About the Book

Title: Home on Huckleberry Hill

Series: #9, The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill

Author: Jennifer Beckstrand

Publisher: Zebra Press

Released: June 2018

Huckleberry Hill, Wisconsin’s irrepressible eighty-something matchmakers Anna and Felty Helmuth are at it again. And this time they’re willing to rough it to get the job done . . .
 
Mary Anne Neuenschwander knows she should be content with what Gotte has given her. She has a comfortable house, a fruitful farm, and a good, steady husband. But after nearly six years of marriage, she still longs for a baby. Yet her husband, Jethro, seems to care more about fishing than about his wife. Unable to bear Jethro’s indifference, Mary Anne moves into a tent in the woods where he won’t have to be bothered. But when her mammi and dawdi find out what she’s done, they’ll stop at nothing—including a little camping trip of their own—to help save their granddaughter’s marriage . . .

Jethro’s greatest blessing is his beloved wife, Mary Anne. Nothing else in his life has turned out anywhere near the way he expected. Rather than burden Mary Anne with his disappointment, he shields her by spending less and less time at home and more time on the river. But when he finds that she’s moved out, he’s shocked. What will people think? What is Mary Anne thinking? And what clever plans are her grandparents hatching?…

Get your copy here.

 

My Review

One good Jennifer Beckstrand deserves another. Or 10, as this series, The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill proves. While Home on Huckleberry Hill is my first Huckleberry Hill book, the book stood alone great. Home on Huckleberry Hill, #9 in the series, is a hilarious look at a serious problem. One that a good Amish couple would never, ever have.
Starting with Mary Anne’s octogenarian grandparents, you will be doubling over in laughter by the first page. Ah, the dirty secrets of the Amish.
Mary Anne certainly has one. After a miscarriage four years ago, she has grown so estranged from her husband, Jethro, that she wants a divorce. But, of course, there is no such thing in the Amish church.
Mary Anne creatively finds a way to escape Jethro’s overbearing ways.
If only she could keep her decision between her and Jethro. No such luck. “Gossip traveled faster than a runaway horse in Amish country, but it seemingly traveled like lightning in an Amish grocery store.”As I read this book, it was easy to reflect on the early years of my marriage, and even selfish moments since. Who gives in? Who declares themselves wrong? Who steps up to the plate and magnanimously, truly, forgives and moves forward?

I loved Mary Anne’s mammi and dawdi, but after a while, I did want to tell them to stop insulting Jethro by name-calling. I was half-afraid that, though Jethro had indeed ignored his wife, the whole burden of the failed marriage would land solely on him. Ack! Jethro’s family! Especially his mamm and his brother, Willie Jay.
“Willie Jay had no idea how entertaining he was from a distance.” But up close he’s a terror of a sermon. As the bishop put it so well (and I hope we see more of him in the other books), “I can’t make anybody do anything, and I wouldn’t want to. Gotte will force no man to heaven.” But will Jethro use the Scriptures to force Mary Anne back to him? Or will he finally look at himself and say, “Is it I” causing the problems? Will Mary Anne hold out forever or will she tear down some walls and forgive?

If you haven’t read Beckstrand before, you’re in for a treat. Her sense of humor is hilarious and inventive. And you will feel like you’ve grown with the characters along the way.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through Celebrate Lit. This does not affect my opinions, which are solely my own.

My Rating

4 Stars- Excellent

 

About the Author

Jennifer Beckstrand is the two-time RITA-nominated, #1 Amazon bestselling Amish romance author of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series, The Honeybee Sisters series, and The Petersheim Brothers series for Kensington Books. Huckleberry Summer and Home on Huckleberry Hill were both nominated for the coveted RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America. Jennifer has always been drawn to the strong faith and the enduring family ties of the Plain people and loves writing about the antics of Anna and Felty Helmuth, the Honeybee sisters’ aendi Bitsy, and Alfie and Benji Petersheim. Jennifer has written twenty-two Amish romances, a historical Western, and the nonfiction book, Big Ideas. Jennifer is represented by Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency. She and her husband have been married for thirty-five years, and she has six children and eight adorable grandchildren, whom she spoils rotten.

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