Fans of Amish romance will be charmed by the second of Wiseman’s Amish Inn series featuring elderly sisters Esther and Lizzie who in addition to running the Peony Inn enjoy a bit of surreptitious matchmaking. When a movie production company books rooms at the inn, Esther and Lizzie are soon worn out by the crew’s obnoxious behavior, including the producer’s constant berating of his young adult son, Jayce. Jayce wants nothing more than to get away from his father and the party lifestyle after finding a relationship with God. He befriends the sisters and forms an unlikely friendship with Gus, a peer of Esther’s and Lizzie’s with a mysterious connection to their mother who rents a cottage on their property. Gus has a reputation for being mean and grumpy; however, Esther and Jayce realize that he has a good heart underneath his defensiveness. Gus’s story may in fact be the finest element crafted by Wiseman in this book, although Jayce’s romance with Evelyn, a young Amish girl he meets in town, is also beautifully written. He and Evelyn, despite being nothing alike on the surface, realize they share similar values and faith in God. Their conversations about religion and spirituality are poignant in their desire to better understand each other as well as themselves. The conclusion of this book is deeply satisfying as the characters find forgiveness and that through God, all things – even redemption – is possible.
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