review 1: Title: A HEART MADE NEWAuthor: Kelly IrvinPublisher: Harvest HouseOctober 2012ISBN: 978-0736943833Genre: AmishIn the second novel of Kelly Irvin's Bliss Creek Amish series, readers will be delighted to return to a town and a family they've already come to love.Annie Shirack is trying to fight her feelings for David Plank, a young Amish man who's struggling with an aggressive case of Hodgkin's lymphoma. David loves Annie too much to let her into his life, only, he fears, to leave her.When a homeless young woman named Charisma and her two-year-old daughter, Gracie, show up in Bliss Creek, Annie welcomes them into the Shirack household and tries to help them establish a new life. But all the good deeds in the world can't change the ache in Annie's heart...or help her forget ... morethe man she loves.A HEART MADE NEW is the second book in The Bliss Creek Amish series, but it easily stands alone. This book starts with a bang—literally, as the Amish bakery Annie works at is robbed! Scary! I also sympathized with David, as I am a cancer survivor (not the same type he has) and I know about treatments and not feeling well, worrying about leaving those you love.Fans will want to read the other two books in this series, Love’s Journey Home and To Love and to Cherish. Both are all available for purchase. 336 pages. $8.76 Kindle. $9.22 paperback. Also available in hardcover with big print. review 2: I just finished reading the second book in The Bliss Creek Amish series by Kelly Irvin. I was given the book, compliments of Harvest House Publishers, in exchange for an honest review. A Heart Made New was just as great as the first book, To Love and To Cherish, and my only criticism is not of the book itself, but that I have to wait until January 2013 to find out what happens. I hate having to wait - that’s how good it was! Ms. Irvin did a great job of tying up some loose ends in this book but she left enough strings hanging that I can’t wait for the conclusion. In fact, she is such a great writer, I’m not sure I could tie up the loose ends in just one more book. Maybe she’ll have to make it a four book series instead. I’m not sure I’ll be ready to leave the Shirack family after only one more book. A Heart Made New focused on Annie Shirack, one of Emma’s sisters, while still allowing me to follow up with Emma and her new husband, Leah and Luke and their growing family, as well as answer some questions about Josiah’s love triangle with Miriam and Sarah. I completely fell in love with Annie and the true goodness in her heart. She was filled with God’s love and couldn’t help but spread it to everyone around her. She saw good in all people she came in contact with, even those that were intent on doing harm. Ms. Irvin started the book with a major incident and the twists and turns continued right through - in fact, so much so that I was completely disappointed when the book was over. I could have kept on reading about their many adventures. There were so many incidents that took me by surprise - from budding romances to suspenseful events. It is definitely an Amish love story with intrigue. The book itself had the theme of faith interwoven throughout. Faith in God, faith that He is in control of our lives, and that even though worry is a common tendency to have, when we strengthen our faith muscle, the worry lessens. The message that bad things can still happen wasn’t glossed over, but trusting God through the bad times instead of simply refusing to live life to the fullest was learned by the main characters. This was particular relevant to me as I continually choose to focus on choosing faith instead of giving in to fear on a regular basis when trials occur in my life. I loved the new characters that were introduced in this book. I totally fell in love with Charisma, Grace, Kinsey, Willow, and Violet and the way that Ms. Irvin allowed them to help Annie and David in their own private struggles when dealing with faith in their own personal ways was so true to life. She showed that God uses people from different walks of life to point us to God’s truths, if we are only willing to listen. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who wants to read a great book about a wonderful Amish family. I wouldn’t call it strictly a romance as there is so much suspense and so many twists and turns; however, romance and deep love for family are still strong themes throughout. As I mentioned above, I can’t wait until January 2013 to read the conclusion of this amazing family. It will be bittersweet, though, as I don’t think I will be ready to say goodbye. Once you read the first book, I’m pretty sure you will be hooked too. less
