The Kissing Bridge

 

Title: The Kissing Bridge

By Tricia Goyer

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The Gist:

Rebecca has everything she needs to begin following her calling of becoming a nurse.  The problem is that Amish women are not suppose to following any calling other than being a wife and a mother.  But when the time comes, she leaves a note for her family, and walks away from the life that she’s know to continue her education.

On her way to Oregon, Rebecca decides to make a stop in Montana to visit a friend of hers that had left the Amish for love.  Little did she think that she would get her own shot at love in the form of risk taking Amishman Caleb. 

A trip into the wilderness reveals that there is also more to Caleb than meets the eye.  Only time, and this story, will tell if these two young people, hanging by the fringes of being Amish are really meant to be together.   

What I thought:

This story was very enjoyable.  It moved quickly, and smoothly, taking readers along on the love story of Caleb and Rebecca.  The characters introduced in Montana were wonderfully introduced, and I was very happy to find out that I will be able to return to this happy little town since this book is a part of a series!

I love reading Amish fiction, and this story had an angle that I hadn’t read before, with Rebecca wanting to keep being Amish, but needing to become a nurse.  The love story between her and Caleb was written exquisitely.  I always judge a love story by if it makes me smile, and this novel pasted that test with flying colors.

My only critique is that I felt the writing got a little flustered in the middle when Caleb and Rebecca were trying to weed through each other’s lies and omissions.  They seemed to be pretty wishy-washy with each other going from lust, to disgust, and straight back to puppy love in a very short time.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this story, and look forward to reading more of the stories in the Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series.

The Here and Now

 Title: The Here and Now

By Ann Brashares

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The Gist:

In the far future, our world is ravaged by horrible illness spread by mosquitoes.  As people begin dying quickly, a group of citizens discover a way to travel through time to our present time.  In order to avoid detection, the leaders of the time travelers set up a set of very strict, and important rules that everyone must repeat often, and obey always.  At the top of the list, do not become intimate with a time-native.

A hard rule to follow for 17-year-old travel Prenna James, who has, for the past five years, had an undeniable connection with her schoolmate Ethan Jarves.  When the two are thrown together in an attempt to change the future that Prenna knows is coming, the two must decide if their connection is worth the risk that the travelers warn of.

What I thought:

This story is very imaginative, and full of suspense.  The premise really makes you think; it is always interesting to read about possibilities of a future world, especially when the author is able to lead readers on the path from present day to the future in their story while answering many questions about how the changes occur.

I enjoyed the speed at which the story moved, and I was truly interested to see how things would turn out.  I’m not going to lie- there were a couple of parts that I had to revisit to fully understand what was going on- sometimes the lines between present and future were a little blurred.  The organization of the time travelers, and the lengths that the leaders felt they needed to go to to maintain their cover was very well thought out and interesting.

I loved the characters that were introduced in this story, but I wish that a little more time had been spent on the development of the feelings between Ethan and Prenna, I’m just a love story kind of gal.  I wanted to feel the spark and watch it get stronger and stronger as the two worked together.  That being said, the relationship did seem genuine enough to make me want to know what happens next with these two characters.

All in all, if you are looking for a fast paced, interesting read full of suspense, thought, and a touch of romance, pick up The Here and Now.