Huckleberry Hearts

October 26, 2015
In this installment of the Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill, octogenarian Amish couple Anna and Felty Helmuth are up to their matchmaking tricks again. Their granddaughter, Cassie Coblenz, chose not to be baptized into the Amish way of life in a small Wisconsin town, but Anna and Felty still want her to have a godly husband. Anna quickly tabs her doctor, young resident Zach Reynolds. Cassie, however, remembers Zach as a frat boy at the university they both attended. Zach’s campaign to woo the standoffish Cassie shows how far he has come since his college years, and how far he still has to go. Beckstrand uses comic relief effectively: Anna and Felty are both droll. Cassie’s mother and brother, unhappy over her apostasy, are drawn heavy-handedly, making Cassie’s frequently mild responses to them a strain on credibility. The central romantic tension between Zach and Cassie is successful albeit standard-issue clean romance. A plot complication involving Zach and a young patient is not very original. Amish romance fans that aren’t that picky will eat up this novel. Agent: Mary Sue Seymour, Seymour Agency.

November 15, 2015
As far as Anna is concerned, God sent her to the doctor for a good reason: to find a husband for her granddaughter, Cassie. While Dr. Zach Reynolds might think he is simply treating the melanoma on Anna's foot, he is actually being quizzed on his merits as a potential suitor. Cassie left the Amish community and her faith to attend college, but now she has come back home for the winter break. When Zach drops by on a house call to check up on Anna, Cassie is intrigued by the handsome doctor, but her initial assessment of Zach is that he is just interested in the same thing all the other Englischer men she has met want. Now Zach must find a way to prove to Cassie that they really do belong together. Beckstrand's gentle love story, the latest in the Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series (Huckleberry Harvest, 2015), is brimming with everyday details about the Amish way of life, making it a sweet treat for fans of Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)