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First-Line Friday, a Review, & a Giveaway!

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Hello, friends! 🙂

It’s not only First-Line Friday {which I haven’t had the chance to participate in for awhile, so it’s nice to be “back” 🙂 }, but I’m also reviewing and giving away the FLF novel featured below!

The Proving by Beverly Lewis

 

And the first line is:

“My first-ever night away from home, I struggled with sleeplessness, having abruptly left with two other Amish girls.”

The Back Cover:

Amanda Dienner hasn’t seen her Old Order family in five years when she receives word that her mother has passed away and left her Lancaster County’s most popular Amish bed-and-breakfast. Now an Englisher, Mandy is shocked: Her twin sister should have been the obvious choice! What’s more, the inheritance comes with a catch: The farmhouse inn will only truly be hers if she is able to successfully run it for twelve consecutive months.
Mandy accepts the challenge even though it means returning to Gordonville and the painful memories she left behind at eighteen. Still, she’s determined to prove she is more than capable of running the bed-and-breakfast, no matter that its loyal clientele are expecting an Amish hostess!
The inn isn’t Mandy’s sole test, however. Rubbing shoulders with her married twin sister reopens wounds that Mandy isn’t ready to forgive. And an Englisher guest with a difficult past of her own just complicates matters.
Can Mandy fulfill the terms of her inheritance? Or will this year in Amish country prove a dreadful mistake?

What I Thought:

I can always count on Beverly Lewis books to provide a heartwarming story. Though I prefer Lewis’ series to her standalones, I’ve found that even her standalone novels – which can appear simple at times – even predictable – always give a carefuly-wrought message interwoven seamlessly into the storyline.
And her newest novel, the standalone The Proving was no different in this regard. Mandy’s mishaps as she tries to run a B & B singlehandedly at times – all in an effort to spite her sister and prove that she is capable of succeeding independently – were funny enough at times to make me chuckle and smile, and her justifiable hurt feelings over the wrong done to her was depicted so well that I as a reader could definitely sympathize with her anger and grudge.
What I really loved was the way that the author took a situation that was “unfixable” – literally, there was nothing, aside from the death of one of the parties that could undo the wrong that had been done – and showed that God can make something very good from great wrong – can redeem it, in fact, and shower it with His blessings – as long as we forgive.
While this wasn’t my favorite Beverly Lewis novel – her Abram’s Daughters series takes that prize 🙂 – The Proving is still well-worth reading for Amish fiction fans and for anyone who loves a well-told, heartwarming tale.

And Now for the Giveaway! 🙂

I’m giving away my copy {like-new} of The Proving! If you’d like to win it, enter by leaving a comment below. If you share this post in some way, let me know and you’ll get another entry. 🙂
Have a blessed weekend, friends!
Grace and peace,
Alicia G. Ruggieri

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of The Proving from the publisher and was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts are, of course, my own! 🙂

This post may be happily shared with:

Literacy Musing Mondays, Good Morning Mondays, Monday’s Musings, The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Modest Monday, Mommy Moments, Tuesdays with a Twist, Messy Marriage, UNITE, RaRa LinkupTestimony Tuesday, Tuesday TalkHomemaking Link-up, Word-filled Wednesday, Wise Woman, The Homemaking Party, Porch Stories, Christian Blogger Link-up, Coffee for Your Heart, Women with Intention, Oh My Heartsie Girl, Amanda’s Books and More, Tell His Story, Grace at Home, Heart Encouragement, Encouraging Hearts and Home, Booknificent Thursday, Friendship Friday, Faith-Filled Friday, Counting My Blessings, Fresh Market Friday, Sitting Among FriendsNo Rules Weekend Blog Party

21 Comments

  • Ellie

    Welcome back!

    I’m sharing the first line from Christmas at Harrington’s by Melody Carlson on my blog today. In keeping with my Christmas theme, I’ll share the first line from another Christmas book inching its way up my TBR list: A Husband for Holly by Marion Uechermann. “OH NO. Hurry, Heather, before she spots us.”

    • alicia grace

      Thanks for stopping by, Ellie! It is almost Christmas-time, isn’t it? Haha- I got a chuckle out of that first line… Haven’t we all said something like that at one time or another? 🙂

  • Rebecca

    Looks like a fun read!

    I’m featuring Hometown Girl by Courtney Walsh on my blog, but I’m currently reading a non-fiction book called She’s Got The Wrong Guy: Why Smart Women Settle by Deepak Reju so I’ll use that today.

    Part 1:
    From Problems to Faith
    When it comes to dating and marriage, what problems do you face as a single woman?

    Happy Friday!!

  • Trisha Robertson

    It has been a little while since I’ve read a Beverly Lewis book. I’ve enjoyed her series stories. Not sure I’ve read one of her stand-alone’s. Thank you for sharing this one.
    You don’t need to enter me in the drawing, I’m just stopping in to say “hello” 🙂

    • alicia grace

      Yes, I prefer her series over her standalones, but that may just be because I love a loooong story – and she is so good at that! It’s so nice to see you here, Trisha! 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend in Christ! <3

  • Beth Erin

    Welcome back, Alicia!!! Have a great weekend!

    Castle Gate, Utah, 1910
    Leanna McKee pushed her hat by its brim, hiding her face as best she could.
    – My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah: Leanna’s Choice by Angie Dicken

    • alicia grace

      Thanks, Beth ~ and your first line is from a book on my TBR list – I love the cover on that one and the backcover blurb! 🙂

  • Jessica Baker

    I’ve been a fan of Beverly Lewis for a long time. I read this book about a month ago and enjoyed it. I’ve noticed her books subtly changing over the past few years, have you? Can’t quite put my finger on it, just that I think it’s been more outside the norm then usual. Not necessarily a bad thing!

    • alicia grace

      I don’t know if it’s because she’s writing more and more standalones or what, but I agree – there has been a change.

  • Anneliese

    Happy Friday! I’m featuring The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen on my blog. But I will share the first line of Jody Hedlund’s Love Unexpected here. “The blast of a gunshot awoke Emma Chambers.”

    • alicia grace

      Both are books I’d like to read, Anneliese. Haha – I think we’d all “shoot” awake at such an alarm clock! 😉

  • Nicole

    Happy Friday!

    Today, I am featuring My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah by Angie Dicken, but I am currently in the middle of reading Hamlet with my AP Lit seniors. We are in Act 3, so I will share the first line from Act 3, Scene 1:

    Claudius: And can you by no drift of conference get from him why he puts on this confusion, grating so harshly all his days of quiet with turbulent and dangerous lunacy?

  • Suzie

    Welcome back! I joined a few weeks ago when Hoarding Books Blog took over the hosting! Enjoying it so far.

    I shared a line from Seeking Mansfield by Kate Watson on my blog today but the first line of what I’m reading is…

    Is Daddy down there? (from Christmas at Cade Ranch by Karen Rock).

    Enjoy your weekend.

  • Perrianne Askew

    Sharing a line from 12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Greip:

    Christmas or not, there was nothing merry about the twisted alleys of Holywell.

    This was such a good book! I also love Beverly Lewis. Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.

    • alicia grace

      I keep hearing good things about Bleakly Manor! 🙂 And the cover is beautifully Christmasy. <3 Thanks for stopping by, Perrianne!

  • Becky Smith

    My first line is from The Color of Redemption by Lynn Cornell:

    “An eerie foreboding had jolted me from my sleep this morning, vexing my spirit – the kind of vexing that made me want to cower under my covers and stay in bed.”

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