Review: Her Heart's Desire by Shelley Shepard Gray

 

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Mary Margaret, Lilly, and Betsy are young Amish women traveling to Pinecraft, Florida for a vacation. Though strangers on the bus, they become fast friends as they spend the night together in Georgia during an ice storm. They are all "wallflowers" and look forward to spending time together during their vacation.

All is well until Mary finds out the Esther, who bullied her through their school years, will also be at the inn with them. That which she was seeking to escape from has followed her to Pinecraft.

While in Pinecraft, the girls meet Jayson, Danny, and Michael - interesting young men, each with struggles of their own. 

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Throughout the book we see these relationships unfold, friendships strengthen, and forgiveness and restoration occur. In some ways it is your typical Amish coming-of-age story, though it was not entirely predictable. It shows less of Amish life, and more of these characters as real people, with the same struggles and feelings as the rest of us.

It starts off a bit slow, yet through that the characters grow and we begin to see the depth of emotion in them. It is a bit choppy in places, but overall it was a nice story. 

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I do need to mention that I received a complimentary e-book version for review purposes.