More Than a Marriage (The Quilting Circle #3) by Amy Lillard

When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go.   Alexandra Stoddard

I love that quote.  And I love visting beautiful places in the books I read.  The more I visit the more visit the less I feel like a tourist in the author's land and the more I feel like I'm coming home.  

In this novella I get to visit a place that feels like a home away from home for me.  Wells Landing is becoming my new favorite fictional place.  From the back:  In the close-knit Amish community of Wells Landing, Oklahoma, a women’s quilting circle welcomes a new member who is struggling to keep her marriage together—or let it go . . .

Quiet and unassuming Tess Smiley is new to Wells Landing. She is also newly married to Jacob Smiley. But already she is finding that married life isn’t the gentle union of contented devotion she had envisioned. Rather, the old-fashioned qualities that had endeared her to Jacob have become a source of inner confusion. As his father did with his wife, Jacob has begun treating Tess like a servant, taking her for granted, no longer surprising her with little presents. And once he began his job at the Englisch shed company, he has become more interested in his company smartphone than in spending time with Tess . . .

Jacob can’t see what Tess is upset about and continues his boorish ways, ignoring her pleas to attend marriage classes. Tess loves Jacob with all her heart, but it’s her heart that tells her she must take a stand. With surprising determination, she asks for help from her new community and is welcomed into the home of her friend Clara Rose and her husband Obie. Only then does Jacob begin to see how deeply his behavior has hurt Tess. But is he too late? He may be contrite, but he will need to show much more than that to win her love all over again . . . 

Tess finds herself trying to compete for her husband Jacob's affection with a smartphone!  She feels ignored and unhappy.  Jacob is frustrated that his wife wants to keep pesky goats and he can't provide for her in the way he feels that an Amish man should.  This story delves into the heart of a marriage and you find yourself wondering if Tess and Jacob can ever find common ground.  

Amy Lillard gives us a glimpse into a world that isn't all buggy rides and picnics.  She draws you in with characters that have beautiful real life flaws and you find yourself rooting for them.  With the help of caring neighbors will Tess and Jacob find their way back to each other?  Or will they hang on to their pride and keep comparing what others have to what they have?  

Come to Wells Landing and find out!  This book is set to release in February and it's the third book in the series.  So while you are waiting enjoy the first two books More Than Friendship and More Than a Promise.   

Welcome to Wells Landing, where there is a story on every corner and a place you will enjoy visiting every time.  Happy Reading. 

The Scarlet Coat (Hearts at War #1) by Angela Couch

It has rained and rained and rained here.  I feel like I need to build an ark!  The good thing is that I've had plenty of time to catch up on my reading stack.

This is Angela Couch's new series and I was soooo stoked to get a sneak peek!  From the back: Surrounded by the musket fire of the American Revolution, Rachel Garnet prays for her family to be safe. When the British invade the Mohawk Valley and her father and brother don't return from the battle, she goes in pursuit of them. She finds her brother alive but her father has been killed at the hand of the enemy. Amidst the death, how can she ignore a cry for help? Rachel reluctantly takes in a badly wounded British officer. But how long can her sense of Christian duty repress her hatred for his scarlet coat? Passages of Scripture and fleeting images of society are all Andrew Wyndham recalls after he awakens to the log walls of his gentle prison. Even his name eludes him. Rachel Garnet insists he is a captain in the British army. He mourns the loss of his memory, but how can he hope to remember war when his “enemy” is capturing his heart? Andrew’s injuries are severe, his memory slow to return, and the secret of his existence too perilous to ignore. As Rachel nurses him back to health, his hidden scarlet coat threatens to expose the deeds of her merciful heart, and Andrew is forced to face a harrowing decision—Stay hidden and risk losing the woman he loves or turn himself in and risk losing his life. 

While the thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed I was transported to a battlefield.  As I've come to expect from Angela's books she has a wonderful grasp on the rich history of the time period and history really does come alive in her books.  

Rachel, my favorite character, is a strong and vibrant person.  The story has tons of tension and suspense.  Just when you think you can take a breath you are taken on another wild ride! This book was hard to put down because I kept wanting to see what happened next! 

So pick up your copy (it comes out on the 27th!) this coming week and prepare to be swept away by this great historical read!  Happy Reading!