Thankful: Return to Sugarcreek Book 2 By Shelley Shepard Gray

I received this book from Litfuse Publicity for no charge in exchange for my honest review of this book. Any opinions expressed here are my own.


Book Description:  

Christina Kempf has always known that God chose Aden Reese to be her husband. As children, he was there to save her when she fell through the ice, and he’s been by her side ever since. After his parents died in a car accident ten years ago, the Kempfs raised Aden as one of their own, and everyone sees Aden and Christina as brother and sister. But Christina has never given up hope that Aden will one day ask her to be his wife.
Aden always planned to court Christina. But losing his mother and father changed everything—except his love for her. Her parents generously welcomed him into their home and treated him like a son. He can’t betray their kindness by admitting his feelings for the girl who is like a sister . . . yet so much more.
Pressured by her parents to court, Christina begins to accept the attentions of Sugarcreek’s young men, and now, Aden must make a choice. Will he stand by and watch the love of his life slip away? Or will he risk losing the love and trust of the family he holds dear to tell Christina how he truly feels?
Thankful includes a P.S. section with additional insights from the author, background material, suggestions for further reading, and more. 


My Thoughts:  

Thankful is the second book in Shelley Shepard Gray's latest series, Return to Sugarcreek. As a huge fan of Amish Fiction and having read the first book in this series I was excited to have the opportunity to read this book.  As children, Aden Reese saved Christina Kempf when she fell through the ice one winter day and since then the Kempfs gave him a place to live and raised him along with their other children.  Everyone believes Christina and Aden are brother and sister except for Christina who truly loves Aden and wants to be his wife.  Aden loves Christina too and wanted to court her but once his parents died and he moved in with the Kempfs he felt it would be disrespectful to the Kempfs for him to court her. Now Christina is accepting invitations from other young men and Aden isn't sure what to do because he doesn't want to lose her but still doesn't want to hurt the only people who have been family to him. In this book, there are a few different stories going on with Christina and Aden's being the main one. Also Judith and Ben are back going through the adoption process. They have the opportunity to foster a baby and after thought and prayer they agree to do foster care to the precious child. What they did not know was that James (the baby) is black until the social worker brings him there.  Judith and Ben bond with James instantly and find themselves wanting to adopt him.  Also there is Jana, who runs the local restaurant who is a widow and has made the restaurant the only thing in her life.  She realizes that she cannot keep it up and her best friend buys into the restaurant to be a partner, which gives Jana the time to find herself and what she wants with her life.

I enjoyed Shelley Shepard Gray's Thankful.  First and foremost Amish Fiction books are my favorite and Shelley Shepard Gray is on my must read list. Shelley Shepard Gray writes with authority on the Amish ways, Sugarcreek and other Amish cities, running a restaurant, adoption, and the Amish Faith. The three stories are bound together by the main idea of being thankful. As I read this book, it really challenged me to see all the things in my life that I need to be thankful for and how focusing on that does make you truly thankful. I found myself needing tissues as I read because so much in this story touched my heart.  I found myself unable to put this book down until the end.  Shelley Shepard Gray really puts her readers right in the middle of the story to watch the whole thing unfold, feeling like I am right there with the characters.  The characters are great and I enjoyed them, meeting new characters and finding out about old friends from the previous book.  I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Amish Fiction, you will not be disappointed. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. I give this book 4 STARS.