A Simply Enchanted Life

Accidentally Amish by Olivia Newport

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Accidentally Amish is Book 1 of the Valley of Choice Series by Olivia Newport. This is the first book that I've read by the author and I really enjoyed it!

In this book we meet Annie Friesen, a hard working and very talented software creator that has already made a fortune selling her work though she is quite young! When Annie finds out that her business partners have turned on her and are out to steal her business, she leaves town, fearing for her business and somewhat for her safety.

Due to a little mishap, she finds herself as a guest in the home of Rufus Beiler and his family. Rufus and his family are Amish and newly settled in a small community in Colorado. Their beliefs and customs are far from anything Annie is accustomed to but she is very intrigued and not to mention-- attracted to the young Amish-man.

Rufus is a talented cabinetmaker by trade and when a local competitor resorts to vandalism harassment, Annie is determined to do something about it. But the Amish believe in "turning the other cheek" and Annie struggles learning to mind her own business. And as an outsider she ruffles feathers when she oversteps her bounds more than a few times. Though her intentions are good, she has a lot to learn about the plain life...and life in general.

The thing I liked most about this book was the historical "time warp" to the story of Annie and Rufus' ancestry. Honestly, I think I'd have enjoyed reading an entire story about the historical account of Jakob Bieler's journey from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. Although, I was fairly disappointed at some of the heartache that was woven into the ending of that part of the story. I felt some of the woes were a little unnecessary...that is until I read to the author's notes. I was so surprised to see that much of this story was based on the author's actual ancestry and some of the events actually happened!

I really look forward to reading more books put out by this author. A new found enjoyment of mine is reading Historical Fiction and this author certainly has a talent in portraying times past!

This book is set to release on October 1st 2012 by Barbour Books.

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I received this book free from Barbour Publishing through Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own