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Rose Trilogy #3
The Mercy
The Powerful Conclusion to Beverly Lewis' Latest #1 Bestselling Series!
Rose Kauffman pines for prodigal Nick Franco, the Bishop's foster son who left the Amish under a cloud of suspicion after his foster brother's death. His rebellion led to the "silencing" of their beloved Bishop. But is Nick really the rebel he appears to be? Rose's lingering feelings for her wayward friend refuse to fade, but she is frustrated that Nick won't return and make things right with the People. Nick avowed his love for Rose--but will he ever be willing to sacrifice modern life for her?
Meanwhile, Rose's older sister, Hen, is living in her parents' Dawdi Haus . Her estranged "English" husband, injured and helpless after a car accident, has reluctantly come to live with her and their young daughter during his recovery. Can their marriage recover, as well? Is there any possible middle ground between a woman reclaiming her old-fashioned Amish lifestyle and thoroughly modern man?
Rose Kauffman pines for prodigal Nick Franco, the Bishop's foster son who left the Amish under a cloud of suspicion after his foster brother's death. His rebellion led to the "silencing" of their beloved Bishop. But is Nick really the rebel he appears to be? Rose's lingering feelings for her wayward friend refuse to fade, but she is frustrated that Nick won't return and make things right with the People. Nick avowed his love for Rose--but will he ever be willing to sacrifice modern life for her?
Meanwhile, Rose's older sister, Hen, is living in her parents' Dawdi Haus . Her estranged "English" husband, injured and helpless after a car accident, has reluctantly come to live with her and their young daughter during his recovery. Can their marriage recover, as well? Is there any possible middle ground between a woman reclaiming her old-fashioned Amish lifestyle and thoroughly modern man?
306 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
331 people are currently reading
1919 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Lewis
258 books3,013 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews
December 10, 2020
A wonderful ending to this fantastic trilogy! I enjoyed seeing how the family conflict was resolved. This is truly a story of faith through hard times, forgiveness, and renewed love.
March 17, 2013
Rose Rose Rose why are you dating this obvious demon boy? Or maybe he's an evil vampire. I mean, I get it, you like vampires, you keep almost marrying them. But deep down, you know you really want the werewolf. But now you are dating a SECOND vampire, and this one is even more wrong for you. He's not even a really solid Amish vampire.
Luckily, this is a good Christian romance, so in the end, you go with the right guy - the beautiful werewolf who ran off into the world, and clearly found the prime werewolf and was released from the evil spell that made him a werewolf because when he returns he's ready to be a good plain Amish man who follows the sun and works in the fields. The curse also lifts off of simple Jeb, who comes and tells tales that release him from the local shunning sorcery.
In side stories, Brandon and Hen get back together and make babies. wut wut!
I was a little disappointed by how quickly the story ended though. There could have been a little more courtship between Rosie and the werewolf, after she forgives him and her father is all "go to him" in my opinion.
Luckily, this is a good Christian romance, so in the end, you go with the right guy - the beautiful werewolf who ran off into the world, and clearly found the prime werewolf and was released from the evil spell that made him a werewolf because when he returns he's ready to be a good plain Amish man who follows the sun and works in the fields. The curse also lifts off of simple Jeb, who comes and tells tales that release him from the local shunning sorcery.
In side stories, Brandon and Hen get back together and make babies. wut wut!
I was a little disappointed by how quickly the story ended though. There could have been a little more courtship between Rosie and the werewolf, after she forgives him and her father is all "go to him" in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2018
A great conclusion to this trilogy. It's easy to see why Beverly Lewis' Amish books are among the most beloved works of Christian fiction.
November 6, 2015
Full review shortly.
July 26, 2013
Here are my thoughts on the series overall.....
1) Irony!/Nobody's perfect
Is it me or does anyone else find a lot of irony in this series? For one thing, I find the People's attitude toward Nick versus their attitude toward one of their own very contradictory. Starting with Solomon's opinion of Nick which is initially one of concern regarding his rebellious ways and develops into a blind judgment when he realizes that the worldly boy and his daughter have feelings for one another baffles me. I think there was something about Nick that made Mr Kaufmann see him as an "outsider" in every way (and to be honest, Nick's disdain for the ordung didn't help). What got to me is that Solomon had no problem welcoming his Englisch daughter Hen back into the community, no questions, no judgment. Hen's attitude toward Nick was the most annoying for me. I understand she didn't want her sister to make the same mistake she did (marry and outsider and turn her back on their family, tradition, church, etc) but she spent the first two books judging and detest the worldliness of her husband and her sister's best friend that she couldn't come face to face with her own selfishness. She was ignorant to the fact that while she had every right to desire a return her Plain roots, the manner in which she went about it was very self centered. She coped with her guilt over turning her back on her family and faith with a "its my way or the highway" attitude. Granted her husband Brandon had the same mindset, which didn't help but from the perspective of the third book, it seems that her impulsiveness served as a catalyst for Brandon's anger and frustration. With the same hastiness that she married him she left him to return to her family. She didn't consider her family when she left them to marry Brandon nor did she fully consider Brandon's perspective when she re-adopted her family's convictions. With that said, you would think in the first book she would've extended some mercy and some empathy for Nick, but no. I believe her lack of understanding for Nick was really misdirected resentment towards her own predicament which was brought about by her hasty decision making. I also found it ironic that it took Rose so long to appreciate what Nick had to offer her. In her defense, Rose was brought up in a community that is not as flexible as ours and out of all the characters, her perspective wasn't cluttered with prejudices and was thus clear enough to see the good in Nick. However, it surprised me that she was somewhat blind to his devotion to her, a devotion that she searched for throughout the series and could never seem to find it in other beaux (Silas and Isaac). To think that while Nick was undeniably loyal to Rose and saw her for the rare flower that she was, she almost missed out on his because she was distracted by a guy who was in love with someone else and by another guy who had one foot in the church and one foot in the world. I think that the People weren't patient enough with Nick. They were so consumed with making sure that he became grafted in with their traditions and rules that they missed the real role community played in conversion, which is support, understanding and love. In the first book it seemed like most of the characters were just tolerating Nick and/or waiting for him to do something that caused irrevocable damage thus causing for his expulsion from the community instead of genuinely reaching out to him in love.
