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(Paperback)
Joshua Graber knows his future is set. He's expected to work at his family business, the Graber Country Store. He's expected to marry Gretta Hershberger, who he's been courting for several years. But when a new English family moves next door and their lovely teenage daughter, Lilly Allen, catches his eye, Joshua wonders if all the plans for his future are too set in stone.
Gretta doesn't know what's going on with Joshua. When they argue and later stew in silence, it feels a lot like the frosty atmosphere at her home. After promising herself to never have a marriage like her parents, she wonders if perhaps another man might be a better match. A man such as Roland Schrock. He's steady and kind and somewhat boring. If she marries him, she won't ever have to worry about loving him and getting hurt.
Meanwhile, Lilly is enamored with the Amish way of life, and especially her handsome neighbor Joshua. But despite being drawn to him, she has a secret that will only drive him away. Her family moved to Sugarcreek to hide her pregnancy from their community back home. Once she's had the baby, they plan to send her off to college without anyone from their old neighborhood knowing the truth. But as Lilly becomes wrapped up in the simplicity and graciousness of the Amish people, she begins to question what's expected of her, and whether giving up her baby, and leaving Sugarcreek, is what she truly wants.
As the coldest winter on record blows into Sugarcreek, these three young people must struggle to determine the path of their futures.
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January 23, 2010: 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