An Amish Surprise (The Berlin Bookmobile#2) by Shelley Shepard Gray

Book description:

In the second installment of the “enjoyable and charming” ( USA TODAY ) Shelley Shepard Gray’s delightful Berlin Bookmobile series, librarian Sarah Anne Miller returns to Berlin to help a childless Amish couple form the family they’ve always prayed for.

Miriam and Calvin Gingerich have been trying for a baby for several years, but the Lord hasn’t seen fit to bless them. Though Calvin claims he’s content with their childless state, Miriam knows he’s not, and when he starts spending more time off their farm, she worries he’s found someone else. But just as she finds herself at her lowest point, she discovers the ultimate surprise. Unable to confide in anyone who might tell Calvin—out of fear she’ll disappoint him with another miscarriage—Miriam turns to bookmobile librarian Sarah Anne Miller—and any books she may have on pregnancy and childbirth.

Calvin has been keeping a secret from his wife, but it’s not another woman. It’s a little boy. One afternoon when visiting Sarah Anne’s bookmobile, he meets Miles, a ten-year-old living with a foster family down the road. But after spending more time with the boy, Calvin learns that his foster family has no plans to adopt him. Calvin feels a connection with Miles and yearns to give the boy a home, but he’s afraid to tell Miriam, knowing she’s devastated they can’t have children of their own.

As weeks pass and Sarah Anne learns that Miles has nearly given up hope of ever finding a real home, she knows it’s time to intervene. It’s going to take some fancy footwork and a whole lot of prayer, but she knows she can help make this struggling couple into a happy family of four.

Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date:May 18th, 2021

My thoughts:

This is the second book in the Berlin Bookmobile series. You can read and enjoy it as a standalone or you can start following the series from this story. If you decide to go back to a Perfect Amish Romance (Book1), you will get a better understanding of Sarah Anne, the bookmobile librarian. I am a big fan of Sheley Shepard Gray, so I had been looking forward to reading this book and it didn’t disappoint Although adoption, foster care, difficulties in conceiving and carrying a pregnancy to full term are not easy topics to discuss, Shelley Shephard Gray approaches them with sensitivity and faith. In case you were wondering, there is a happy ending.

Calvin Gingerich is browsing books in Sarah Anne’s bookmobile when Ruth Schmidt and her six children (three of whom are in her foster care) come in. Calvin reads a book to calm the children and immediately gets along with Miles, one of the foster kids. Calvin and his wife Miriam are a good,hard-working couple and would like nothing more than to start a family, but it looks less and less likely now that Miriam has had several miscarriages and is having trouble conceiving again. Miriam’s feelings are very complex. On one hand, she is happy for other people who have big families, on the other hand, it isn’t easy to accept this particular predicament that has befallen them. To make the matters worse, her husband and she don’t seem to have the same happy, sweet understanding they used to have at the beginning: Calvin started to sneak away and is obviously hiding something. Calvin knows Miriam didn’t want to look at adoption as a possible option for them, so he doesn’t know how to tell her that he feels a special connection with Miles. Luckily, Sarah Anne sees that there is a lot that can be done to help these people communicate without the fear of offending each other and hurting each other’s feelings.

Love and compassion shine through the various storylines in this book. The book is well-written and impossible to put down. I kept turning pages wishing these wonderful characters love and happiness they deserve and a family they have been dreaming about.

This was a lovely,enjoyable read and now I can’t wait to continue with theseries in Book 3 A Christmas Courtship which is set to be published on October 19th,2021 by Gallery Books.

Thankyou to Edelweiss and Gallery Books (Simon&Schuster) for the review copy. All opinions are my own and weren’t influenced in any way.