1) Irony!/Nobody's perfect
Is it me or does anyone else find a lot of irony in this series? For one thing, I find the People's attitude toward Nick versus their attitude toward one of their own very contradictory. Starting with Solomon's opinion of Nick which is initially one of concern regarding his rebellious ways and develops into a blind judgment when he realizes that the worldly boy and his daughter have feelings for one another baffles me. I think there was something about Nick that made Mr Kaufmann see him as an "outsider" in every way (and to be honest, Nick's disdain for the ordung didn't help). What got to me is that Solomon had no problem welcoming his Englisch daughter Hen back into the community, no questions, no judgment. Hen's attitude toward Nick was the most annoying for me. I understand she didn't want her sister to make the same mistake she did (marry and outsider and turn her back on their family, tradition, church, etc) but she spent the first two books judging and detest the worldliness of her husband and her sister's best friend that she couldn't come face to face with her own selfishness. She was ignorant to the fact that while she had every right to desire a return her Plain roots, the manner in which she went about it was very self centered. She coped with her guilt over turning her back on her family and faith with a "its my way or the highway" attitude. Granted her husband Brandon had the same mindset, which didn't help but from the perspective of the third book, it seems that her impulsiveness served as a catalyst for Brandon's anger and frustration. With the same hastiness that she married him she left him to return to her family. She didn't consider her family when she left them to marry Brandon nor did she fully consider Brandon's perspective when she re-adopted her family's convictions. With that said, you would think in the first book she would've extended some mercy and some empathy for Nick, but no. I believe her lack of understanding for Nick was really misdirected resentment towards her own predicament which was brought about by her hasty decision making. I also found it ironic that it took Rose so long to appreciate what Nick had to offer her. In her defense, Rose was brought up in a community that is not as flexible as ours and out of all the characters, her perspective wasn't cluttered with prejudices and was thus clear enough to see the good in Nick. However, it surprised me that she was somewhat blind to his devotion to her, a devotion that she searched for throughout the series and could never seem to find it in other beaux (Silas and Isaac). To think that while Nick was undeniably loyal to Rose and saw her for the rare flower that she was, she almost missed out on his because she was distracted by a guy who was in love with someone else and by another guy who had one foot in the church and one foot in the world. I think that the People weren't patient enough with Nick. They were so consumed with making sure that he became grafted in with their traditions and rules that they missed the real role community played in conversion, which is support, understanding and love. In the first book it seemed like most of the characters were just tolerating Nick and/or waiting for him to do something that caused irrevocable damage thus causing for his expulsion from the community instead of genuinely reaching out to him in love.
June 12, 2017
Things finally got sorted out for Hen and Rose. Hen and Brandon get reconciled after his accident. Both of their hearts have softened towards each other and their marriage is stronger than ever. It wasn't so easy for Rose. After she called off her engagement with her fiance she dates another man from a neighboring community. After awhile she realizes that he isn't the man for her and has to decline his marriage proposal making her grief-stricken. Rose still yearns for Nick, her childhood friend. When he returns to the Amish community and becomes baptized her future is much more promising.
October 4, 2011
If you are a regular reading of my reviews you will know that I am about as finicky as can be when it comes to Amish fiction. There are just a few Amish novelists that I really like a lot. I have not read much from Beverly Lewis. I find that prolific authors may not take the time to fully develop a plot and characters because they write so many books. That was kind of how The Mercy felt to me.
I don’t want to say that I didn’t like any of this book. I did like this book better than the last one in this series, The Judgment. This book felt a bit more developed and much more cohesive. I like the characters and Beverly’s writing of the Amish life. She has quite a following and his adored by her fans. I have yet to become a fan, but as my reading tastes change and I embrace more Amish fiction, I can see me enjoying a Beverly Lewis novel more than I do now. I have found Rose to be a likable character, and that can do a lot to enhance the reading experience as it did here. Overall, The Mercy is a pretty good book. Not my favorite Amish novel, but it did have several high points that made it a worthwhile read.
I don’t want to say that I didn’t like any of this book. I did like this book better than the last one in this series, The Judgment. This book felt a bit more developed and much more cohesive. I like the characters and Beverly’s writing of the Amish life. She has quite a following and his adored by her fans. I have yet to become a fan, but as my reading tastes change and I embrace more Amish fiction, I can see me enjoying a Beverly Lewis novel more than I do now. I have found Rose to be a likable character, and that can do a lot to enhance the reading experience as it did here. Overall, The Mercy is a pretty good book. Not my favorite Amish novel, but it did have several high points that made it a worthwhile read.
June 29, 2019
Writing a review on my blog about this AMAZING trilogy (I mean probably not because I'll procrastinate bUt SoMeDaY)
September 7, 2017
Beverly Lewis is an excellent author in the genre of the Amish people. She describes their lifestyle so clearly that you feel you are within a heartbeat of the action. The characters are developed so fully, that they are entirely believable. You meet them and almost become instant friends.
This book walks you through twists and turns that elicited deep emotions.
My preference for clean and wholesome are met wholeheartedly with this tale.
This book walks you through twists and turns that elicited deep emotions.
My preference for clean and wholesome are met wholeheartedly with this tale.
March 17, 2018
This was good but I found it was hard to get through.
