I am most familiar with Amy Clipston's Amish fiction, but when I saw that she had branched out to non-Amish Christian fiction, I decided her novel would be worth the read. I am a little disappointed in that the faith of the characters does not play a bigger part.
Brianna Porter meets Scott Gibson while she is getting a book at the book store before heading to get a cup of coffee. As soon as she leaves the bookstore, she gets a phone call from her mother telling her that her father has passed away. This leaves a huge hole in Brianna's heart because she and her father were the heart and soul of the resort on Splendid Lake in North Carolina.
Scott is a real estate developer who wants to buy the resort, but as luck would have it, he doesn't arrive in time to make his offer to Brianna's dad.
One thing Brianna soon comes to learn is that her father has left the resort deeply in debt and in a financial hole that is too deep for her to scale out of. While she doesn't want to sell the resort, that may be what she has to do.
When her mother has a stroke, Brianna has to call in her sisters and let them know what's going on with the resort and with their mom. Both sisters live far away and cannot come to help out. In the meantime, Scott is still wanting to buy the resort, but offers his help in getting it ready to open on time.
Scott is a likable character, but butts heads with Brianna's fiance more than once. Brianna has been engaged for three years and hasn't come close to setting a date. When she realizes that they both want very different things out of life, she finally breaks it off, especially when she realizes that she's been falling in love with Scott.
The only mentions of faith in this novel are a couple of references to saying grace before a meal. Whether Scott and Brianna are both believers is left up in the air. While this is a very readable novel, it falls short of the mark for the quality I am used to from Amy. I believe this departure from her normal Amish fiction is a learning curve for Amy and that over time she will get better as she gets used to the non-Amish genre. I don't know if this is a stand alone novel, but there is room for a series, especially if Amy takes on finding mates for Brianna's sisters. Three Stars
Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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