news-record.com

Summer, with its hot and humid ways, encourages me to stay indoors with the air conditioning and a cool drink.

It also serves as a great time to get caught up on some leisure reading as I pull out the good novels I’ve saved as the world melts outside the walls of my house.

I began the summer by reading the first novel in Beverly Lewis’ “Season’s of Grace” series, “Secrets,” released in the spring.

“Secrets” begins to unroll the story of Grace, a young Amish woman living with her family outside of Lancaster, Pa.

Grace’s mother has a huge secret she has kept hidden from her husband, family and friends for years. As her mother begins to act suspiciously, Grace becomes concerned, knowing that an unknown woman her mother spoke to at a barn-raising had triggered the unsettled behavior.

As things unravel, the characters deal with the mounting unanswered questions after her mother disappears.

Grace sorts through her own challenges as she makes choices about her life, including her relationship with a young man.

A side story within the book involves Heather, a young girl in her 20s who discovers she has health issues. Resisting her doctor’s urgings to begin treatment immediately, Heather seeks solace in the Amish community her family always enjoyed visiting.

In most of Beverly Lewis’ books, you find her weaving a tangled tale of human nature mixed with the heritage of the Amish lifestyle. She knits her Christian faith into the stories in various ways as she lays out the foundation of each story. In “Secrets,” Lewis once again takes time to develop the main character’s personality.

By the end of “Secrets,” you long for more of the story, which will continue with Volume 2 arriving in September of this year. The final book in the trilogy is expected in April of 2010.

The next book on my reading list was “A Promise for Spring” by Kim Vogel Sawyer. It begins with Emmaline traveling by ship and train to Kansas to meet a young man who was a friend of the family back in England. Five years have passed since Emma­line has seen Geoffrey, and in that time, the love she felt toward him seems to have waned.

As she is reunited with Geoffrey, she feels she no longer knows him. Emmaline finds she cannot marry him immediately as planned and desires to return to England.

Geoffrey makes an agreement with Emmaline. If she will stay until spring, he will pay her way to return to England. Reluctantly, she agrees, though she does try to leave a couple of times in frustration.

The couple stays at odds as they each learn about one another once again. As the story unfolds, they learn how to lean on their faith in God as they deal with one another and the challenges of day-to-day life.

Another book I enjoyed during this summertime-induced hibernation was “Let Them Eat Cake” by Sandra Byrd. This story is the first book of the “French Twist” series that I found for just a couple of dollars at Edward McKay Used Books in Greensboro.

The book tells of 20-something Lexi as she deals with the pressures of being who her parents expect her to be versus who she sees herself as. In the process of becoming her own person, she also renews her faith in God.

The bits and pieces of French language spoken by characters throughout the book add to the flavor and fun of the book.

Lexi learns how to trust her own talents in the kitchen, even posting some of her own recipes (included in the book) on a popular recipe Web site. A main backdrop of the story takes place in the French bakery where Lexi works after being fired from a cubicle job she found stifling.

By the end of the story, you are proud of the choices that Lexi makes for herself as you watch how she has grown in character and strength as a woman of God.

I look forward to reading the next book in this series, “Bon Appetit,” which is available now, and the third in the trilogy, which is supposed to be available in September of this year.

Contact Linda Vestal at lindavestal@triad.rr.com.