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beastreader's review against another edition
3.0
Jessamine Brady has lived in Harmony Hill Village. Although, she loves her Amish brothers and sisters, Jessamine has never felt like she really belonged. Jessamine's world gets turned upside down when she and Sister Annie go marching through the woods for berries. They hear a gun shot and then they see a man lying in the road. The man has amensia and is an outsider. Jessamine convinces Sister Annie to allow them to bring back the man to their world. AS time passes, Jessamine becomes attracted to Tristan. THis will come at a high price as Jessamine will have to decide if she wants to stay or leave.
Ever since reading Angel Sister by Ann, I have been a fan of hers. I have since read several other books by her. This is my second Amish themed book. I have been fascinated by the Amish and always thought they made for good reading.
While, I did like this book, I did feel like the pressure that Jessamine had on her to stay and become a Shaker was a bit too much. It turned me off some from the book. Jessamine had a nice personality however, it was easy to see that she did not belong in the Amish world with her sisters and brothers. I like that she was respectable to the ways and did try. Although, I did like Jessamine and Tristan. As if dating is hard enough. I can not imagine doing it the Amish way. The romance between Jessamine and Tristan was a sweet one. Ann really did a good job of detailing the Amish way and the world. The diary entries I did like reading. Overall, not a bad book. Just wanted a little less details and this book read longer then it needed to be.
Available July 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Ever since reading Angel Sister by Ann, I have been a fan of hers. I have since read several other books by her. This is my second Amish themed book. I have been fascinated by the Amish and always thought they made for good reading.
While, I did like this book, I did feel like the pressure that Jessamine had on her to stay and become a Shaker was a bit too much. It turned me off some from the book. Jessamine had a nice personality however, it was easy to see that she did not belong in the Amish world with her sisters and brothers. I like that she was respectable to the ways and did try. Although, I did like Jessamine and Tristan. As if dating is hard enough. I can not imagine doing it the Amish way. The romance between Jessamine and Tristan was a sweet one. Ann really did a good job of detailing the Amish way and the world. The diary entries I did like reading. Overall, not a bad book. Just wanted a little less details and this book read longer then it needed to be.
Available July 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
mizele20's review against another edition
3.0
Similar story lines to others in series....good details of Shaker life
lizanne95's review against another edition
3.0
Jessamine Brady is a young Shaker woman. She has know idea who her father is. All she knows that he was her mothers’ Prince Charming.
When Jessamine finds a young man heart in the forest she takes pity on him and takes him to the village where she lives. What she doesn’t count is that thoughts of him wont leave her mind.
I liked this book well enough, I guess. Not my favorite though. I do want to get the rest of this authors books anyways. I am that kind of person, I get a book by an author and if it is good I have to get the rest too.
When Jessamine finds a young man heart in the forest she takes pity on him and takes him to the village where she lives. What she doesn’t count is that thoughts of him wont leave her mind.
I liked this book well enough, I guess. Not my favorite though. I do want to get the rest of this authors books anyways. I am that kind of person, I get a book by an author and if it is good I have to get the rest too.
catrev's review against another edition
4.0
The Gifted by Ann Gabhart is the fifth book in her popular Shaker series about the unusual religious group of the 19th century. Jessamine Brady is a true innocent in the world. The first half of her of life was spent living with her granny, isolated in the woods and listening to the old woman's fairy tales and stories about the Lord. The last half of her life has been spent among the Shakers. When Jessamine was just ten, her granny died, leaving her alone in the world, so she was taken in by the community. She loves working with her hands and worshiping the Lord, but poor Jessamine has never been able to completely follow all of the rules as set forth by the Shakers. She has stories and songs that fill her heart, but are forbidden as sinful, and she has a deep curiousity about the outside world, especially on this one day, parasols, which leads her deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping to encounter White Oak Springs, a fashionable spa where the ladies are known to carry them. Instead of seeing a parasol, Jessamine finds a man who appears to have fallen off of his horse after being shot at. He claims to have no memory of who he is, and Jessamine can't quite seem to keep her hand from touching his face and enjoying the feel of the stubble on his face. Tristan Cooper did indeed lose his memory at first and thought he had been discovered by an angel. Later when his memory returns, he decides to keep that knowledge hidden while he recovers in the Shaker community in order to find out just who would be shooting at him and why. Tristan and Jessamine can't seem to stop thinking about each other, so she is soon in trouble with the elders for breaking too many rules, and he is sent on his way back to the world. Gabhart is terrific at recreating the mysterious world and religion of the Shakers, and she manages to do so without being overly negative about some of their stranger practices. Jessamine is such an innocent that everyone (including readers) who meet her can't help but be drawn to her sweet nature and love of life. Tristan is more of a cipher, despite Gabhart's attempts, I couldn't quite get a grasp of just who he was, and I felt the same way about Sheldon Brady. Because I couldn't relate to either of them, this book didn't have the power for me of previous books in this series. Something was missing just a bit in this volume, so it isn't up the five star status of the other books, but it's still a fascinating read.
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