Roman Keim just wants a break from the family drama at his snowy Ohio home when he heads to an Amish snowbird community in Florida. There he meets Amanda Yoder and her daughter Regina who soon are warming his heart. But will Roman return to Ohio or will he stay and help the young widow embrace a second chance at love?
The author of the series Sisters of the Heart and Seasons of Sugarcreek, Shelley Shepard Gray delivers an honest, tender love story in Ray of Light, featuring the challenges of faith, family, and romance.
Shelley Shepard Gray has penned another winner. I love her books for the reality of the characters, and Ray of Light is no exception. Most of the events of this book could happen to anyone; they are real, ordinary problems that any of us could have - except Gray's characters are Amish, adding another layer of interest to an already fascinating story.
When my truck-driving grandfather retired, he bought a van and set himself up as an Amish taxi driver. He spent his days driving people around, from work to errands to home, and had loads of friends and stories to match. He once drove some Amish to Florida to stay in an 'Amish resort' there, and I've been interested in the idea ever since.
That's how Gray opens this story - with Amish from the North on vacation in sunny Florida, and while no special resort is mentioned, the idea is intriguing. The Keim family is from a much more progressive sect than the Amish I grew up near, but reading about work schedules and vacation dreams and love triangles reminds me that they are people just like us. With foreign missionaries, multiple family weddings, cross-country vacations, rehab, and dark family secrets, they're certainly busier than my family!
Ray of Light is the second in this series, but while I haven't read it, it was not difficult to pick up on the characters or the past that was disclosed in the first book. That doesn't stop me from wanting to read it, however; I think reading the books in the wrong order actually makes me want to read that first one even more, and the same is true for the third. I can't wait to find out what happens to them!
I hope you can type like lightening, Mrs. Gray, because I can't wait to read the next installment of the Keim's lives.
You can see other reviews from this bloggy hop here, or click here to purchase your own copy now.
Shelley Shepard Gray is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the "Sisters of the Heart", "Seasons of Sugarcreek", "Secrets of Crittenden County", and Families of Honor series. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town's bike trail.
Learn more at http://www.shelleyshepardgray.
I received a free copy of Ray of Light from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.
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