Return to Grace (The Home Valley Series Book 2) in Pick-a-Shelf

Dec 28, 2011 Christa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook-arc

I enjoyed this story set in an Amish community. Hannah Esh was a very interesting main character whose life had taken a sharp turn from her Amish roots. Her life veered away from the course she had planned when she was betrayed by the man she loved and hoped to marry. I liked Hannah and thought that she turned out to be a much stronger person than she was portayed in the beginning in the cemtery with her Goth friends. I liked Hannah's friends Sarah and Ella, although their roles in the story wer I enjoyed this story set in an Amish community. Hannah Esh was a very interesting main character whose life had taken a sharp turn from her Amish roots. Her life veered away from the course she had planned when she was betrayed by the man she loved and hoped to marry. I liked Hannah and thought that she turned out to be a much stronger person than she was portayed in the beginning in the cemtery with her Goth friends. I liked Hannah's friends Sarah and Ella, although their roles in the story were fairly small. I also became attached to Sheriff Freeman and Rae-Lynn. I enjoyed Linc Armstrong's role in the story, but had a difficult time warming up to Seth. I felt that there was never a satisfactory explanation given for Seth's betrayal of Hannah. He said he made "a mistake," but I never felt enough remorse from him to feel certain that he would ever stay faithful.

Hannah Esh and her Goth friends decide to party in an Amish Cemetery close to her family home on Halloween. A shooting occurs and one of Hannah's friends is dead, while she and another are injured. The FBI is called in to investigate, and it is soon discovered that a few graves in the cemetery contain an extra body. Hannah's brush with danger and injury have brought her back to the family fold, at least temporarily. As she becomes accustomed to the Amish community again, she must also confront her remaining feelings for Seth, the man who was not faithful to her. His betrayal is what drove her from her home and to the Goth lifetyle. It soon becomes clear that danger is still rampant in the Amish village, and Hannah tries to help unravel who is behind both the shooting and the extra bodies in the cemetery.

This was a very interesting book. I enjoyed the storyline and was kept guessing through much of the book. I suspected several different characters at different points in the book. I liked Hannah'a character and found her to be a sympathetic heroine. I wasn't so pleased with Seth. I never developed much attachment to Seth's character due to his prior treatment of Hannah. When she came back, his devotion and loyalty to Hannah just weren't believable enough for me. I did enjoy the setting of this story, and look forward to more by this author. I appreciated the opportunity to read and review this ARC through Netgalley.
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Mar 05, 2020 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle, mystery, romance, bonnet-rippers

I'm not a fan with series where each instalment features different protagonists. I like that constant in my series and so I started to read this with some misgivings especially noting that the protagonist, Hannah Esh, left the community when the man she loved betrayed her and had to marry another woman. He's still there. He's now widowed. And of course, he still loved her...

Hannah returned due to a misadventure she had while in the area which require some medical attention. As she's left before ...more

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