Review: The Jam and Jelly Nook

Synopsis:

In the final installment of Amy Clipston’s bestselling Amish Marketplace series, a young widow struggling to raise her son dreams of one more chance at love.

Since her husband died seven years ago, Leanna Wengerd has done her best—tending to her son, Chester, and running her Jam and Jelly Nook at the Amish market. Though she enjoys seeing her cousins and customers at the marketplace, she wishes she could find more time for her rebellious teenage boy.

When Chester gets into trouble for trespassing, he winds up at the police station with his friend Maggie, who was riding with him to a youth group gathering. Leanna comes to the police station to fetch Chester and happens to meet Emory, Maggie’s father. Emory is also a widower, raising Maggie alone—and both he and Leanna have similar burdens and problems.

Over time Emory and Leanna become closer friends, discovering how much they have in common. As single parents, they struggle with the limits of what they can provide for their children and feel somewhat responsible for what happened to their respective spouses. The two eventually realize they have feelings for each other—but when they try to date, their children resist. Will God pave a way for them to build a family together, or will hurdles block the path to a second chance at happiness? 

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

The Jam and Jelly Nook by Amy Clipston is the fourth book in the An Amish Marketplace series. I loved reading this book! Amy creates an environment that is clean, wholesome, and unforgettable. I wanted to stay inside her book. This group of Amish characters felt so real. I was amazed. Two older Amish people find themselves struggling as single parents. One is a single mother who lost her husband. Her son is now a teenager and being rebellious. She blames herself for her son’s outrageous behavior. Her parents tell her to not worry. That he will come back and accept his faith. Then there’s the single Amish father raising his teenage daughter. She feels responsible for taking care of her dad. After losing his wife, a family member made his daughter feel like proving to be the best caretaker of her dad. Yet, her father can take care of himself. He tries to get his daughter out more to hang with friends. However, he has not been successful. Then one moment both parents are entering the police station to pick up their kids. That’s where a friendship forms and blossoms. Each parent understands what the other is going through and offer their help. All in all, this book showed the inside of the Amish world plus, how difficult being a single parent is. I would recommend this novel to all readers. Once I started, I did not want to stop reading.