Review of:  Thursday’s Bride

Patricia Johns.  Kensington, $7.99 (328p) ISBN 978-1-4201-4912-8

After her husband Wayne dies in a tragic accident, Rosmanda Lapp finds herself a newly widowed young mother of twin babies living with her parents-in-law in the Amish community of Abundance [p. 2].  While her marriage had been happy, Rosmanda knows down deep that she married Wayne as an effort to repair her reputation after a secret scandal in her hometown [p. 7].  Her guilt eats away at her as she tries her best to meet the high expectations for a respectable Amish daughter-in-law and mother [p. 15 ff].  She knows she must marry again soon or find a way to earn an income to care for herself and her daughters [p. 28 ff].  When her brother-in-law returns to Abundance to help with the family farm, Rosmanda is terrified of her own feelings and pull toward Levi, as he is the “wrong” type of man – too stubborn, too competitive, with a history of drinking that led to his brother’s fatal accident [p. 32 ff].  Meanwhile, Levi finds himself drawn to Rosmanda, but struggles with his own past sin and does not believe he is good enough to love her [p. 31 ff].  As they begin to trust each other, each must face the spiritual task of forgiveness [p. 4 ff].  Their budding romance is tested when Rosmanda’s past follows her to Abundance and her secrets are set bare [p. 115 ff].  Johns writes with a dexterous, tender hand, fleshing out her characters as complicated and compassionate human beings trying to navigate their way through life and love.  Readers will be drawn in quickly to this story to find out how these relationships unfold.  A set of discussion questions would make an excellent Appendix. 4 stars.