This is Book 6 of The Heart of the Amish series. I had not read any of the previous books, so while I normally dislike all the reminders when reading through a series, it worked out well this time. This was a slow read and took me five days to finish, which is a very long time for a book of this size. There were several days I was extremely busy, so I didn’t get much reading in. When you factor that in, I suppose it was more like a three-day read. As I kept going, I got more and more into the book. In fact, I thought early on that I had figured out Serenity’s secret… I had not! I was very surprised at the end. It was good enough that, should I ever have the time, I would go back and read the other five books.

Now, let’s get into some more details. No spoilers, I promise! The relationship between Serenity and Stephen was sweet and slow-growing. They had known each other for some time, were neighbors, but were not officially courting. Friends for sure, which is one of the best tropes because it’s more believable, and you can see how the chemistry between the couple builds. At one point, Trini (secondary character) mentions that when something bad happens to one of the women, the guy falls for them. Nothing like mentioning the trope within the story.

“‘ Some people take every moment for granted. But I appreciate each second that I’m on this earth. Because time here is short. And we don’t know the day or time Gott will call us to heaven.’”

The book had a bit of suspense with the trespassers on her property and the storyline surrounding that. The fact that everyone is fixated on this and that Stephen is so worried about Serenity is what really holds the story together. I was a little confused about why the trespassers were even there, though, because the whole scenario didn’t make sense to me. I had paused to eat some dinner and was telling my husband my thoughts on this. Right after dinner, I went back to the book, and the entire situation was explained by Baker. I suppose I paused at the wrong time. I did explain to my husband that the author clarified everything.

Because this is a book in a series, there were quite a few secondary characters, but they were easy to keep track of due to the reminders of who they are and how they fit into the story. Like I said earlier, there was enough information to make me want to read the rest of the series at some point so I can really put everything together and watch the different romances grow. One of the side characters, Trini, played a major role in how Stephen realizes some of the mistakes he made in his thinking about Serenity. So, of course, that makes me want to read more about Trini.

As a Midwest girl myself, I love that the book took place in Arthur, Illinois, which is the author’s hometown. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I’m at. It’s also great that she has an anonymous Amish reviewer. Since I do not know anyone of that faith/culture, I sometimes wonder about the authenticity of the books. This gave me some assurance that there’s nothing too out there in the book.

I think that Baker will be on my list of authors to read more of. The ending just made me want to read more. Throughout the book, you can see that this series is not done, so not only do I have past books to read, but there will be future ones as well. That’s exciting! It’s always great to know that there’s potentially a new book when you discover a wonderful series.

Thank you to Barbour Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.