Courage in the Storm (A Johns Mill Amish Romance)

This is one of the best books I have read. Not any back and forth silliness. It was so good!

Loved the story line of this novel. More real to life than some Amish reads. Look forward to reading more from this author.

The characters could have used more detail to their emotions. The ending seemed rushed and could have been further developed. It was a tolerable read, but not one that I would read again nor recommend.

love of human compassion to animal who has suffer

COURAGE IN THE STORM by Laurel Blount is not the first book I’ve ever read by Ms. Blount and it certainly won’t be the last! The Two main characters, Miriam Hochstedler and Reuben Brenneman stole my heart and gained my respect. Miriam was witness to her parents dying by violence and it has shaken her to her core. She struggles with meeting strangers and is basically a prisoner on her family farm. After a bit of time, she can actually leave the house and go to the chicken coop and the barn. In the barn is a horse named Breeze. He was involved in a buggy accident and is now almost wild. Miriam does not wish the horse to be put down and convinces her brother to hire the horse whisperer.Reuben used to be Amish but is now English and has a special gift working and caring for horses. When Reuben comes to work on the farm, both of their lives are going to change drastically. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and her ability to draw me into the story. Most of the chapters ended in a way that peaked my interest and left me eager to start reading the next one. You won’t be sorry you picked up COURAGE IN THE STORM….your only decision will be which of the author’s other books you want to read next.Tragedy, forgiveness, love, and other spiritual elements are scattered throughout COURAGE IN THE STORM. Laurel Blount is an amazing writer, conveying every emotion into her characters. Laurel gives her readers a wonderful story of letting go of the past and leaning into the people who are standing by, waiting to help even if when you don’t realize they’ve been there all the time. This story can be read as a stand alone, but I will recommend reading the first two books so you can get to know all of the beautiful and faithful characters. COURAGE IN THE STORM is not like most Amish stories. It is more like watching the evening news, and then having your heart break for everything this family is going through. I am eager to see what will come next!COURAGE IN THE STORM is a quick read and unputdownable! There were quite a few times when reading it that I wanted to reach into the pages and hug a few of these people with what they were feeling and what they were going through. I found myself laughing one second and then tearing up the next. If you are looking for a beautiful emotional story to pull you out of your book slump, you can’t go wrong with COURAGE IN THE STORM.Laurel Blount is now an author I want to read more of. I loved Miriam and Reuben, the primary characters, but I also fell in love with all of the secondary characters as well. Every one of them has an important part to play in this heart tugging story and even though I wanted to reach in and shake one or two of them every now and then, they all weaseled their way into my heart. My emotions were all over the place and I was even reaching for the tissues quite a few times.I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given

“It was so hard to be afraid all the time.“Oh y’all. This book. The depth of emotion, the beautiful character layers (including Breeze, the horse), and the engaging plot all left me completely immersed in Courage in the Storm until I finished the last word.The line I quoted at the beginning of this review hit me in all the feels. Because I’ve been there. For years I lived with debilitating anxiety and fear. It didn’t matter that what I was panicking about made no sense even to me – I was incapable of turning it off. And it IS hard to be afraid all the time. Hard and isolating and so lonely. Thanks to some counseling and a great prescription medication, I have not lived in fear for several years. Needless to say, I readily identified with Miriam and her debilitating fear – and with Breeze and his – and Blount’s honest & tender portrayal of both left me teary-eyed more than once. I was rooting for them to find freedom, because I know how marvelous it feels, and I could not have put down their journey if I’d wanted to.This brings us to Reuben, the fear-whisperer. Oh, that’s not on his business card, but in many ways it’s the role he stepped into for both Breeze and Miriam. I loved the way that Breeze and Miriam connected so deeply with each other, as well as how Reuben was able to utilize that unexpected bond to help them both. But perhaps the most beautiful part of this story for me was how they all ended up healing each other, Reuben included. He has his own trauma that he’s still working through, and it’s the reason he is no longer Amish. While the attraction between Reuben and Miriam is immediately evident (well… ok… maybe not at their first meeting haha), I really could not see how the author was going to get past these obstacles for a romance between them and still stay true to their characters. You’ll have to read it for yourself to see what happens, but I will say that I need not have doubted.One more quick point – I have read lots of Amish fiction, and a bishop is nearly always a prominent side character. I have seen godly bishops full of grace & wisdom, and I have seen legalistic bishops full of themselves. But until reading Courage in the Storm, I had not yet met a bishop like Abram lol. Bless his heart, it’s in the right place. And between the twinkle in his eye and his penchant for cookies, I couldn’t help but love him. But my stars, that man – however well-intentioned – is very good at making a mess of things, and I frequently wanted to shake him a little. I did really enjoy this aspect to the story, though, as well as how the author redeemed him in my eyes by the end. It’s yet another element that separates this from the ‘same old, same old’ Amish romance plots and sets it apart with excellence.Bottom Line: While I have featured this author and her books several times on my blog, Courage in the Storm happens to be the first book by Laurel Blount that I’ve had time to read. It will absolutely not be my last. I fell in love with Breeze, with Miriam, with Reuben… and even Bishop Abram. And though I haven’t read the first two books in this series, I never felt lost or detached from the other characters. The author does such a great job of presenting the characters and their backstories for new readers without bogging down the story for fans of the series, but I definitely want to go back and catch up on this series – and all of her books. Courage in the Storm is a story that will linger me for a long time, and it’s definitely going to stay one of my fave reads of 2023!(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

This may be Laurel Blount’s best one yet and that’s saying a lot! Watching two damaged people find their way to each other is an intricate dance that the author pulls off with immense skill and sensitivity