CAROLINE'S SECRET by Amy Lillard

Caroline has a secret and it is a huge one! She is an Amish woman living in Oklahoma with a very small child. Everyone assumes she is a widow, but that isnt the truth and she does not correct them. CAROLINE'S SECRET by Amy Lillard isn't your typical Amish novel. It touches on a subject you don't usually read about with the Amish people. I was instantly caught up in Caroline's life and found myself holding my breath at some parts of CAROLINE'S SECRET.

Caroline was on a bus from Tennessee to Colorado when she got sick and got off in Oklahoma. A nice woman, Esther, took her in and gave her a job. Esther never asks questions about Caroline's past and she just assumes that her husband passed away. This is where her secret comes in but I am not telling you what it is. Believe me, in the Amish world it is a huge one.

Caroline makes friends with Andrew, an Amish man who is helping out his uncle Abe at his furniture store. Andrew was in love with a woman named Beth who was sick and passed away. Andrew is still struggling with his loss when he meets Caroline. Neither one of them is looking for a relationship any further than friends. At least that is what they tell themselves.

While Andrew and Caroline are trying to sort out their lives, Esther and Abe are finally admitting to each other that they both have had feelings for the other for a long long time. Esther and Abe are hysterical and the things they say to each other will have you laughing out loud. Esther has been alone since her husband died years ago and Abe wonders if she is really ready to move on.

I found myself thinking about Andrew and Caroline long after I finished their story. I was totally invested in their lives and was cheering for them the whole time I was reading. CAROLINE'S SECRET is my first time reading Amy Lillard but I can tell you it wont be the last. As an added bonus there are recipes in the back and who doesn't love that?

CAROLINE'S SECRET is filled with love, forgiveness, letting go, and romance. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Amy's writing held me captive from the very first page until the last page. Courting Emily will be published in January 2015 and that will be the second book in this series.

In Amy Lillard's poignant introduction to Wells Landing, a small Amish community is home to two brave souls hoping to forget their painful pasts and rebuild their faith in the future. . . Caroline Hostetler arrived in Oklahoma determined to forge a new life for herself and her daughter, Emma. As a single mother, she values the warmth and safety she's found in close-knit Wells Landing. She's even caught the eye of a handsome newcomer--a man who just may be the partner she longs for and the father Emma deserves. But the arrival of an Englisher threatens to lay bare the secrets she's worked so hard to leave behind. . . After losing his life-long sweetheart, Andrew Fitch moved to Wells Landing to work in his uncle's furniture business and nurse his broken heart. Finding love again seems all but impossible--until he meets Caroline and Emma. But his plans to join their lives together may be shattered when the truth of Caroline's past comes to light--unless, together, they can learn the true meaning of sacrifice and forgiveness. . .