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Mar 25, 2010

Ruth rated it:

This book, in which a young widowed single mother who had been raised in foster care, ran to Amish country following a clue left in her mother's diary, trying to escape a stalker. Surprisingly enough, when this stranger enters their community dressed in immodest clothes and camps out in a barn, she isn't welcomed with open arms by all. However Ephraim remembers a young girl who visited their community years ago, and yes, Cara is that girl, and yes, he is still carrying a torch for her. I rat More...

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May 01, 2010

Christina rated it:

It’s been quite sometime since I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading a novel; maybe even since I last read a book by Woodsmall. I was easily wrapped up in the tale of Cara and Ephraim because not only are the characters believable, but the dialogue and descriptions are fantastic. Adorable little Lori was endearing, but didn’t feel like she was needed to force the plot lines like I was afraid she would be. And I thought the focus on the impact of foster care on a person and pover More...

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Sep 02, 2009

Cindy rated it:

The Hope of Refuge
An Ada's House Novel
Cindy Woodsmall
2009
Waterbrook Press
Fiction/Contemporary

Reviewed by Cindy Loven

Cara Atwater Moore was on the run, again. Crazy Mike had found her again, and he had really scared her this time, and she had to disappear for good this time. Flashes of childhood memories and her mother's diary guide her toward Amish country.

Ephraim Mast, worked hard in his father's cabinet business. Keeping it goi More...

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Aug 07, 2009

Laura rated it:

The Hope of Refuge by Author Cindy Woodsmall is an endearing story of hope, redemption and renewal and fans of Woodsmall will not be disappointed. I myself had recently given up on reading anymore books that were Amish related, because they seem to all have the same storyline (Amish girl meets sinful Englisher, who steals her heart, is shunned yada, yada, yada), but not so with The Hope of Refuge.

The main character of Cara Moore is a widowed single parent, raised in foster care and t More...

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Jul 31, 2009

Nora rated it:

Cindy Woodsmall has the unique ability to quickly grab your attention, emotions, and curiosity to whisk you into a wondrous world of her making. This is not your typical Amish story. Her main character Cara is a hard working waitress, a single mom who addicted to cigarettes and always looking over her shoulder to flee from a violent stalker. Cara does her best to survive in New York and care for her young daughter Lori, who is her world.

What I love about Cindy’s books is the fact t More...

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Aug 16, 2011

Courtney rated it:

Cindy Woodsmall is one amazing author that leaves you thinking about the characters in her stories days after you finish the books. The Hope of Refuge was wonderful!! A young widow named Cara who has no family besides her daughter Lori is being harassed by a stalker and when things get dangerously scary she takes her daughter and makes a run for it. They end up at a bus or train station trying to decide where to hide from stalker Mike when she discovers an old address in her mother's journal. More...

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Aug 15, 2009

Wrighty rated it:

Cara Moore has been raised in the foster care system of New York and is still struggling as an adult. Widowed and poor, she is alone with her young daughter Lori. When a stalker finds them again, fear makes her desperate and she is forced to flee. Vague memories bring her back to an Amish community in Dry Lake, PA where there are secrets from her past and the possibility of a new beginning in her future. But answers don't come easy when you're an outsider and unwelcome.

One man, More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Erin rated it:

Cara Moore had a rough upbringing in the foster care system and life didn't treat her well after she ran away at age 15. Now on the run from an abusive stalker, Cara finds herself grasping for one small hint to her past which she found hidden in her mother's journal. When she arrives in Dry Lake, PA, homeless and exhausted, the Amish community doesn't quite know what to think about her. It turns out they know a lot more about where Cara came from than she knows herself! Yet only one steps up to More...

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Aug 22, 2009

Nancy rated it:

Just received this book as a 'first reads winner!'
Started reading it last night and am already intrigued.
Thanks 'Goodreads" for this introduction to an author I've not read before.

Finished the book tonight and I love a happy ending even when it’s predictable. This was an enjoyable read about endurance, faith and love. It’s always interesting to read about another culture (Amish) and in today’s world where neighbors barely know neighbors, it’s like entering another di More...

