An Amish Bride

Lauer (An Amish Homecoming) delivers an engaging Amish romance in the second installment of her Joyful River series. Sadie Beiler hopes that her boyfriend, the wealthy Mark Miller, will propose to her so that she might escape her ill-tempered father and find financial stability as a wife and mother. She has second thoughts when she learns about Mark’s excessive drinking and sees him kissing another woman, but she feels resigned to marrying him. Unbeknownst to Sadie, her best friend’s older brother, Sam Lapp, has long been in love with her. After Sam confesses his feelings while Mark is away on a trip, Sadie resolves to end her relationship with Mark as soon as he returns, but Sam and Sadie struggle to keep their relationship secret until then. When Mark discovers Sadie is leaving him, he has a breakdown that threatens to ruin everything for which Sam and Sadie have worked. Lauer skillfully portrays the tenderness of young love and the complexity of untreated mental illness in a community reluctant to acknowledge it. Amish romance fans will enjoy this heartening tale. (Mar.)