An Amish Holiday Courtship by Emma Miller Review

 Happy Thursday Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

I hope you all had a really great Christmas, and that you're all looking forward to 2022.

In the upcoming days, I plan to share my 2021 reading wrap ups with you all, but I have to be honest and state that I really needed a few days away from my blog.

I'm going to start out this review with addressing a few things that I really need to get off my chest, and why I so badly needed to step back for a few days.

First, I got some really devastating news right before Christmas, and it was honestly hard to even look forward to the season with everything going on. I'm extra thankful for the time I was able to spend with my family during the holidays, as it definitely gave me something else to focus on.

Second, I ended up getting a cold right before the holidays, and I was feeling pretty yucky for a few days, and didn't really have the energy to do much around here.

Third, I don't want to get into any personal details, but I got hurt pretty badly by someone close to me over the holidays, and I wasn't really handling it the greatest. I'm especially thankful to my husband and other family members who helped me pull through.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I've been feeling a little disillusioned with a lot of what I've been seeing lately within the Christian book community. In a lot of ways, it seems this community is on its way towards being a popularity contest, with the focus all being on who gets the most views, comments and likes on reviews and Instagram photos, and it's kind of hard to accept that when we should be so much more than that.

I've often even found myself wrapped up in that side of it, and I honestly hate it. As Christians, our focus should be on shining a light for Jesus, and spreading the word about books that help us to do that. Instead, it's become something entirely different. And even some bloggers, authors and publishers that I've thought highly of in the past, have really caused me to second guess even wanting to be a part of this community anymore.

Now that being said, I just want to state that I am not talking about the entire Christian book community. There are so many amazing authors, publishers, bloggers, bookstagrammers, booktubers, etc within this community, and I'm thankful to be a part of what we're all doing. However, I've just learned that I need to come at this community from a different angle, and make sure I'm continuing to do it for the right reasons. 

Once again, I don't want to give personal details, but I've definitely faced some hurt over the past few months with basically being told my blog isn't "popular" enough to take part in certain things, and that's just not what I want my focus to turn to.

I love Jesus most of all, and if I'm not blogging for Him, then I my as well not be blogging at all.

So going forward, my focus isn't going to be on how popular my blog is, or how many likes my Instagram photos get, it's going to be on spreading the word about fiction that honors Jesus, and I'm looking forward to a fresh new year on my blog!

Now I'm ready to jump right into a review for you all today of a heartwarming holiday Amish fiction title that I recently had the chance to sit down and read.

Keep reading for my full review :)

An Amish Holiday Courtship by Emma Miller:

Source: Gift From My Hubby

Publisher: Love Inspired

Publication Date: December 1st, 2020

Genre: Amish Fiction/Christian Fiction

Series: Hickory Grove

Synopsis:

She thought she knew what she wanted…

Her heart is searching for the perfect husband this Christmas.

Ginger Stutzman has her sights set on the new Amish bachelor in town, but becoming a nanny for widower Eli Kutz’s children puts her romance plans on hold. Though it’s not the Christmas connection she expected, Ginger can’t deny the pull she feels toward Eli. But is it only the shine of the holiday season—or is a family with Eli a gift built to last?

From Harlequin Love Inspired: Uplifting stories of faith, forgiveness and hope.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

An Amish Holiday Courtship is a lovely and heartwarming read that held my attention from the start right until the end. It felt both realistic and authentic, and will definitely not be the last book I choose to pick up from Emma Miller.

A lovely setting, well developed and delightful characters, and a plot that keeps the reader engaged throughout, made this story one I highly enjoyed, and could barely bring myself to put down.

It talks a lot about first impressions, and about how our heroine Ginger Stutzman falls for the "pretty boy" who talks the talk, but doesn't really seem to walk the walk. When she becomes a nanny for Eli Kutz, a widower and friend of the family, feelings start to develop that neither of them are expecting. However, she's certain that things will work out with her beau if she's patient, and Eli feels he's much too old and burdened for someone like Ginger.

As their friendship progresses, Eli and Ginger will learn that everything works out in God's timing if we trust Him with the process, and their romance is beautiful, perfectly drawn out, and faith filled.

This one was definitely everything I was hoping it would be, and I hope to read more from this series in the very near future.

Final Rating: 4/5.

I definitely recommend this one to any fellow fans of Amish fiction.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.