July 4, 2020
This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while, so I decided to read it even though I haven't read the first two books. I'll most likely read them after this pandemic is over, even though I didn't particularly like this book. The description of this book was well written, however, the plot had some major gaps in it, but other than that, the plot line was alright. The biggest thing that I didn't like about this book is about Rose's romances, especially when she broke up with Isaac. Before that, she expected to get a proposal from Isaac, which she meant that she truly loved him. She shouldn't let the fact about how he drives a car and a tractor affect her feelings for him. Rose needs to look at Hen, and she said that she doesn't want to make Hen's mistake, but Hen and Brandon worked it out! I'm not Amish, so maybe it's a cultural barrier thing. But other than that, it was an okay read.
January 13, 2021
This book...THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. I’m still trying to contain my emotions. Okay, I think I’ve settled enough to write this review, so get ready for a ride.
First of all, this book concluded the series wonderfully. Many questions were answered, and it left me with a sense of satisfaction once I was finished.
Second, the romance, tho. THE FINAL ROMANCE WAS *chefs kiss*. It was beautifully written, and I adored the friends to lovers aspect.
Third, the family dynamic was amazing. It was awesome to read about a family who truly love each other and God. I hope to implement that dynamic into my future family, someday.
Overall, this book was marvelously written and was just so well done. Definitely my favorite out of the series (if not, one of my favorite Beverly Lewis books). To anyone who is a fan of Amish fiction I recommend this older series to you!
5/5 stars ⭐️
First of all, this book concluded the series wonderfully. Many questions were answered, and it left me with a sense of satisfaction once I was finished.
Second, the romance, tho. THE FINAL ROMANCE WAS *chefs kiss*. It was beautifully written, and I adored the friends to lovers aspect.
Third, the family dynamic was amazing. It was awesome to read about a family who truly love each other and God. I hope to implement that dynamic into my future family, someday.
Overall, this book was marvelously written and was just so well done. Definitely my favorite out of the series (if not, one of my favorite Beverly Lewis books). To anyone who is a fan of Amish fiction I recommend this older series to you!
5/5 stars ⭐️
May 2, 2024
Oh. My. Heart. I loved this series so much! I loved this third book so much. It's the conclusion to the series, and the way everything came together blessed my soul. Hen and Rosies faith...Dats faith....everyone's commitment to their community, really lit a light in my heart. I wont say much in this review so I don't give any spoilers. But I will say, this book was such a light of faith. Although I'm not Amish and never will be, I've just really cherished the steadfastness to God these characters displayed throughout the series in such a real and practical way. I've LOVED this series, loved this family and loved this community. I'll definitely read more series by this author in the future!
April 16, 2018
I loved this book!! Great story!! love this author!! one of my favorite authors!!
July 7, 2018
I really like how everything was resolved in this final book of The Rose Trilogy!
January 4, 2024
AH this trilogy was so good! Rose and Nick are PERFECT for eachother.
July 5, 2018
A quick read that has everything end well. A palate cleanser book.
January 28, 2018
This final book in the trilogy follows two storylines: the first half is primarily about Mamm's struggle with pain, while the second half focuses on Nick's disappearance.
While the writing, wasn't awful, there were a lot of things I found disappointing or unbelievable about the story itself. THE CONTENTS BELOW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS.
***
My first problem with this was the resolution of Mamm's story. While I appreciate that things weren't magically better for her, they came pretty close: she's suddenly pain-free and strong and getting out of the house regularly when before she'd been homebound for years; at the end of the book, she even feels tingles in her legs. This whole story thread felt too good to be true. I know that we're supposed to see Beth's pure faith and her incredible dreams and be awed, but... I truly would have liked the story better if Mamm had died. I think it would have been more realistic (especially since she was on the brink of death for a while and then seemed to magically regain her health even before seeing the doctor, as if just the hope was enough to cure her weakness) and would have provided an opportunity for Rose to struggle with grief. Perhaps Lewis felt like she had enough struggles going in this book, but I was disappointed at such a quick, rosy ending to this thread.
My second problem was with Hen. I mean, in the second book, she's completely 100% loving everything about the Amish lifestyle. And I know that she needs to compromise to save her marriage, but it surprised me that makeup and clothing were things she happily returned to. I can understand the convenience of electricity and cars, but after her complete disdain for the clothing she left behind, I found it shocking that she returned to it so happily. I thought maybe she'd go for simple dresses or maybe modest modern, but the makeup seemed like a pointless concession, and the whole thing felt false after her way-over-the-top-opposite behavior in the last book.
Then there's Rose. She's been so careful to distance herself from Nick because of his worldly leanings--even going as far as to essentially cut off contact and get engaged to Silas in the first book, willing to marry someone she doesn't fully love for the sake of her faith and principles. And now I'm supposed to believe that she'd really get into a long-term relationship with a guy who isn't a church member and seems to be constantly pushing boundaries? I know he's from another district and thus there's much she doesn't know about his daily life, but I'd think that his enthusiasm for working for an English farmer and his coolness toward his more conservative twin would have been immediate red flags; having him openly admit to going biking and driving a dune buggy should have had him out the door. Maybe we're supposed to think that she's just gotten desperate enough for marriage that she's willing to compromise, but after her sister's experience, this strikes me as false.
Speaking of things that strike me as false: Nick. Yeah, I can believe that he's always been good-hearted, but I find his complete and total 180 personality change to be unbelievable. When he leaves town, Rose has said that he shouldn't stay because trying to force himself to be Amish would kill him; then, less than a year later, he comes back--having had positive experiences on the outside with his work at the homeless shelter and having deliberately finished his semester at community college--and he's meek and mild and suddenly wholly Amish. If it took Hen five years to wander back, having had no outside experience and only the burden of caring for her mother to run from, I find it hard to believe that eight months would be enough to turn a boy who spent the first ten years of his life in the outside world and was tormented daily by his Amish brother in the decade he spent with the People.
