HEARTSONG HILLS by Wendy Stetson

Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Amish, 303 pages

5*****

Blurb: Amish girls don’t dance. Dancing is against the rules, and Nora Beiler always follows the rules…until a runaway logging truck shatters her world forever. Desperate to heal from the accident, she enrolls in Shuffle off to Fitness, an exercise class at the local senior center. She never dreamed it involved tap-dancing…or just how much she’d love to dance. Exiled from Nashville, country music star Tucker McClure has no one to blame but himself. Weekly gigs at the local farmers’ market keep the demons at bay. The last thing he expects is to find himself in an old folks’ fitness class…dancing with a girl who makes him question everything he ever thought he wanted. Will the past drive Nora and Tucker apart? Or can love bridge the gap between hearts and worlds?

Thoughts: What a sweet story. And a different twist on the usual Amish romance. In this one, Nora Beiler has been in a bad accident that left her with a limp and in constant pain. When a doctor claims he can help her through a hip-replacement surgery, she doesn’t exactly jump at the chance, but she does go through with it. Afterwards, the doctor recommends physical therapy to help her regain strength, but the place for PT is too far for her to ride a bike and there’s no one to drive her. Instead, the doctor’s nurse sends her to a nearby senior center. When she gets there, she discovers that the recommended exercise is tap dancing. Amish girls definitely do not dance. And yet… the stretching and workouts do help her leg.

Then she meets Tucker McClure and he shatters everything in her life. Tucker is a country-western singer who is looking for fame. What he finds, is a beautiful widow with a 10-year-old daughter… who just happens to be Amish.

The two go through a lot of ups and downs and soul searching in their relationship. Nora comes very close to being shunned. And Tucker needs to decide whether to give up his dream, or give up the woman he loves.

Recommendation: Definitely recommended. This is a sweet romance that looks at the Amish/English relationship not just between two people, but between the societies as a whole. And there’s a HEA with a twist that satisfies completely (nope. Not going to give it away.) Read the book. You won’t be sorry.

Disclaimer: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”