Jake Miller started out building buggies with his daed for
the farmers in Lancaster County, but he loved horses best
and apprenticed with THE AMISH BLACKSMITH. He understands
the flighty nature of horses and occasionally helps to
train them. He even gets asked to work with Warmblood Show
Horses by the English owners. Now living with the smith's
family as he learns to be a farrier, Jake enjoys the
Kinsingers' good-natured home life, but he's walking out
with a young woman called Amanda Shetler.
Priscilla, who Jake remembers as a tomboyish youngster,
moved away to relatives in Indiana after her mother died,
so when she comes to visit the Kinsingers Jake hasn't seen
her in six years. He's startled by how beautiful and
dignified she has grown. Her cousins are delighted that
she's staying for the summer, although she intends to look
for work. Jake is told privately that the family want to
keep her away from Indiana because she's received an offer
of marriage from a widower with eight children. He's a good
man, but this isn't in a young maid's best interests.
Priscilla doesn't have friends here now, and doesn't know
how to go about making them. Jake agrees to help her
socialise, with Amanda of course.
The first thing Priscilla does is to buy a horse which is
considered unsuitable as a work horse; she's saving him
from the meat buyers who, sadly, throng the Amish country
auctions. I liked Priscilla right away. She and Jake are
clearly going to get along... will this endanger Jake's
relationship or, since Amanda hasn't joined the church yet,
will she lead quiet Priscilla into frivolity and
wickedness?
The calmer life among the Amish seems to be just what nervy
horses need, and I enjoyed reading about Jake's gentle
approach to retraining horses with behavioural issues. A
horse isn't much use in this area if he's scared of hats,
while a contrast is shown by a show horse's rider needing
thousand-dollar boots. Horse lovers will fall for THE AMISH
BLACKSMITH by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner.
Romance fans who want an unusual gentle tale of learning to
trust and forgive oneself won't be disappointed. In fact
this is one of the nicest romance tales of the summer, more
original for being told all from the young man's point of
view.
New from bestselling authors Mindy Starns Clark and Susan
Meissner, The Amish Blacksmith (Book 2 in The Men of
Lancaster County series) explores the men of an Amish
community in Lancaster County, how their Amish beliefs play
out in their unique roles, and the women who change their
lives.
Apprenticed blacksmith Jake Miller is skeptical of Priscilla
Kinsinger's innate ability to soothe troubled horses,
especially when he has own ideas on how to calm them. Six
years earlier, Priscilla's mother died in an awful accident
at home, and Priscilla's grief over losing her mother was so
intense that she was sent to live with relatives in Indiana.
She has just returned to Lancaster County.
Not that her homecoming matters to Jake, who is interested
in courting lighthearted Amanda Shetler. But Jake's boss is
Priscilla's uncle, and when the man asks Jake to help his
niece reconnect with community life, he has no choice but to
do just that. Surprisingly, he finds himself slowly drawn to
the beautiful but emotionally wounded Priscilla.
Jake then determines to prove to her that it's not her fault
her mother died, but what he discovers will challenge
everything they both believe about the depth of love and the
breadth of forgiveness.
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