Finally, I was waiting this whole book for Lewis to pull out that "Nick can somehow sense when Rose is in trouble" card and have him come rescue her. I mean, why even bring that up in the first book if you're not going to use it later in the story? And there were a couple places when I was sure she was going to use it--like when Rose was in the ravine alone and thought that if anything happened, no one would know where to find her; or, better yet, when Rose was taking George out to visit Hen the evening that Isaac was out of town (and Nick was home). Why would she talk about how restive George is or how she's slightly nervous because she hadn't ridden him in a long time if she wasn't going to follow through on those tidbits and have the horse throw her?!
While the writing, wasn't awful, there were a lot of things I found disappointing or unbelievable about the story itself. THE CONTENTS BELOW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS.
***
My first problem with this was the resolution of Mamm's story. While I appreciate that things weren't magically better for her, they came pretty close: she's suddenly pain-free and strong and getting out of the house regularly when before she'd been homebound for years; at the end of the book, she even feels tingles in her legs. This whole story thread felt too good to be true. I know that we're supposed to see Beth's pure faith and her incredible dreams and be awed, but... I truly would have liked the story better if Mamm had died. I think it would have been more realistic (especially since she was on the brink of death for a while and then seemed to magically regain her health even before seeing the doctor, as if just the hope was enough to cure her weakness) and would have provided an opportunity for Rose to struggle with grief. Perhaps Lewis felt like she had enough struggles going in this book, but I was disappointed at such a quick, rosy ending to this thread.
My second problem was with Hen. I mean, in the second book, she's completely 100% loving everything about the Amish lifestyle. And I know that she needs to compromise to save her marriage, but it surprised me that makeup and clothing were things she happily returned to. I can understand the convenience of electricity and cars, but after her complete disdain for the clothing she left behind, I found it shocking that she returned to it so happily. I thought maybe she'd go for simple dresses or maybe modest modern, but the makeup seemed like a pointless concession, and the whole thing felt false after her way-over-the-top-opposite behavior in the last book.
Then there's Rose. She's been so careful to distance herself from Nick because of his worldly leanings--even going as far as to essentially cut off contact and get engaged to Silas in the first book, willing to marry someone she doesn't fully love for the sake of her faith and principles. And now I'm supposed to believe that she'd really get into a long-term relationship with a guy who isn't a church member and seems to be constantly pushing boundaries? I know he's from another district and thus there's much she doesn't know about his daily life, but I'd think that his enthusiasm for working for an English farmer and his coolness toward his more conservative twin would have been immediate red flags; having him openly admit to going biking and driving a dune buggy should have had him out the door. Maybe we're supposed to think that she's just gotten desperate enough for marriage that she's willing to compromise, but after her sister's experience, this strikes me as false.
Speaking of things that strike me as false: Nick. Yeah, I can believe that he's always been good-hearted, but I find his complete and total 180 personality change to be unbelievable. When he leaves town, Rose has said that he shouldn't stay because trying to force himself to be Amish would kill him; then, less than a year later, he comes back--having had positive experiences on the outside with his work at the homeless shelter and having deliberately finished his semester at community college--and he's meek and mild and suddenly wholly Amish. If it took Hen five years to wander back, having had no outside experience and only the burden of caring for her mother to run from, I find it hard to believe that eight months would be enough to turn a boy who spent the first ten years of his life in the outside world and was tormented daily by his Amish brother in the decade he spent with the People.
Finally, I was waiting this whole book for Lewis to pull out that "Nick can somehow sense when Rose is in trouble" card and have him come rescue her. I mean, why even bring that up in the first book if you're not going to use it later in the story? And there were a couple places when I was sure she was going to use it--like when Rose was in the ravine alone and thought that if anything happened, no one would know where to find her; or, better yet, when Rose was taking George out to visit Hen the evening that Isaac was out of town (and Nick was home). Why would she talk about how restive George is or how she's slightly nervous because she hadn't ridden him in a long time if she wasn't going to follow through on those tidbits and have the horse throw her?!
August 31, 2024
Okey dokey. So drama wise Brandon has a serious wreck on his way to the lawyer’s office (his brother by the way) to meet up with Hen to file for divorce. Along with a badly broken arm and fractured ribs he has lost his site from a head injury. The loss of his eyesight leaves him dependent on Hen in “Amishville” as he has dubbed it. So we can see we’re the ending to this saga will go…..twist to end as there is.
Rose forever a loss at love it seems calls off the engagement with Silas because she sees he loves another. Then her brother sets her up with a blind date of sorts… this Isaac Ebersol is a wee racy for Amish I’d say but Rose is smitten…just in time for Nick Franco to return to Quarryville. Nick says he’s ready to bend his knee to the church and confess his part in Christian’s death. Or is he really just there to win Rose’s heart and hand.
Read on my friends
Rose forever a loss at love it seems calls off the engagement with Silas because she sees he loves another. Then her brother sets her up with a blind date of sorts… this Isaac Ebersol is a wee racy for Amish I’d say but Rose is smitten…just in time for Nick Franco to return to Quarryville. Nick says he’s ready to bend his knee to the church and confess his part in Christian’s death. Or is he really just there to win Rose’s heart and hand.
Read on my friends
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2020
The difficult storylines wrap up nicely especially for the sister who was on the verge of divorce. I liked how she realized her pride even though she felt justified in being “right.” But the prodigal comes back halfway through the book- just shows up having fixed all his problems and doing all the right things. Seemed a little forced and unrealistic.
