A Reluctant Bride by Kathleen Fuller

★★★★★

When tragedy strikes an independent Amish woman, she must accept a marriage proposal from the man she vowed never to marry.

As the oldest daughter in an Amish family, Sadie's life was mapped out since the day she was born. She would join the church, marry an Amish man, and eventually she and her husband would take over her family's store. But when her parents unexpectedly die in a buggy accident, her life goes into a tailspin. Determined to keep her parents' legacy alive, Sadie works harder than ever to provide for herself and her younger sisters.

However, the bishop is unwilling to let a young woman manage the property and business all on her own. He gives Sadie two choices: marry his son, Aden, or relinquish the business and land to the community. Not willing to give up on her dream, she weds Aden, resigning herself to a loveless marriage.

But while working with Aden at the store, Sadie realizes he isn't the same boy who had betrayed her in the past. In fact, she begins to look forward to the time they spend together, getting to know the man with a kind heart and gentle smile. Just when Sadie starts to let her guard down and perhaps develop feelings for her new husband, several dangerous secrets are revealed. Now everything Sadie has worked so hard to protect is threatened, and she must find a way to save her family – and herself.

Kathleen Fuller’s A Reluctant Bride is a novel full of heartbreaking circumstances, well-kept secrets and unwanted proposals. When tragedy strikes her family, Sadie Schrock, who never wanted to marry, has no choice but to enter into a loveless marriage agreement with a man she despises, Aden Troyer. These two serious-minded characters, both burdened by their pasts, only being to adjust to their convenient marriage, when they uncover secret after secret hidden within their growing Amish community. While their story is a bit predictable in terms of outcome and romance, it still kept me intrigued with premise and character development, and I really enjoyed following along as Sadie and Aden become better acquainted. Fans of Amish fiction will not be disappointed with A Reluctant Bride - I would recommend it.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers, I received a copy of A Reluctant Bride and the opportunity to honestly review it. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. (I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)