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Aug 04, 2009

Jen C (ReadinginWBL) rated it:

I have read Amish fiction in the past and didn't find it very fullfilling. That was not the case with "The Hope of Refuge" by Cindy Woodsmall. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. "The Hope of Refuge" had me engrossed within the first few pages. I found the characters, Cara and Ephrian to be believable and very likeable characters.
I grew up in South Dakota. I lived near a Hutterite community and knew members of the community. This community is somewhat similia More...

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Sep 08, 2011

Patricia Kemp rated it:

This is book one of three from the Ada's House Series about an Amish community.

Cara was abandoned as a child after the death of her mother and ended up in foster care. She never stopped searching for answers to her past. She blamed God as so many people do when her prayers are not answered according to their wishes. God has a plan and it is sometimes hard to reason with the path He chooses for us. When Cara was a little girl she decided there must not be a God because He didn't s More...

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Sep 30, 2009

Lynn rated it:

My synopsis; After the death of her mother Cara Moore was raised in foster care. Her father dropped her off at a station and left her. Being stalked by one of her foster parents son, she ran away, got a job, married and had a daughter. Now Cara and her daughter are on the run again.

Reading through a journal that her mother had kept, there is a address that is revealed as Cara rubs over a certain area. Cara and her daughter are headed to Dry Lake. Pennsylvania. Th More...

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Mar 18, 2011

My Book Views rated it:

Not only was this book well-written with a great plot that includes romance, turmoil, and mystery, it also taught me a few things. I had no idea that Englischers (that would be anyone who isn’t Amish) do interact freely with Amish people; I thought they were much more isolated. I was also quite surprised (as was Cara) to learn that they can have phones for business, but they are typically not kept in the living quarters. The Hope of Refuge definitely inspired me to learn more. The profile that A More...

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Oct 02, 2009

Denise rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 13, 2011

Natalie rated it:

I picked this up because it was on sale and I've long been intrigued by Amish romances. I was really pleasantly surprised at how good this book was--and how quickly I got sucked in to it (that'll teach me to be all judgey about books I'm not familiar with!).

Anyhow, this was an enjoyable read but I'm not really feeling a burning desire to read more in this subgenre, either. But I can certainly see why people like them and why they sell so well, especially among romance readers wh More...

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Oct 04, 2011

Michelle rated it:

I read this book a while ago. I had read something else by this author and wanted to read more.

I was so disgusted with the main character, Cara, that I could not really analyze the book as a whole.

I am still incredibly bothered by Cara. She had issues that I could identify with and sympathize with however, she broke into people's home and stole things from them. Her viewpoint was that they were "rich" and she was poor, so they should not really mind her behavior More...

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Mar 01, 2011

Holly (2 Kids and Tired) rated it:

While it took me a bit to like Cara, and I thought Ephraim a little too good to be true, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The premise is a bit different than other Amish fiction, but the story is good. We see a human side of the Amish that is most refreshing. Cara was a very prickly character, but given her life experiences you can understand it. She was raised in foster care and believes that she was abandoned by her father. Her foster care experience was about as stereotypically wrong as More...

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Jan 06, 2010

Shannon rated it:

Cara Moore and her daughter Lori have been running from a dangerous ex-boyfriend for most of Cara's adult life. They're running out of places to hide. Their last chance could be an Amish community that Cara remembers her mother taking her to when she was young. Not knowing anyone there, Cara and Lori hide in a barn and steal clothes and food from a nearby Amish family's house. What happens next could change their lives forever.

I couldn't get into the first chapter. The girl-runs-away More...

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Mar 01, 2010

Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) rated it:

My synopsis: Cara felt like she had been on the run with her daughter forever. But now that Mike had found her again, and this time knew her daughter's name and school - she needed to really get lost. Unfortunately Cara had been "lost" her whole life. Her mother died when she was 8 and her father left her at a bus stop and told her to wait for someone named Emma Riehl who was going to come and get her. Emma never showed up and Cara ended up in foster care. It was while she was here tha More...

