The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall is about a young Mennonite woman (Annie) and a young Amish man (Aden) and their families. To the outsider looking in the Amish and Mennonite communities may look virtually the same, and they often make very good neighbors. However, some lines are drawn deep and are not meant to be crossed. Annie and Aden begin to discover just how hard it can be to navigate the dangerous waters between their faiths when they start to fall in love. Will their faith, love and families be able to weather the storm brought on by this forbidden love?

All I can say is that Cindy Woodsmall has done it again! She takes you into the lives of the Plain people and lets you see God from their perspective. The Scent of Cherry Blossoms is well written and will keep your interest until the very end. I also love that she brings in a couple of her characters from The Christmas Singing novella to make small appearances in the community. It makes life in Apple Ridge more real since Aden and Roman made an appearance in that book as well.

I highly recommend the Scent of Cherry Blossoms to all of Cindy Woodsmall's fans and to anyone else who is intrigued by the Amish and Mennonite faiths and communities. It is a wonderful addition to her other books, and a great short read (just under 200 pages). I am glad to add this book to my collection and I look forward to reading it again sometime.

Read Chapter One

I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing for review purposes.

The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall

The Harvest of Grace is the third book in the Ada's House Series by Cindy Woodsmall. Although the primary story line in this book revolves around Sylvia and Aaron, Harvest of Grace also bring closure to the beloved characters from the previous two books.

Harvest of Grace is the story of Sylvia, a young Amish woman, who flees her family farm after making a mistake which she might never be able to forgive herself for. She seeks a new start and refuge on the failing dairy farm of Michael Blank. Michael desperately needs Sylvia's help and expertise to try to save his farm after his son, Aaron, left and his daughter died in a tragic accident.

Aaron has been gone from the homestead for many months. He was driven away by his hatred of farming, his drinking, and blaming himself for playing a role in his sister's death. Now that he has found new hope in being sober, he returns to make amends with his family and to offer them a fresh beginning in town.

The road before both Aaron and Sylvia is rough. They each fight their won struggles and battles with accepting grace and forgiveness--not to mention their competing goals for the farm. In the end they are able to show each other what God's grace is really all about.

The Harvest of Grace is excellently written and a perfect conclusion to the Ada's House Series. If you are a Cindy Woodsmall fan or just love reading about the Amish culture you won't be disappointed.

I received a free review copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing.