Blog Tour: Never Far from Home by Mary Ellis

About Never Far from Home:

Mary Ellis follows her captivating Widow’s Hope with a new story from the heart of Holmes County, Ohio. In Never Far From Home, fifteen–year–old Emma Miller finishes school, starts her own wool business, and is longing for someone to court. When the object of her affection is a handsome English sheep farmer, with a fast truck and modern methods, her deacon father, Simon, knows he has more than the farm alliance to worry about.

Emma isn’t the only one with longings in Holmes County. Her aunt Hannah wants a baby and her uncle Seth hopes he’ll reap financial rewards when he takes a risk with his harvest. But are these the dreams God has for this Amish family? With engaging interactions and thoughtful characters, Ellis weaves a story about waiting for God’s timing and discovering that the dreams planted close to home can grow a lasting harvest of hope and love.

My thoughts:

I have been a lover of Amish fiction from the very first Beverly Lewis novel I ever picked up, and it's wonderful to see another Amish fiction writer who writes well come to my attention. This is the first of Mary's novels that I have read and I enjoyed this one so much I must go back read her first novel in this series.

I know many who will pass over this book just because the heroine is 16 years old, but as I mentioned in a previous post about "mature" characters, if a story is well written, age doesn't matter to me.

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, and seeing where the story would take me. Would Emma go English, or would James become Amish, or would they part forever? This book also had some secondary storylines that were interesting to see develop as well.

While many Englischers may see the Plain life as simple, this book is not - it was a complex story that came to a very satisying conclusion in and of itself, but left open the door for the next book The Way to a Man's Heart (due out in July), which I am anticipating very much.

Review copy generously provided by Glass Road PR.

Find out more on the web:
Mary Ellis
Harvest House Publishers