Shelley Shepard Gray, one
of the top authors in the Amish genre, presents a new series of fun, flirty
Amish romance novels set in Pinecraft, Florida, beginning with The Promise of Palm Grove (Avon
Inspire). What makes this book even more
delightful is the setting in Pinecraft, a real suburb of Sarasota,
Florida. Pinecraft is the vacation spot
of many Amish and Mennonites from Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Busses regularly transport Amish and
Mennonites from up North to Pinecraft, Florida during the cold winter
months.Supposedly there is a saying
among the Amish, “What happens in Pinecraft, stays in Pinecraft”. The meaning behind the quote is that rules
are much relaxed in Pinecraft and your church community up North doesn’t need
to know everything that you do on vacation.
The story centers
on Leona and her two girlfriends, Mattie and Sara, all in their early 20’s, who
have come down to Pinecraft for a two week vacation. Leona is to be married in a couple of months
to Edmond, but doubts have been piling up in Leona’s mind. It is always Edmond’s way, he doesn’t seem to
pay any attention to what Leona wants. Edmond is dour, demanding, and doesn’t seem to have a romantic bone in
his body.Leona feels so free to be away
from Edmond for a couple weeks.
The girls meet up
with three Amish young men who live in Pinecraft year round.The guys, Zack, Danny, and Jeremy are sweet,
thoughtful, and kind. Almost
immediately, Leona is attracted to Zack. After a second chance encounter, he quickly
suggests that the girls allow him to be their tour guide to Siesta Key beach.
What follows that invitation turns Leona’s world upside down.
Shelley writes charmingly
of the different restaurants, shops, beaches, and area attractions in Pinecraft
and the surrounding Sarasota and Siesta Key area as the girls enjoy their days
and nights in Florida. Readers will be
ready to book their next winter vacation to sunny Florida after reading The Promise of Palm Grove. The new series is titled Amish Brides of Pinecraft and this first book in the series was
published January 2015.
Gloria
is a 59-year-old retired RN and
former accountant who has
a life long love of reading. She has spent the
last two years reading every
Amish novel she can get her hands on. When not
reading, Gloria spends her day trading stocks
and options,
tweeting under the name of @gloriason, and
expressing her gratitude to God. She
blogs at amishreader.blogspot.com.