November 10, 2011
Rose Kauffman misses her friend Nick, but he left the Amish community after his adopted brother died, his rebellious spirit, has led to the "silencing" of his adopted father Bishop Aaron. However Rose knows that her life must go forward, because Nick will probably never come back, and besides, he is not Amish, and she is determined to follow God.
She is happy that her sister Hen and her husband Brandon have resolved their relationship, and are now living closer to home and also serving God together in a small country church nearby. They seem so happy, and another baby is on the way.
As Rose moves on with life, she is sure that she has finally found love when she starts dating a boy from another district. Isaac however does not seem to be as dedicated to his faith, as Rose is to hers, and she is crushed when she finds out that he really is trying to live in the English world and the Amish world both. She knows she can never marry someone not dedicated to the Lord, or to his faith.
My only negatives I have to say about this book is it ended too quick, it seemed to wrap up way too fast. Also it was book three of a trilogy, and it really made the story to know what the first two books were about (which I read them) I prefer for a story to stand alone.
A great story however, told in true Beverly Lewis style! A great redemptive story of Hen and Brandon, a wonderful story of redemption of family values for Hen. I loved their characters and was glad their ending was happy. I also loved the ending for Rose, but no spoilers here!! 4 stars!
This book was provided by Bethany House for review purposes only, no payment was received for this review.
She is happy that her sister Hen and her husband Brandon have resolved their relationship, and are now living closer to home and also serving God together in a small country church nearby. They seem so happy, and another baby is on the way.
As Rose moves on with life, she is sure that she has finally found love when she starts dating a boy from another district. Isaac however does not seem to be as dedicated to his faith, as Rose is to hers, and she is crushed when she finds out that he really is trying to live in the English world and the Amish world both. She knows she can never marry someone not dedicated to the Lord, or to his faith.
My only negatives I have to say about this book is it ended too quick, it seemed to wrap up way too fast. Also it was book three of a trilogy, and it really made the story to know what the first two books were about (which I read them) I prefer for a story to stand alone.
A great story however, told in true Beverly Lewis style! A great redemptive story of Hen and Brandon, a wonderful story of redemption of family values for Hen. I loved their characters and was glad their ending was happy. I also loved the ending for Rose, but no spoilers here!! 4 stars!
This book was provided by Bethany House for review purposes only, no payment was received for this review.
February 4, 2017
As I mentioned in my review of "The Judgment," the first book in this series, I have become increasingly dissatisfied with Lewis as an author and with the Amish genre. I believe that it is quickly becoming a trite, formulaic go-to for someone who aspires to be an author only for success and limited notoriety (notoriety among the unfortunately large group of casual readers of Christian chic lit).
I finished out this trilogy because a thin thread of desire-to-find-out-what-happens remained from the first book. I also really wanted Nick to come back into the story. However, when he did it was supremely unsatisfying. The Nick that reentered the story was not the same Nick that left at the end of the first book. The change in him felt completely unbelievable largely because Lewis spends almost no time looking at the change in him. He simply leaves as one person and enters as another with only an ex post facto explanation of what happened in his life in the time that he was out of the story.
On that note, everything resolved itself far too well. I am tired of cookie cutter stories where everyone ends up getting exactly what they want with only a few bumps in the road along the way.
I finished out this trilogy because a thin thread of desire-to-find-out-what-happens remained from the first book. I also really wanted Nick to come back into the story. However, when he did it was supremely unsatisfying. The Nick that reentered the story was not the same Nick that left at the end of the first book. The change in him felt completely unbelievable largely because Lewis spends almost no time looking at the change in him. He simply leaves as one person and enters as another with only an ex post facto explanation of what happened in his life in the time that he was out of the story.
On that note, everything resolved itself far too well. I am tired of cookie cutter stories where everyone ends up getting exactly what they want with only a few bumps in the road along the way.
June 25, 2020
I honestly don't think that Rose Ann should have been the protagonist of this series. It should have been Nick with perhaps some cuts to Hen's story (if that could be done). Rose didn't really have a character arc and this book seriously dragged, because of the focus on Rose's love life (when we all knew who she was going to end up with) and on family affairs. As for Hen, we could have been do be with her story in one book; it just got tedious after awhile.
Nick-now that's someone who had an actually story! He had many adventures that we know nothing of, a secret that's dismissed very quickly at the end, and a sudden (an almost unexplained) personality change. This man should have been our main character, but no, we had to follow Rose, who I really did not care for. This girl is a go getter, a not of the good variety. She wants to be married and an card carrying member of her community, so she has no problem with abandoning her best friend in a time of need to pursue to her own interests.
Finally, the ending was annoyingly perfect. Everyone gets exactly what they want. I can't say that I was a fan.
Nick-now that's someone who had an actually story! He had many adventures that we know nothing of, a secret that's dismissed very quickly at the end, and a sudden (an almost unexplained) personality change. This man should have been our main character, but no, we had to follow Rose, who I really did not care for. This girl is a go getter, a not of the good variety. She wants to be married and an card carrying member of her community, so she has no problem with abandoning her best friend in a time of need to pursue to her own interests.
Finally, the ending was annoyingly perfect. Everyone gets exactly what they want. I can't say that I was a fan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2025
January 21, 2025
I finished this book yesterday but had to wait for my dumb computer to work in order to write this review. I read the first book in this trilogy and went straight to this one because I couldn't find the second one. Honestly, I didn't even need to read the second one because most of it was nicely summarized for me in the prologue, and barely anything seemed to happen. Between book one and book three, these are the things that happened:
- Rose wrote a letter to Nick and left it in the tin in the ravine, and now it's gone
- Brandon and Hen were starting a divorce when Brandon got into a car accident that's left him temporarily blinded alongside a few other injuries
- Beth Browning, the daughter of the elderly non-Amish man for whom Rose works as a housekeeper, had some dream that convinces Rose's disabled mother to seek a surgery on her spinal cord that will help with her constant pain
That may seem like a lot, but those are only three points. I don't see how you can turn those three things into a 300+ page novel, especially not an interesting one when it comes to Beverly Lewis.
