Her Restless Heart: Stitches in Time Book 1 [Kindle Edition]

Mary Katherine has grown up with a very strict Father, and a Mother who never stood up for herself.
She is now living with her Grandmother, and loving being there, and working in the shop with her cousins.
Mary Katherine is weaving what she wants to sell, and is in conflict with the Bishop. He wants her to stop making such English goods, and to join the Church.
Because of her upbringing she has a lot of doubts, and wonders about the English world. She has a long time friendship with Jacob, and Daniel, and her English friend Jamie.
Love the interaction between Leah, the Grandmother and the cousins, Mary Katherine, Naomi, and Anna. You will wonder if this will be enough to hold her here, or will she go to Florida with Daniel?
You will enjoy having Tea with these great people, and interacting with Jacob. A really good read, and can't wait for the next book in this series.

I was provided with a copy of this book Abingdon Press, and was not required to give a positive review.

Sometimes the words we speak can hurt people worse than any physical pain we can inflict on them. That's just what is happening to Mary Katherine. Finding solace and a place to heal her emotions and her heart and find the love she needs from family, she works for her Grandmother Leah at her store, Stitches in Time, along with her cousins Naomi and Anna. Her father is more than just mean and abrasive to her, he's also been that way to her mother. No longer able to tolerate his unkind words, and avoiding speaking out against her father, she leaves. She's the only child of her parents and finds it difficult that her father can treat her so cruel.

Perhaps that's why Mary Katherine has been avoiding falling in love with those Amish boys who seem to gather around her, most recently Jacob, a young man she grew up with and went to school with. However, Mary Katherine can only see him as the friend she grew up with even though it's obvious to everyone else that Jacob has more than friendly feelings for her. Yet with Mary Katherine still undecided on whether she wants to commit to the church just yet, she spends some time getting to know what she really wants out of life.

Her best friend is an English girl named Jamie, whose outrageous hair and clothing styles, have most of the Amish church community frowning. Thinking that this will only encourage Mary Katherine to leave the Amish community, more and more of the elders and bishop continue to pressure her to make a decision and soon. They are even going so far as to criticize her weaving creations and quilts for sale at Stitches In Time saying she is moving away from the Amish traditions.

In her latest series of Amish books, Stitches in Time, Barbara Cameron is introducing the readers to a new cast of characters in the first book, Her Restless Heart. In this book, all three girls are seeking the love and attention of men in their lives and it seems like only Grandmother Leah has just the right advice to dispense over a cup of hot tea. Ah how we all wish we had a grandmother like her. Unwilling to push and pressure to make the woman face their difficult choices ahead, Leah merely provides a willing ear to listen while they pour out their feelings. Deep down inside she can only pray they will come to make the right decision in the end.

I received Her Restless Heart compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and I can see why so many readers are now her fans of her Amish series. She writes them so well readers can not only relate to the characters but more importantly to the story and issues the characters are dealing with. I, myself, can completely relate to Mary Katherine, having an emotionally abusive father growing up. I can relate to her feeling less than worthy and dealing with a lifetime of self esteem issues never seeing herself as good enough, even in God's eyes. I found healing in hearing not only the advice from Leah but also in Jacob's kindness as her friend. This book does provide needed healing to restless hearts everywhere and I highly recommend this one with a 5 out of 5 stars!

I am surprised at all of the 5 stars on this book. It was very drawn out, and I found myself skipping paragraphs. It also felt as if it were in the middle of a series because there were storylines and things mentioned that the author didn't actually clarify until later on (or even at all). I did read the Quilts of Lancaster series and it was nice to see some of those characters mentioned here, but that wasn't what bothered me. There were several inconsistencies in this book too....MK's grandmother referring to her son as bruder (brother), MK running outside without her shawl only to have her pull her shawl closer on the next page, and a couple of other weird things like this. Nothing major, but annoying because it was just careless writing. The flow of the book was choppy, too. Also, Daniel is a minor character but the write up makes you think he is more involved...he is not mentioned for a good chunk of the book (only the beginning and end). If you are looking for good Amish fiction, read Lewis or Wiseman.