Courting Miss Amsel by Kim Vogel Sawyer - Reviewed

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Courting Miss Amsel Bethany House (January 1, 2011) by Kim Vogel Sawyer





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?



Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain on a woman like Miss Amsel.



Within the first week, she has the entire town up in arms over her outlandish teaching methods, which include collecting leaves, catching bugs, making snow angels, and stringing ropes in strange patterns all over the schoolyard. Joel can't help but notice that she's also mighty pretty with her rosy lips, fashionable clothes, and fancy way of speaking.



When Edythe decides to take her pupils to hear Miss Susan Anthony speak on the women's suffrage amendment, the town's outcry reaches new heights. Even Joel isn't sure he can support her newfangled ideas any longer. And if he can't trust her to know how to teach the boys, how can he trust her with his heart?

My Thoughts:

Edythe Amsel and Joel Townsend have more in common than being residents of Walnut Hill, Nebraska. It seems that both of them have been thrust into the role of caretaker for young children at a time when neither of them were ready to take on such responsibility. Although the circumstances are quite different, both lives are shaped by their tender care of young children. When their paths cross as Edythe takes on the role of school teacher, it seems that even more significant changes lie ahead. Will they be brave enough to follow their hearts?

Kim Vogel Sawyer creates a wonderful set of characters in her latest story, Courting Miss Amsel. The characters are all very fully developed and their circumstances don’t seem contrived to fit the story line – rather the story makes each character come alive in the reader’s heart and mind. This is a rich story that will make you consider the cost of loving those whom God places in the path of your life. There is a plan that is working out for each of us, and though the trials seem fierce at times, God has lovingly designed a path that enriches us all in ways we could never dream.

Courting Miss Amsel offers much to enjoy, and you will fondly remember the characters of this story long after the final page!

If you would like to read the first chapter of Courting Miss Amsel, go HERE.