A BOOK REVIEW OF SECOND CHANCES BY SARAH PRICE

Once again Sarah Price brings to life a classic novel, this time Persuasion with an Amish retelling in Second Chances (Realm).  Second Chances is part of Sarah’s Amish Classic Series.  It is clever, entertaining, and filled with moral lessons that readers will find hopeful and helpful. 

The cast of characters could not be any more compelling.  Readers should expect that they may not get any work done until the book is finished; it is just too difficult to put the book down.  Our main character, Anna, is a 25 year old single Amish woman who doesn’t have the strength to stand up to the decisions made by others on her behalf.  She loses the love of her life as a result. 

So when is a persuadable mind a good thing?  When would it be a bad thing?  Is Anna too submissive and obedient for her own good?  Will Anna ever be able to stand up for what is good and right for herself or will she always be persuaded to do what others want to her own detriment?

Sarah Prices writes interesting characters that readers will be rooting for and against. At first readers may feel they know who the good characters and bad characters are, but it may not turn out to be that simple.  Sometimes things are not as they seem.  But in the beautifully written ending, even the villains prove to have a decent side.  Second Chances was published on June 2, 2015.

THE BEST MOTHER'S DAY PRESENT EVER!

The Carlisle Country Inn in Berlin, Ohio

For Mother's Day this year, my daughter Jillian and our son-in-law Ryan gave me the gift of a family overnight stay in Holmes County, Ohio.  As many of you already know, Holmes County is home to one of the largest populations of Amish families.

Here I am smelling the flowers at the Carlisle Country Inn.

Jillian knows of course how much I enjoy learning about the Amish so this gift was perfect but in addition, she gave me the gift of her time which is priceless.  Jillian is 27 years old and newly married.  She works over 40 hours a week plus has a house to care for so her time is precious.  I love you sweetheart and am so grateful for your Mother's Day gift.

Jillian and our son-in-law Ryan at lunch at Der Bake Oven in Berlin, Ohio.

So this past weekend was our trip to Holmes County.  All four of us (me, husband Ron, Jillian, and Ryan) set off from northern Cincinnati at 8:30 am on Saturday and drove north to Holmes County.  Drive time was about 3 hours and 30 minutes but it was fun talking about where we would eat and shop.  The time past quickly.

We drove straight to the Carlisle Country Inn in Berlin, Ohio.  I can not recommend this place enough.  There are only seven rooms to rent but this place is first class.  Our room was gorgeous with beautiful views and a huge bathroom that had both a Jacuzzi and separate shower.  Our daughter and son-in-law had an extremely nice and well appointed room as well.  Even though it was several hours before check in time, our host, Amy welcomed us warmly.

My lunch was a warm ham & swiss sandwich on a homemade roll and warm German potato salad, so good!

After we dropped our suitcases we went to the main strip in Berlin and found our lunch spot, Der Bake Oven Bakery and Cafe.  You must eat there if you are ever in Berlin.  This was the best lunch I think I have ever eaten.  I will be asking for their recipe for German Potato Salad, it was the best ever!  We all enjoyed our lunches and vowed to return.

We were looking for Amish made items only.

Next we hit the streets and went into shop after shop.  Now you need to be careful because not everything and every shop is Amish owned.  I saw many things with made in India labels.  Nothing wrong with that but I only wanted Amish souvenirs.  After a couple of hours of shopping we went back to the Carlisle Country Inn and rested up for dinner.

The Farmstead is known for it's delicious and filling buffet.

Dinner was at the Farmstead.  They have a huge buffet or you can order off their menu.  As we were eating a large Amish family came in and sat at the table next to us.  Mom, Dad, five sons and two daughters and they were as cute as could be.  What was funny was that the youngest four kept staring at us as we tried so hard not to stare at them.  The youngest boy had the most beautiful blue eyes and his baby sister waved bye-bye to us.  

Meanwhile we ate some delicious food at the Farmstead.  The roast beef was so tender, the fried chicken was piping hot, the mashed potatoes creamy and good, and I especially liked the chicken stuffing.  So after eating all of that and having a big lunch, we could hardly try dessert, but we knew we had to, after all my readers would be left wondering how good are the desserts!  Just as I arrived at the buffet station with the desserts, the buffet attendant brought out a huge tray of homemade cookies.  Talk about good timing!  On the tray were whoopee pies, molasses cookies, maple sandwich cookies, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chocolate, and spice cookies.  There is nothing I love more than a good homemade cookie so I was thrilled.

How peaceful and lovely is this view from the side of the Carlisle Country Inn?

We then went back to the Carlisle Country Inn and sat outside on the wraparound porch in the rocking chairs.  There was a working farm next door and the horses and cows were out to pasture.  We enjoyed watching them and also a thunderstorm that was out in the distance.  

After an hour or so, the rain started so we came inside to the living room and decided to play a game, Apples to Apples that the Inn supplied.  Well, a game that was to take a half an hour lasted for a couple of hours.  We had so much fun playing this game, laughing at the dumb things we did in the game.  Meanwhile, Amy from the Inn had put out a stunning plate of homemade cookies.  We were so stuffed yet the cookies looked so good, my daughter and I each had one.  Delicious is all I can say.

We then went to our rooms for the night and slept so peacefully for the night.  Sunday morning we had a wonderful home cooked breakfast at the Inn, sausage patties, fancy scrambled eggs, thick cut toast, two kinds of coffeecake, and a fruit compote.  What a wonderful way to end our stay and begin our journey home.