Amish Romance with…Refrigerators and Pizza?
A Picture of Love by Beth Wiseman is definitely a different sort of Amish Romance. While I loved so many things about this book, there was one element that was just not there: the immersion in the Amish setting.
A big appeal of Amish Romance is the immersion into a wholesome agricultural Christian community, much like the appeal of fantasy is the immersion into a lush and magical world. So Beth Wiseman is…erm…really doing things differently out here.
Her characters use a refrigerator. And okay, I HAD to go and look this up, because it was driving me crazy, but I guess most Amish people today do use gas-powered refrigerators still kills the immersion for me a bit. I’d say an Amish Romance like the Rebekah’s Keepsake series, which is set in the 1800s, does a little better job of immersion.
But the Amish people in this book ride in cars, go to Wal-Mart, go out for pizza, have flashlights and battery-powered lights in the house. We never see any of them farming. The setting of the Amish community is barely described. As far as Amish setting, this book didn’t do it for me. At all.
There is an air of realism in this story that we often don’t see in Amish Romance, and while the characters were great, I think Wiseman could have written her wonderful three-dimensional characters without sacrificing the wholesome Hallmark energy we usually have in Amish Romance. Between Gus failing to make amends with his estranged daughter and Thomas literally trying to feel up Naomi in the barn, we just never get the wholesome Hallmark energy that I’m craving when I pick up an Amish Romance.
That being said, there is a ton to like about this book. As I said, the characters are wonderful. Unfortunately, the two leads, Naomi and Amos are the most boring of the characters. By the second act of the book, I was seriously shipping Gus and Esther; both of them are far more interesting than Naomi and Amos. Don’t get me wrong, the freindship and eventual love between Naomi and Amos was cute. It was just…meh. We see that Wiseman is skilled at writing compelling characters, yet she plays it very safe with her two leads.
My other character complaint would be the blonde who shows up just to insult Naomi and flirt with Amos. Like, really? We need the girl-on-girl hate in every fucking romance novel? Even Amish Romance? Criminey, we all need to stop fighting over men. If you need to fight a bitch for your dude, let him go. Who needs him. Romance novels really need to stop writing in these slutty characters who throw themselves at the male lead. It’s pretty gross and misogynistic and, even if you don’t agree with me on that, it’s a tired trope.
But that’s really all I have to gripe about with this book. There was far more depth to it than your usual Amish Romance. Every character has a compelling arc. I especially loved Gus’ arc. I liked seeing him bond with Esther and show his soft side to her. Lizzie was hilarious. Her energy had me rolling throughout the book. I hope I’m as sassy as Lizzie when I’m old.
And the book ends with Amos and Naomi expecting a baby and painting together every evening. Soooo cute!!! My heart!
This wasn’t the typical Amish Romance, and it’s not perfect, but I still absolutely loved it, and will likely read more of Wiseman’s amish fiction.
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