Summer of Secrets
Charlotte Hubbard
Zebra, Feb 7 2012, $6.99
ISBN: 9781420121698
Willow Ridge, Missouri is home to the Amish Old Ways. Childhood sweethearts carpenter Micah Breeneman and Rachel Lantz, who works at their two families’ Sweet Seasons Bakery Café, look forward to their upcoming marriage.
Tiffany Oliveri, an Englisher looking like a Halloween party attendee with her ghoulish clothing, spiked hair and tattoos, arrives. She uses profanity as Rachael takes her order and thinks the girl is her twin sister Rhoda or her with a ton of make-up on her. Her mamma Miriam believes the newcomer is her lost third triplet Rebecca. Her marriage to the late Jesse never was the same from that terrible day. The girl says she just buried her mom when her dad Bib said he rescued her from a tree on the Missouri River in the flood of ’93 when they were three. The dynamics have changed as relationships are altered forever.
The first Seasons of the Heart Amish is a terrific extended families’ drama. The ensemble cast is fully developed so that the readers understand the impact of the return of the lost child on three caring families. Fans will relish this tender tale as the Englisher finds her roots as cultures collide while love blossoms in Missouri.
Harriet Klausner
