Arms of Love by Kelly Long

The year is 1777. America is in turmoil. And Amish life is far different than today.

Pennsylvania in the late 18th century, once called William Penn's Woods, was an assortment of different faiths living together for the first time in American history. Included in this tapestry was a small and struggling population called Amish.

Surrounding this peaceful people were unavoidable threats: both Patriots and the British were pillaging land and goods for the sake of the war, young Amishmen were leaving the faith to take up arms and defend freedom. A simple walk in the untamed forests could result in death, if not from bullet or arrow, then from an encounter with a wild animal.

Amid this time of tumult, Adam Wyse is fighting a personal battle. To possibly join the war efforts and leave his faith, which would mean walking away from the only woman he's ever loved: Lena Yoder. But for that love he's made a promise that may keep them apart permanently.

When Adam withdraws from Lena, she's forced to turn to his brother, Isaac, for support. Must Lena deny her heart's desire to save Adam's soul? And will life in this feral and primitive New World be more than this peace-keeping people can withstand?

My thoughts on this book:

I have always enjoyed historical fiction and Amish fiction books. I like this time period of history. I had a hard time with the character's and the story plot in this book.

Adam Wyse was the character that caught my attention the most. His character was well developed and you couldn't help but not to like him. He made the story intriguing. As far as Lena was concerned I just didn't get a real feel of her character. The love story with them was unrealistic and kinda felt empty.

I would of loved to have known more about Ruth. I think she would have added so much more to this story. She was a colorful person who I wanted to know more about in the story.

To many aspects in this story didn't seem realistic. Lena and Adam's brother's relationship just didn't do it for me. Adam and his fathers relationship was strange and not well developed. His father just made too many tangled loose ends in this book.

The rattlesnake incident at the end of the book just seemed unnecessary. It should of just been left out in my opinion. It just seemed that one drama after another followed every chapter in this book. To much drama for one book. Then after the ending of all the drama it had a fairy-tale ending. Really! It just didn't seem right after all the drama in the book.

The story, while not bad in itself, didn't live up to its potential. I have read some of Kelly Long's previous books and have enjoyed them a lot. This book I think could have been great story if it had more dept and not so much drama. Sorry, Kelly but this book was disappointing.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Thomas Nelson Publishers provided me this Book free as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.