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Mar 25, 2010

Clockstein rated it:

The Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall is the first book in the Ada's House series about the Amish community of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania. Cara Moore is on the run with her daughter Lori from New York City and the stalker who has haunted her life for years. With fragments of a memory from her childhood and an address in her mother's diary, she makes her way to an Amish community hoping that she will find safety and a chance to start over with her little girl. Instead she stumbles into secrets and wo More...

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Aug 18, 2009

Jeannie rated it:

I enjoyed this book greatly! Some people might feel that it is predictable and the story drug out. However, the pace of the book made me feel as though I was observing the characters' lives. Another interesting part of the story was the way the subplots were intertwined: there was just enough space between them. Also, not all elements of the book were predictable. Many events occurred that did not have to.

One beef I have with this book, though, was that some of presented mater More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

It took me a little while to get all the characters straight with this one. There were so many being introduced in the beginning that I started to get a little confused. Once I got a few chapters in things all started to fall into place and I was able to keep track of who was who.

The dialogue in this book was very easy to follow (for some reason I get lost easily in dialogue). I didn't have to keep going back and re-reading to try and figure out who was saying what. I REALLY liked t More...

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Dec 01, 2011

Mayda rated it:

Half buried memories from childhood surface as a panicked single mother flees to find a safe place for herself and her young child. And what secrets will finally be uncovered by her journey into the past in a Amish community? Will those who help her be forgiven or shunned and can she redeem her long-dead mother’s reputation? In the first novel in the “Ada’s House” series, author Cindy Woodsmall begins a fascinating tale of love and desire and of wrong-doing and forgiveness.

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Aug 27, 2009

Nikki rated it:

This is the book I won thru Goodreads. Anxious to read it~

I finished reading Hope of Refuge. I am a fan of Amish stories.
I liked the story line of this book a lot. I thought it very interesting, Cara's return to someplace she felt she belong without knowing why.
I wish the book was a bit longer to see how the relationship between Cara and Ephraim continued and her acceptance into the Amish ways.

Knowing that Cindy Woodsmall has written several stories More...

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Aug 22, 2011

Paula-O rated it:

Cindy Woodsmall book "The Hope of Refuge" was really good story of Cara who had such a mixed up life after her Mom died and their was a mix-up when amish relatives should have picked Cara up at a bus station but did not, life got very confusing for one little girl and she has much mistrust for people that come into her life. I was glad to see thought that Cindy was able to make this young woman have a happier life finally......you will like this book.

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Aug 26, 2009

Trish rated it:

Another Woodsmall book I couldn't put down! Excellent dialogue & realistic characters kept me reading, and there's just enough of the story left "undone" to keep me watching for the next in the series. The Hope of Refuge gives readers insight into the Amish community, and shares it's weaknesses and struggles as well as it's strengths and spirit. At the end, I had to remind myself that this was a fiction work, and that the characters are not real people!

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Sep 04, 2011

Sara rated it:

This book was very good up to the last 75 pages or so. It did not resolve issues that were the basis of the start of the book and ending up being a typical Amish story instead of the outstanding one it started out as. I am debating with myself if I should read another book in this series. Lots of potential that fell flat.

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Feb 07, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

The Sisters of the Quilt series kind of spoiled me because I loved that set of books. This one...the writing is good but the story moved a bit slower. It was torture watching the main characters hedge around their feelings for fear or out of duty/sense of honor. Thankfully, it was rectified in the end and we've the birth of Ada's House (of which the series is named, of course). :)

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Mar 25, 2010

Renee rated it:

Although I have only read a few works of Amish fiction, I am definitely a new fan of Cindy Woodsmall after reading The Hope of Refuge.
This book dealt with so much more than the typical story of a member of the Amish community leaving for the outside world. Not only did I learn bits of the way Amish communities operate but also some of the tenets of their faith; and these were blended seamlessly with stories of truth withheld, looking for truth, complicated relationships and of course love More...

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Nov 07, 2010

Lucy rated it:

Read this one awhile ago and enjoyed the plot of runaway mother with child who runs from a stalker to her mother's people. She encounters few snags here and there but great ending! Could not put down her book.

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