A Merry Heart by Wanda Brunstetter

A Merry Heart is the first book of four in the Brides of Lancaster County Series.

Book 1 – A Merry Heart
Book 2 – Looking for a Miracle
Book 3 – Plain and Fancy
Book 4 – The Hope Chest

This is the first book by Wanda Brunstetter that I’ve read and I find it similar to the Amish books that Beverly Lewis writes. I typically read novels with more action and suspense, but I enjoyed reading A Merry Heart because I grew up in Ohio and we came in contact with the Amish a lot. They are honest, compassionate, and loving people that take care of each other. It has always amazed me how they stick together as a community and care for those in need. If someone suffers because of an illness or loses property in an accident or storm the whole community comes together to meet the need. How incredible it would be if we too could follow their example to the degree that they do.

A Merry Heart is a sweet story of a young woman who hardened her heart to love after the man of her dreams married another. She and others considered herself and old maid. Then suddenly there are two available men showing an interest in her, but they are not the men she would have chosen. One man is from outside her Amish faith and the other just seems to need a mother for his six year old daughter.

Back Cover of Book says:

Miriam Stoltzfus was once filled with wonderful dreams for a future with the man she’d loved since childhood until he moved away and married someone else leaving her heart a bitter shell. Now Miriam is known in her community as the “old maid” schoolteacher with a “heart of stone.”

Amos Hilty wants to court Miriam but she’s certain that he only wants a mother for his daughter and a wife for convenience. Her heart warms to a more interesting friendship in the form of Nick McCormick, a newspaper reporter outside her Amish faith who is easy to talk to and incredibly makes her smile again.

Will Miriam ever let go of the bitter spirit and surrender her will to God? Or will she leave the Amish faith and find what she longs for in the outside world?

If you’d like to escape the hustle and bustle of our busy world and enter the slower paced lifestyle of the Amish, grab a copy of this book and find a quiet corner to read.