"Jenny's Choice (Apple Creek Dreams Series, Book 3) by Patrick E. Craig (Review and Giveaway)

 About the book:   In the concluding novel to the Apple Creek Dreams series, Jonathan and Jenny Hershberger are happily settled in Paradise, Pennsylvania on the farm Jenny inherited from her grandfather. But when a tragic accident takes Jonathan's life, Jenny and her young daughter, Rachel, return home to Apple Creek, Ohio to live with her adoptive parents, Reuben and Jerusha Springer.

As Jenny works through her grief and despair, she discovers she has a gift for writing. A handsome young publisher discovers her work and, after the publication of her first book, Jenny is on the verge of worldly success and possible romance.

But when a conflict arises with the elders of her church, Jenny must ask herself how far she's willing to go to pursue her dreams.

A touching story of devotion and triumph over adversity.

My thoughts: This, the final book in the Apple Creek  Dreams Series by Patrick E. Craig, is written with a voice that is gentle yet strong in that it paints verbally the life of Jenny as she tries to journey through her existence without the love of her life. Her husband’s death that has devastated her and left her where she simply can not endure living on the farm they so loved. The book opens with preparation to move back home to her parent’s home in Ohio with her sweet daughter. Will she return to her farm in Paradise, Pennsylvania?

One of the tools Jenny  finds that helps her in this journey of reconciliation and adjustment is that of writing out the story of her feelings, memories, and desires as well as how God is working in her.  And then she meets a young, male, publisher who sees her talent and wants to publish what she has written.

Patrick E. Craig has written engaging characters whose strong faith and recognition of their weaknesses brings them to life for the reader. The book is not your “typical” Amish fiction although it is replete with their beliefs and how their beliefs of separation from the world govern their actions.

The surprise that awaits Jenny as she makes her choices is a surprise for the reader as well. Jenny truly has many choices to make.

“Sometimes I think life is like a rushing river that begins its journey high in the mountains, tumbles down over jagged rocks, rushes headlong over cliffs, and pours booming through nameless chasms until at last it escapes the harsh stone walls to the broad plain spread before it, flowing deep and quiet through lush meadows between banks that hold it tenderly.”  Page 11, Jenny’s Choice

“As they sat, the wind died down and the rain ceased to beat against the window. The clouds started breaking up, and a ray of sun broke through. A hush fell on the day, and peace crept over the land.” Page 67, Jenny’s Choice

“And so the days passed, and as the deep winter gave up its icy grip on Apple Creek and the first touch of spring began to melt the morning frost from the etched glass of the window in her room, Jenny slowly began to come back to life.” Page, 69, Jenny’s Choice

SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:  After reading Jenny’s Choice, and having read a bit previously about Patrick E. Craig’s career, I contacted the author and asked him a question: “How much of yourself have you written into the story?”  He has graciously answered my question and I am delighted to share it with you….. (But first please look at his website and learn a bit about him, then read his answer – CLICK HERE)…..

“Yes, there is a lot of Patrick in Jenny's Choice.  I lived in the Haight Ashbury in 1967 and was part of the San Francisco music scene for many years. I had breakfast many times in the restaurant on Haight Street where Jonathan meets  Shub in The Road Home.  The songs that Jonathan has success with in his secular life as Richard Sandbridge, Anna and Tonight, are songs that I wrote for Buddy Miles, an R&B singer from the sixties who played with Jimmy Hendrix in his last band.  The Christian songs, Crown of Thorns and Now I am Free (Deeny's song) are songs that I wrote after I got saved 'again' in 1984. I was a musician who thought that success was just around the corner, but the lifestyle led me farther and farther away until the Lord intercepted me. 

Jonathan's journey back to his faith roots is one that I took in my own life.  Through all the deception of the sixties, I always remembered my own upbringing in church and the salvation experience I had when I was fourteen.  I went to see a young preacher named David Wilkerson talk about his new book, The Cross and the Switchblade and gave my heart to the Lord.  As with Jonathan, the Lord kept his hand on my life through all those difficult times and finally I realized that He was indeed, The Way, The Truth and The Life and brought me back to Himself.”

GIVEAWAY:  Patrick E. Craig has gracious set aside a set of all three books in the Apple Creek Dreams Series for one of Chat With Vera’s readers. What a choice prize! All three titles! Now just use the Rafflecopter entry form below and let’s see who with get these books.  Begins February 12 & ENDS March 6 @ 12:01 ET. Open to continental USA addresses only.

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DISCLOSURE:  I was provided a complimentary copy of Jenny’s Choice by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed are solely my own. No compensation was received for this review.