Reviews for A Gift of Grace

Beth Wiseman from Blog.BethWiseman.Net

My review: Amy Clipston has truly captured the voice of fifteen-year-old Jessica. Any parent who has raised a teenager knows that the teenage years are challenging under normal circumstances. But what happens when you take a child that age, whose parents have been killed, pull them from everything familiar - their home, school, and friends - and send them to live with relatives in an Old Order Amish community? No TV. No Internet. No place to charge an IPOD or cell phone. Add to that - Jessica will no longer be attending school since the Amish only believe in taking an education through the eighth grade. There go her dreams of graduating with her friends and going to college. But Jessica's younger sister, Lindsay, adapts quite well to the Old Order ways, much to Jessica's horror.

All Rebecca wants is a happy family and to be a good guardian to her two nieces following the death of her sister and brother-in-law. It's the family she's always wanted, and despite the unhappy circumstances surrounding the situation, Rebecca is certain that it is God's will for the girls to live with her. Early on, Jessica's rebellious behavior causes upset in the community, and Rebecca's husband, Daniel, is held accountable for Jessica's actions. This leads to troubles within the marriage as Rebecca is pulled between her husband and the duty she feels to be a good mother-figure to her nieces.

The Old Order Amish believe that everything that happens is God's will. But what happens when our own wants and needs block out the voice of God and what is truly His will? Clipston does a great job of posing this question to the reader through Rebecca's thoughts and actions. Rebecca is so determined to be a good mother to these children and to have the happy family she's always wanted, sometimes she doesn't see the bigger picture. My heart ached for both Rebecca and Jessica as they each struggled with the changes within their lives. The ending both surprised and pleased me. It was real and stayed true to the characters.

This is Clipston's debut novel, and she did an excellent job of capturing the ways of the Old Order Amish. Fans of Amish fiction will enjoy this book, and even if you haven't read stories set within an Amish setting, give this one a try. I look forward to more of Amy Clipston's books.

Guest reviewer: Tracy and lover of all things Amish, from Beyond My Picket Fence

What I thought: (posted at relzreveiwz.blogspot.com)

Amy Clipston is a newcomer to the Amish fiction scene and my, what a grand entrance she has made! 'A Gift of Grace' is the first in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series and is a fine indicator of high quality fiction to come. 'A Gift of Grace' begins an intriguing and heartfelt journey with Rebecca and Daniel Kauffman and their nieces, Jessica and Lindsay. The characters are easy to relate to and I found myself quickly invested in their story. Jessica and Lindsay's grief is palpable and their reactions, though as different as night and day, are realistic and uncontrived. I felt Rebecca's fears and desires as keenly as if they were my very own and my heart broke with Jessica as she struggled with the depth of her guilt and grief. Amy Clipston skillfully engages the reader with such strength that one finds it almost impossible to put the book down until it is finished. I was thrilled with the added treasure of traditional Amish recipes scattered through the pages. Amy has attained the perfect balance of resolving the issues introduced in this book, and leaving just enough dangling to entice the reader on to the next book. I am certain that fellow lovers of Amish fiction will eagerly embrace Amy Clipston as an author to admire and will readily make a place for her on their bookshelves.

Leslie L. McKee from Romantic Times Review

Romantic Times, June 2009
A GIFT OF GRACE
Amy Clipston
4 Stars

A number of heartfelt issues are addressed in this sweet and intriguing start to Clipston’s new Kauffman Amish Bakery series. Recipes, discussion questions and an excerpt from the second book are included.

Debbie from DebsBookBag.blogspot.com

Amy Clipston's debut novel, A Gift of Grace is the first book in the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series. Readers will be enthralled by Clipston's descriptions of the Old Amish Order community and it's people. This is a book about the shock of trying to blend two totally different cultures and the author does a wonderful job of showing the differences in between the Amish way of life and that of the Englisher…

A Gift of Grace is a very poignant novel. The characters are faced with a situation that would challenge anyone. Two teenage girls who have lost their parents. They not only have their whole lives changed in the blink of an eye but they must leave their home, their school and their friends behind, go to a place they have never been and start a completely different life … Clipston does wonderful job of voicing the teenage angst that Jessica feels as well as Rebecca's fears and worries. She is able to get inside the heart and mind of teen who is devastated by loss and a woman who finally has what she always wanted a family, though it isn't what she expected.

Rebecca goes through some very big changes throughout the book… I think readers will really identify with her character because many people face issues in their lives that either strengths their faith or defeats it. Rebecca is a very inspirational character who shows us how to reconcile two worlds.

Jessica a young girl in turmoil… Teens will certainly be able to identify with her and parents will probably see their own children in some of her actions.

This is just a wonderful inspirational book. I recommend it to Christian Fiction readers and readers of Amish fiction. Give this one a try if you've never tried an Amish read before. I think you will be really impressed with the author's take on the culture. I liked this one a lot!

A Gift of Grace is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!