Fiction novellas. I have to say my favorite novella was the three one (A Perfect Plan), and my least favorite one is the first one (The Gift of Sisters). I really enjoyed all the stories, but the first one. I liked the first one, but I did not loved it. All of these Novellas has an underlining meaning/message behind the story, and I could not stop listening to this audiobook. The narrator (Ann Richardson) did a great job with this audiobook, and she made this audiobook come to life. I was kindly provided an e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (Zondervan) or author (Beth Wiseman) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

This was a book with 4 stories in them. Each story was very interesting. I have read many different Amish books and this book showed more of how some Amish people going through Rumspringa really acted. I also didn't realize that I have read many books from this author and have enjoyed all of them!! Each story is centered around a celebration that Amish people celebrate in their community. I have read numerous Amish Collections and this by far has been my favorite. I also enjoyed it as an audiobook. The narrator was wonderful and you felt like you were in the house and in the community right along with everyone. Again, I can't go on anymore of how wonderful this collection of 4 stories are!!!!

I've attempted 11 times to download this audio book but it will not download... I do not know how to contact the publisher so I guess this isn't going to get reviewed at this time.