September 9, 2024
Beckstrand follows up The Amish Quiltmaker’s Unexpected Guest with an upbeat enemies-to-lovers romance. Ada Yoder, 32 and single, has all but resigned herself to a humdrum life taking care of her family’s farm in rural Colorado, until handsome stranger Enos Hoover shows up one day and announces that he’s bought the neighboring plot of farmland and that six of her acres are actually his. An outraged Ada pitches a tent on the contested land in protest, ignoring her friends’ suggestions that the pair might be a match. As their daily chores bring Ada and Enos into regular contact, their arguments give way to moments of connection, with Enos opening up about his troubled childhood and Ada sharing how she had little choice but to take over the bulk of the farm work after her mother’s death. But when Ada criticizes Enos’s challenging relationship with his mother, it seems unlikely that these two stubborn souls will ever find happiness together. Beckstrand’s breezy dialogue adds humor (“How could I hone my camping skills if your stubborn claim to my land didn’t force me to camp?” Ada asks) to a plot enriched by colorful characters and the protagonists’ imperfect but enduring faith. Sweet and satisfying, this is sure to delight Beckstrand’s fans.