Let Me Call You Sweetheart

I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper
That you love me too

Keep the love light glowing
In your eyes so true
Let me call you sweetheart
I'm in love with you.

Bing Crosby really had a way with singing a song and he could croon this one with the best of them. This song kind of wraps up the point of Amish Sweethearts. I wonder if Leslie Gould got her inspiration from the song. Who knows, but she can write a sweet book.

Lila keeps house for her father, two brothers, and two sisters; and she has ever since her mother died several years before. Her best friend from childhood, Zane, lives next door. He's not Amish, but he is a believer, and he's in love with Lila. Lila actually loves Zane as well, but she's supposed to be courting Reuben, the bishop's son. Because he feels that Lila is out of his reach, Zane joins the Army. In the wake of Zane's signing up, Lila's younger brother, Simon, also signs up and creates hard feelings between Lila's father and Zane. The things Zane sees and experiences while in the Army make him wish he'd never signed up. When he is injured and sent home to recover, he decides to go to Canada and escape going back to Afghanistan. He wants Lila to go with him.


I've got to say that Leslie has crafted a narrative that is hard to put down for any Amish fiction fan. She provides angst, humor, happiness, sadness, love, comfort, and companionship among her characters. While there are a few occasions for food in this book, it's not what the story revolves around--rather it is the people who make the story as compelling as it is. Her dialogues are incredible, and the characters have fully developed personalities so that you either want to hug them or smack them, depending on what they are doing. This is definitely a five-star book.

My thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book!