Review: Winter of Wishes

Hello All!

Welcome to my stop on the book tour for Winter of Wishes by Charlotte Hubbard, presented by Pump Up Your Book

Title: Winter of Wishes

Author: Charlotte Hubbard

Publisher: Zebra

Published: September 3, 2013

Pages:  352

Format: Paperback

Source: Received from author in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 3 heartfelt stars 

Melissa's Musings:

I have to admit that I don't often read Christian/religious fiction all too often. But, when I came across the  Winter of Wishes tour invite, I decided to take a step outside of my usual reading comfort zone, and I'm glad I did.

The family in this story and the connection to community are strong points throughout the book. The community is tight knit, and the author's focus on the Amish way of life is well researched and portrayed throughout the story. The read feels like a constant learning experience about Amish culture, without being boring or dry.

This book is part of a series, and while it does work as a standalone, I did have  a feeling that I was missing out by not having read the other books. Not in a bad way, it's just that ther were a lot of mentions of past events that I didn't have all the details to, so I was left wondering. I am very curious about the prior happenings of this community and would love to read the other books in the series to catch up.

It's very easy to fall into the story and to want to keep on reading. It's such a heartfelt, sweet story.

There were a few things that didn't quite work for me. The romance between Andy and Rhoda is very simple and sweet, but it feels rushed. They begin to have feelings for each other very quickly, and it felt a little unrealistic. I was rooting for them throughout the story, though.

The language just didn't feel right in some spots. I know that the author was trying for a genuine dialect, but it felt overdone in some ways, and it took me out of the story the slightest bit.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. I'm looking forward to reading more about these characters in the future.