Just like the first book, The Mercy is filled with a whole lotta nothing. I don't understand the decision to have the flat, boring characters who don't change (Rose, Hen) be the narrators, while the interesting characters who do grow and change (Nick, Brandon) are either off to side or pushed to the background. When The Thorn opened, we saw Brandon as an agnostic who had absolutely nothing to do with God, spirituality, or the church. In this book, he's still resistant to it, but Bishop Aaron comes to visit him a few times, and Brandon is suddenly open to the idea. Pages and pages of boring stuff pass, I can't really remember, and the next thing we know, Brandon is attending church and reading his Bible and willing to accommodate Hen and her Amish leanings. Almost all of this happens off-page because it catches Hen off-guard when Brandon tells her all of this. And since Brandon isn't a narrator, we don't get to see what goes through his head. So instead of this being a wonderful transformation orchestrated by God, this sudden switch comes off as jarring and leaves you feeling like you missed an entire subplot.
The same goes for Nick. Nick left the community (as he had a right to) at the end of the first book after the death of his foster brother Christian. I don't know what he was doing in the second book because I haven't read it, but it appears that he's been physically absent since the first book. All of a sudden, halfway through this third book, Nick reappears and wants to apologize for his wrongdoings and become Amish. He was adamantly opposed to joining the church in the first book, and he wanted to go back to the city of Philly where he spent the first ten years of his life and just do stuff. I don't remember exactly what he wanted to do, though I do know that he wanted Rose to come with him and she said no. So it's once again extremely jarring for Nick to return from an extended time of being off-page as a completely different person than when we last saw him. We know that he went to college, but his explanation of that was, "It wasn't for me." WHY NOT?
I was jotting down my thoughts of this book in a notebook while my computer was down, and I described this as Beverly Lewis cheating. It's cheating. She didn't do any of the actual work to show us the transformation of these characters; rather, she simply told us that they had changed, not bothering to let us SEE any of it for ourselves. This is called "telling instead of showing," and it is my biggest literary pet peeve ever. I don't want plot summaries of Brandon becoming a Christian and Nick realizing that he was meant to be Amish. I want the actual story! That's why I opened the book!!
Oh, and that reminds me...
Well, surprise-surprise, Nick does return to the Amish community after all the crap he went through with just about zero explanation as to why. After everything that I just explained, you'd need some mighty stellar reasoning to convince me that Nick not only wants to but should return to the People. But NO. We see absolutely nothing of his time in the outside world, none of the things that he did, his college experience, his living conditions, his friends, NOTHING. Absolutely nothing to convince me that Nick should go back and apologize to the people who wronged him and didn't treat him like one of their own.
I didn't expect to type so much on that topic, but I guess that I got a little riled up. I'll now talk about a few other things that irked me, the first being the death of Dawdi Jeremiah (Rose's grandfather). It was literally a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. I kid you not, if you skip just one sentence, you won't even realize that the guy had died.
But this funeral had to happen, you see, so that Bishop Aaron and the others could be convinced of Nick's innocence in Christian's death, because there's this goofy old guy at the funeral who says loudly along these lines, "Hey, you're the guy from the ravine last fall! Are you okay? And what about that other guy whom you were with, the one who bloodied his head? How's he doing?" (Do people actually say these kinds of things to strangers at a funeral??) And of course that prompts the conversation of this random old guy revealing what really happened at the ravine and also the fact that Nick was the one who found Rose's injured mother when her buggy tipped over ten years ago. And that latter bit of information is also important later on because Rose asks Nick why he never told her, and he reveals that he'd disobeyed his father and taken out a wild horse that caused the buggy to tip over in the first place. That just added to the pain that Nick felt being here, like he wasn't wanted and that he just brought harm to other people. There's yet another reason as to why it makes zero sense for Nick to ever want to come back to the Amish community, but because the plot needs Nick and Rose to be married, he does. I guess that the ending is alright, but this entire trilogy easily could have been condensed into one book if the author knew how to write tightly-plotted scenes.
And one more thing. What is the point of this book taking place in the 1980s? I swear, the time period was completely irrelevant. I barely even noticed it at the beginning and end of the books, and if the book didn't tell you that it was from the 1980s, I can almost guarantee that you would never have guessed. There are three references to the 1980s in total (that I counted and without having read book two): Madonna's "Like a Virgin" song, MTV, and VHS tapes... all three of which I, as a teenager in 2025, instantly recognized. I have multiple Madonna CDs from my parents, my dad likes to watch MTV every now and then, and I have oodles of old Disney classics on VHS tapes in my basement that I still watch from time to time. Aside from the lack of mention of cell phones, you could read this trilogy and easily assume that it took place in the present day. There's nothing wrong with taking place in the 1980s, of course, but I wish that the time period had been more relevant if it was going to be included. I checked the first book's publishing date, 2010, and wondered why Hen was talking about VHS tapes as though they were relevant. I read a sentence explaining that Hen and Brandon had been at odd about watching VHS tapes in the house, and it gave me pause. I was like, "Wait a second, weren't VHS tapes extinct by then?" 😂
Long story short, don't waste your time with this pointless trilogy. Everything could have easily made it into one book instead of being dragged out into three.
