Isn't the dog adorable? |
A BOOK REVIEW OF HUCKLEBERRY SUMMER BY JENNIFER
BECKSTRAND
Jennifer Beckstrand has another winner with Huckleberry Summer (Zebra Books,
Kensington Publishing), book two in The Matchmakers
of Huckleberry Hill series. This
book combines wonderful character development with humor, a dog, and unique subject
matter in the Amish genre, to deliver a can’t-put-down novel. This book stands alone perfectly as is, but
readers may want to start with book one, Huckleberry
Hill, as it is a fun and interesting read as well. Readers will want to continue the adventures
with Grandma Anna and Grandpa Felty as they find matches for their grandchildren
on Huckleberry Hill, Wisconsin throughout this series.
The summer begins with grandson Aden and his dog, Pilot, arriving
on Huckleberry Hill from his Amish community in Ohio to help his grandparents
on their farm and get himself straightened out.
Aden is a vegetarian Amish man that has been arrested three times back
in Ohio while being an environmental activist.
Aden feels he has lived his whole life as a man of peace but somehow his
peaceful efforts stir up trouble. Grandma Anna has picked the perfect Amish girl
for Aden to help him settle down and invited her to work for the summer helping
in the kitchen.
The perfect Amish girl is Lily and she is the exact
opposite of Aden. She is fearful, timid,
obedient, and well behaved. On Lily’s
first day helping Anna, she is greeted by Aden’s huge dog, Pilot. Lily has been frightened of dogs ever since
she was bitten at age 8 by a dog. This
sets up Lily’s love-hate relationship with Aden’s dog, Pilot. While it is not love at first sight for Lily,
she does begin to appreciate Aden’s good looks, caring heart, and easy
manner. This is in sharp contrast to
Tyler, the man that Lily’s father has picked for her. Tyler is a godly man and good provider but
doesn’t stir up any romantic feelings in Lily.
Lily and Aden go on several adventures while getting to
know each other better and finally Lily reveals the reason for her fear of dogs
and her strict obedience to her father.
The author gives excellent character development throughout the
book. You can almost feel Lily trying to
break the chains of childhood and become her own person. Unfortunate timing and circumstances interfere
with her ability to make her own decisions.
Aden’s growth is more subtle but just as apparent when he
finally decides to surrender his will, Gelassenheit – yielding to God’s will. Aden is the perfect man, always doing good
deeds, thoughtful and loving, good looking too, but nothing he does will ever
win over Lily’s father.
Huckleberry Summer
is a romantic novel, filled with humor.
Readers will appreciate the author prominently including a young woman
with special needs, Treva. Treva is
sensitively portrayed with dignity, value, and inclusivity. Jennifer Beckstrand’s writing is simply
beautiful, ranging from at times humorous and uplifting to emotional and melancholy. Huckleberry
Summer will be available on June 3, 2014.
The Matchmakers of Huckleberry
Hill series continues with Huckleberry
Christmas, releasing in October, 2014.
Gloria,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this wonderful review. I hope readers find the story extremely romantic and the dog extremely lovable! So much fun to write!
Huckleberry Summer is definitely romantic and the lovable dog just adds to the fun! This series is wonderfully written, thank you Jennifer!
Delete