Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Stealing the Preacher is the second book in the Archer book series by Karen Witemeyer.  It is is a historical christian fiction book, and my favorite of this genre now! Even though it is the second book in the series you do not need the first to read this one, but I do recommend it if you want to read it see this post.

Crockett Archer is on his way to interview for a position as a preacher.  On the way there the train he is riding on is held up and he is taken captive. The head of the gang that takes him hostage is a retired outlaw and he takes Crockett back to his home to his daughter whose birthday wish was for a minister. When Crockett finally is able to leave to go see if the position is available his mind keeps going back to Joanna Robbins, the outlaws daughter, that has been praying for a preacher to fill the position in her area and hopefully lead her dad to God. Even though Crockett feels he is being lead to lead the people in the town he was to interview, God has other plans for him to become the preacher for Joanna's church.  There is a spark between Joanna and Crockett will it lead to more, will Crockett be able to lead Silas, Joanna's dad to God? If you want to know then you will just have to read this book because I don't want to spoil the ending.

There is some humor, romance, religion, and some dark situations in this book which made me laugh and cry. I love romance in Christian books because it is not over done and smutty. Religion wise it has a lot more then most Christian fiction because the story is based around a preacher. It was really nice to get to know Crockett more in this book because there wasn't much to him in the first story. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books that will be in this series and getting to know the rest of the Archer men too.

I received a free copy from Bethany Publishing Company for an honest review.

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould is the second book in The Courtships of Lancaster County.  This book can be read without reading the first book in the series.  Addie is the only daughter in the Cramer family.  She has always had to be responsible for so much because her mother can't handle doing many of the daily chores of an Amish family.While her brothers are aloud to do whatever during their rumspringa period, Addie's parents expect her to be good and do everything they ask of her. Her parents have even picked out who they want her to marry which is the bishops son.  Addie is not sure that she has feelings for him, and doubts it more when the Mosier family moves back and she meets Jonathon.  The Cramer and Mosier families have had a falling out in the past and they still do not get along. Addie and Jonathon try to figure out what the caused the families to have dislike each other so they could fix it.  When Addie's parents find out she has been seeing Jonathon they get upset and do everything they can to stop the relationship. Will she follow what her parents want her to do or will she stand up for herself and go after the one she truly loves?

I really enjoyed this book! It was interesting to see that Amish families don't always get along with other families like families outside of the Amish.  From everything I have read it seems like they are such a tight community that things like this would not happen, but again they are human so it can happen to everyone.  Addie was such a wonderful character, and I loved how she stood up for what she believed even though her parents tried to put a stop to it several times.  I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series that Leslie Gould writes. 
I received this book free from Bethany House Publishing Company for my honest review.