I finished this book yesterday but had to wait for my dumb computer to work in order to write this review. I read the first book in this trilogy and went straight to this one because I couldn't find the second one. Honestly, I didn't even need to read the second one because most of it was nicely summarized for me in the prologue, and barely anything seemed to happen. Between book one and book three, these are the things that happened:
- Rose wrote a letter to Nick and left it in the tin in the ravine, and now it's gone
- Brandon and Hen were starting a divorce when Brandon got into a car accident that's left him temporarily blinded alongside a few other injuries
- Beth Browning, the daughter of the elderly non-Amish man for whom Rose works as a housekeeper, had some dream that convinces Rose's disabled mother to seek a surgery on her spinal cord that will help with her constant pain
That may seem like a lot, but those are only three points. I don't see how you can turn those three things into a 300+ page novel, especially not an interesting one when it comes to Beverly Lewis.
Just like the first book, The Mercy is filled with a whole lotta nothing. I don't understand the decision to have the flat, boring characters who don't change (Rose, Hen) be the narrators, while the interesting characters who do grow and change (Nick, Brandon) are either off to side or pushed to the background. When The Thorn opened, we saw Brandon as an agnostic who had absolutely nothing to do with God, spirituality, or the church. In this book, he's still resistant to it, but Bishop Aaron comes to visit him a few times, and Brandon is suddenly open to the idea. Pages and pages of boring stuff pass, I can't really remember, and the next thing we know, Brandon is attending church and reading his Bible and willing to accommodate Hen and her Amish leanings. Almost all of this happens off-page because it catches Hen off-guard when Brandon tells her all of this. And since Brandon isn't a narrator, we don't get to see what goes through his head. So instead of this being a wonderful transformation orchestrated by God, this sudden switch comes off as jarring and leaves you feeling like you missed an entire subplot.
The same goes for Nick. Nick left the community (as he had a right to) at the end of the first book after the death of his foster brother Christian. I don't know what he was doing in the second book because I haven't read it, but it appears that he's been physically absent since the first book. All of a sudden, halfway through this third book, Nick reappears and wants to apologize for his wrongdoings and become Amish. He was adamantly opposed to joining the church in the first book, and he wanted to go back to the city of Philly where he spent the first ten years of his life and just do stuff. I don't remember exactly what he wanted to do, though I do know that he wanted Rose to come with him and she said no. So it's once again extremely jarring for Nick to return from an extended time of being off-page as a completely different person than when we last saw him. We know that he went to college, but his explanation of that was, "It wasn't for me." WHY NOT?
I was jotting down my thoughts of this book in a notebook while my computer was down, and I described this as Beverly Lewis cheating. It's cheating. She didn't do any of the actual work to show us the transformation of these characters; rather, she simply told us that they had changed, not bothering to let us SEE any of it for ourselves. This is called "telling instead of showing," and it is my biggest literary pet peeve ever. I don't want plot summaries of Brandon becoming a Christian and Nick realizing that he was meant to be Amish. I want the actual story! That's why I opened the book!!
Oh, and that reminds me...
The People expected too much of the little English boy from Philly, Rose thought. Yet Nick had come back to the very people who failed to believe in him.Doesn't this sound toxic? Put yourself in Nick's shoes for a moment. You're a ten-year-old kid living in Philadelphia with your mother, and then you're placed in foster care when your alcoholic mother leaves you. You're probably traumatized from that alone, especially because your father left when you were very young. All of a sudden, you're taken in by this random guy who lives out in the countryside in the middle of nowhere with these goofy customs that you've never seen before and none of the things in life that you probably took for granted—music, cars, telephones, television, etc. You are expected to take on the ways of these people even though you've literally never seen them before, and your new foster brother treats you like dirt. Your foster father doesn't like you because you understandably don't want to take on these new ways of life that are completely foreign to you. After ten years of this life, your dirtbag foster brother dies in an accident that he started when he was angry because he was trying to hurt you, and everyone suspects you of murdering him. What in the world would you do? You wouldn't stay with those people. You'd leave to the world where you grew up and have very little chance of returning.
Well, surprise-surprise, Nick does return to the Amish community after all the crap he went through with just about zero explanation as to why. After everything that I just explained, you'd need some mighty stellar reasoning to convince me that Nick not only wants to but should return to the People. But NO. We see absolutely nothing of his time in the outside world, none of the things that he did, his college experience, his living conditions, his friends, NOTHING. Absolutely nothing to convince me that Nick should go back and apologize to the people who wronged him and didn't treat him like one of their own.
I didn't expect to type so much on that topic, but I guess that I got a little riled up. I'll now talk about a few other things that irked me, the first being the death of Dawdi Jeremiah (Rose's grandfather). It was literally a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. I kid you not, if you skip just one sentence, you won't even realize that the guy had died.
Rose smiled, glad to be blessed with such a rich spiritual heritage.The next two chapters are dedicated to this man's funeral, which probably would be moving if I had any idea who this guy was. He's Rose's grandfather and that's all that I knew about him.
She was halfway across the back lawn when she heard what sounded like a milk can clatter, then a muffled call for help.
Turning, she ran back to the barn, rushing past Upsy-Daisy's stall. "Dawdi!" she called, her heart in her throat. "I'm comin'!"
By the time that she found him and knelt beside him on the barn floor, her dear Dawdi had already stepped from this life into the next. He looked so peaceful lying there, a slight smile on his wrinkled face.
But this funeral had to happen, you see, so that Bishop Aaron and the others could be convinced of Nick's innocence in Christian's death, because there's this goofy old guy at the funeral who says loudly along these lines, "Hey, you're the guy from the ravine last fall! Are you okay? And what about that other guy whom you were with, the one who bloodied his head? How's he doing?" (Do people actually say these kinds of things to strangers at a funeral??) And of course that prompts the conversation of this random old guy revealing what really happened at the ravine and also the fact that Nick was the one who found Rose's injured mother when her buggy tipped over ten years ago. And that latter bit of information is also important later on because Rose asks Nick why he never told her, and he reveals that he'd disobeyed his father and taken out a wild horse that caused the buggy to tip over in the first place. That just added to the pain that Nick felt being here, like he wasn't wanted and that he just brought harm to other people. There's yet another reason as to why it makes zero sense for Nick to ever want to come back to the Amish community, but because the plot needs Nick and Rose to be married, he does. I guess that the ending is alright, but this entire trilogy easily could have been condensed into one book if the author knew how to write tightly-plotted scenes.
