A Simply Enchanted Life

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Book two in The Courtships of Lancaster County series by Leslie Gould is another wonderful Amish Rendition of a Shakespeare tale!

These books are stand-alone so I wouldn’t worry much about which order to pick them up though I’ll say I really enjoyed this book more than Courting Cate.

Both books were really good but this one was simply my favorite of the two. The characters were enjoyable and easy to relate to.

Addie Cramer’s parents are set on her marrying Phillip Eicher and are furious when she begins to show an interest in Jonathan Mosier. I have to admit that Phillip drove me nuts. He was annoying and just irritated me. This of course was the desired emotion the author obviously wished to invoke.

The Cramer’s disdain for Jonathan stems from a decades old feud between the Mosier and the Cramer Family. Their hatred clouds their mind and skews their ideas about Jonathan, who actually is a really stand up kind of guy and a great Christian to boot!

The real reason for the feud is discovered by Addie and it’s a very tricky situation to deal with. This leads to a good bit of soul searching and thought on Addie’s part on how to best deal with and diffuse the feud—bringing peace and healing to both families.

This book deals with situations of alcoholism and depression that will really make you connect with these characters. They seem so lifelike!
I’ve read a good bit of skepticism about how one can retell such a tragic story such as Romeo and Juliet in a lighthearted Amish tale but the author captured the tale perfectly!

I am very eager to pick up the entire series. Most retellings are typical and annoying. These are a bit unique as they’re in an Amish setting and they’re much more lighthearted than secular tales.
View all my reviews|Read an Excerpt

Amazon|CBD|Barnes&Noble

Leslie Gould is the coauthor, with Mindy Starns Clark, of the #1 CBA bestseller, a 2012 Christy Award winner, The Amish Nanny, and The Amish Bride. She is also the author of numerous other novels, including Garden of Dreams, Beyond the Blue (winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice for Best Inspirational Novel, 2006), and Scrap Everything. She holds and MFA in creative writing from Portland State University and has taught fiction writing at Multnomah University as an adjunct professor. She and her husband and four children live in Portland, Oregon.

Learn more about Leslie at www.lesliegould.com
I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.