Winter's Awakening
Shelley Shepard Gray
Avon, Feb 2 2010, $12.99
ISBN: 9780061852220

All the Amish residents of Sugarcreek, Ohio assume that Gretta Hershberger and Joshua Graber will marry soon. The pair has been seeing one another and seems so suited together. However, Joshua has some issues with the foregone conclusion of their relationship as if courting and feelings do not matter.

Part of his doubts is his attraction to his new neighbor, eighteen year old English Lilly Allen. She likes Joshua, but believes he will ignore once he learns her secret that she knows if they are to have a relationship she must reveal to him. As Gretta and Joshua drift apart, Roland Schrock tries to court her. Although she loves Joshua, Gretta accepts Roland's advances as he is calmer than the more volatile Joshua, of whom she still loves.

Although the plot of the opening Seasons of Sugarcreek Amish romance is typical of the sub-genre, the cast makes it fresh as the four prime players mature during the entangled courtships. Fans will enjoy this fine entry as the Winter Awakening that stormed the hearts of Joshua and Gretta is becoming Spring's Renewal.

Harriet Klausner