And one more thing. What is the point of this book taking place in the 1980s? I swear, the time period was completely irrelevant. I barely even noticed it at the beginning and end of the books, and if the book didn't tell you that it was from the 1980s, I can almost guarantee that you would never have guessed. There are three references to the 1980s in total (that I counted and without having read book two): Madonna's "Like a Virgin" song, MTV, and VHS tapes... all three of which I, as a teenager in 2025, instantly recognized. I have multiple Madonna CDs from my parents, my dad likes to watch MTV every now and then, and I have oodles of old Disney classics on VHS tapes in my basement that I still watch from time to time. Aside from the lack of mention of cell phones, you could read this trilogy and easily assume that it took place in the present day. There's nothing wrong with taking place in the 1980s, of course, but I wish that the time period had been more relevant if it was going to be included. I checked the first book's publishing date, 2010, and wondered why Hen was talking about VHS tapes as though they were relevant. I read a sentence explaining that Hen and Brandon had been at odd about watching VHS tapes in the house, and it gave me pause. I was like, "Wait a second, weren't VHS tapes extinct by then?" 😂
Long story short, don't waste your time with this pointless trilogy. Everything could have easily made it into one book instead of being dragged out into three.
December 30, 2011
This was everything that I wanted in a final book of the series. I loved how all of the pieces came together and it seemed so very authentic. Lewis' books always give me a sense of peace and serenity, but I recognize too that Amish life isn't as simplistic and wonderful as some of us outsiders may think. Lewis has captured the modern day Amish and how the English world continues to intrude on their lifestyle. She does a wonderful job of taking worldly problems and putting that Amish spin on them...excellent series!
January 1, 2017
This book completes the entire Rose trilogy. I enjoyed the trail of events and liked the trilogy overall, but by the time I got to the latter part of the third book, I was becoming restless. It felt like it was dragging and I didn't care about what Rose was cooking - I just wanted the story to make full circle - which it did - and I expected it would. I enjoyed the last two books the best and although the last one ties up all the loose ends, I felt like there was more action in the second book.
January 11, 2012
One word for this book: Disappointed. I had such high expectations for this book because I really loved the first two and I was so excited to get this from the local library but it did not live up to the hype in my head. It was well written and the characters fleshed out but I didn't *feel* their story like I did in the first two. Worth the read I say if you read the other in the trilogy and would like a conclusion, but not as a standalone.
May 28, 2023
I enjoyed this trilogy of books.
I would recommend these books for people who enjoy good clean romance books.
I would recommend these books for people who enjoy good clean romance books.
September 14, 2015
I love happy endings! ^.^
April 3, 2019
This book was so good. I had no idea I was reading out of turn. I was so eager to see what happened that I picked up the wrong book. To say that Mrs. Lewis knows how to write to keep you progressing with her storyline is an understatement. Without reading book number 2 I had an idea of what transpired and was grateful for the recap she gave towards the end.
Her writings of the Amish life has made such an impact on me that I have looked up where an Amish community is in my area so that I can go and take a look.
The story deals with Rose and Hen mostly, but the story line of Mamm's healing was the breaking point of this story for me. No, she wasn't able to walk, but to be healed of pain and free to enjoy life with her family made my heart glad. Her faith and resilience was evident throughout this trilogy. She never gave up despite hurting so bad. She prayed and she believed. She was surrounded by those whose faith in God caused her faith to increase and believe she would live after the surgery and she did!!
When Hens' husband started asking questions and wanted and welcomed conversations from Sol and Bishop Aaron I knew his life was turning around and their marriage would make it. All it takes is for one to plant and one to water for God to cause increase!
Rose and her potential beau Isaac, I knew would not work. Yes, he made her heart sing and yes he was romantic and attentive; he was also too connected to the world that eventually she would have had to make a choice. I am glad that she discovered that right away and stayed true to her faith.
Oftentimes women change their perspectives to suit a man when the man that is for them will compliment their perspectives and beliefs not cause them to skirt the lines or choose.
I love how this story unfolds and beauty is shown from the ashes. Forgiveness and humilty coupled with faith prevails everytime.
I hope I get to visit an Amish community and see the beauty of unity in person.
Her writings of the Amish life has made such an impact on me that I have looked up where an Amish community is in my area so that I can go and take a look.
The story deals with Rose and Hen mostly, but the story line of Mamm's healing was the breaking point of this story for me. No, she wasn't able to walk, but to be healed of pain and free to enjoy life with her family made my heart glad. Her faith and resilience was evident throughout this trilogy. She never gave up despite hurting so bad. She prayed and she believed. She was surrounded by those whose faith in God caused her faith to increase and believe she would live after the surgery and she did!!
When Hens' husband started asking questions and wanted and welcomed conversations from Sol and Bishop Aaron I knew his life was turning around and their marriage would make it. All it takes is for one to plant and one to water for God to cause increase!
Rose and her potential beau Isaac, I knew would not work. Yes, he made her heart sing and yes he was romantic and attentive; he was also too connected to the world that eventually she would have had to make a choice. I am glad that she discovered that right away and stayed true to her faith.
Oftentimes women change their perspectives to suit a man when the man that is for them will compliment their perspectives and beliefs not cause them to skirt the lines or choose.
I love how this story unfolds and beauty is shown from the ashes. Forgiveness and humilty coupled with faith prevails everytime.
I hope I get to visit an Amish community and see the beauty of unity in person.
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