Her Fear (The Amish of Hart County #5)

Title:  Her Fear (The Amish of Hart County #5)

Author:  Shelley Shepard Gray

Pages:  288

Year:  2018

Publisher:  Avon Inspire

My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.

Sadie Detweiler approaches the man who has been courting her and tells him she is expecting his baby.  He denies that he is the father and wants her to get an abortion or else she will damage his reputation among the Amish community of which he wants to be leader of.  Sadie can’t believe his suggestion.  She tells her parents of the pregnancy, hoping they will talk to his parents and a marriage will be agreed upon.  Instead, she finds herself disowned by her father, put on a bus to an uncle in Kentucky whom she has never met and alone with first-time motherhood looming in the future.  Sadie arrives at the home and tries her best to stay invisible.  She can sense something is going on in the household as the tension is almost unbearable sometimes.  She is scared and alone until she meets Noah.

Noah Freeman is an Amish EMT-in-training.  He has been on the job for almost a year and hopes to be put on the staff full-time soon.  He loves his job and his co-workers have found him to be compassionate and competent, as well as being able to speak to the many Amish in their own language.  He and his partners are called to Sadie’s house when someone falls violently ill unexpectedly.  Noah can sense something going on in the house and Sadie’s fear.  He also notices how pretty she is.  Noah can’t stop thinking about her and wondering if she is in danger, so he makes an excuse to check up on her.  He wants to get to know her better and thinks she feels the same, but her male relatives don’t want him around and let him know that in no uncertain terms.

This author’s writing style is one in which it makes it easy to get involved in the story from the beginning.  There is no lengthy and dry history, but instead engaging characters and story line.  The plot is one that doesn’t glamorize the Amish people, their beliefs or their lifestyle, but instead shows them to be people who make mistakes, poor choices and act ungodly at times.  The added subplot about moonshine was also a good addition to the story.  I like how the author includes facts at the end of her stories, telling about real people and places regarding the fictional story.  Amish stories are not one of my favorite genres, but this series has been enjoyable and entertaining to read.  A sixth book will be released in November 2018, and I will be one of the first to get my copy.