Counting Your Blessings

Her Secret by Shelley Shepard Gray is an Amish romantic mystery and I really enjoyed it. It is the first book of The Amish Of Hart County which promises to be a cracking series.

Her Secret has many themes including that of secrets. Secrets are never a good idea. They may become burdensome. Secrets need to be brought out into the light and burdens shared. “Even if the truth hurt, it was always better in the end.”

There is the topic of anxiety. Anxiety can ruin our lives. Anxiety can trap us into a prison of our own making. Anxiety links to worry. “It ain’t a good idea to go around worrying about the future.” God tells us to worry about nothing and to pray about everything. Fear is the opposite of faith. “Faith is believing when you don’t have proof.” Faith is handing our fears over to the One who has conquered death.

The novel has the theme of friendship and families. The Amish are a close knit group, warm and welcoming. The reader ‘feels’ this warmth reaching out from the pages of the novel.

The book has a mystery to be solved. The reader gets caught up in the action. There is an air of menace as the mystery involves stalking. Shelley Shepard Gray manages to capture this air and convey it to the reader who finds themselves becoming anxious on behalf of the characters.

Within the novel, the characters are all wonderfully drawn. The reader is able to empathise with the characters who burst into life within the book and into the reader’s heart.

A wonderful start to a new series. I cannot wait for more.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

Her Secret blog tour on Litfuse