"An authenticity that showcases her own spirituality." --Beth Wiseman
The Amish Bride
Like most Mountain Amish girls, Mary King has always dreamed of her wedding day. But she never imagined that a sudden, irresistible kiss would result in marriage to the handsome Englischer professor studying her unique community. Or that doing the truly honorable thing means keeping their relationship chaste so both she and Dr. Jude Lyons can someday go their separate ways.
But when Mary accompanies her husband-in-name-only to Atlanta to meet his wealthy, overbearing family, she's tempted more than ever by Jude's kindness, humor--and vulnerability. And when a wrenching misunderstanding causes her to return heartbroken to her remote Appalachian home, she's certain she's lost the real love they have found. . .and the shared future she's come to want so much. But a crisis of more than faith will work surprising miracles--and show Mary that love is strong enough to make the impossible come true.
"Long creates storylines that captivate her readers. . ." --RT Book Reviews
THE AMISH BRIDE OF ICE MOUNTAIN is a book I wanted to read for ages. I loved Ms. Long’s books with Thomas Nelson, but this was too… sensual, too ABA, too steamy, too much. I also disagreed about some of the things she included. An Amish woman being forced to marry an Englischer. Jumping over the broom to be married. No. This is Amish… Or supposed to be. The sex (or want of it) seemed to be all the characters could think about. The rest of the story seemed an after-thought.
I was greatly disappointed by this book and won’t be reading the second one in this series.
I can feel the ice and the cold and the splendor of Ice Mountain as I read Kelly Long's novel. I even researched after reading to see if this is an actual place and it appears that it is. What a wonderful place to visit, though if I had to make the long trek up the mountain as Mary and Jude did, I don't know how I would fare. It becomes a place of sadness though after a forced marriage when Mary and Jude, the professor researching the mountain and the Amish people who call it home, as Jude plans to never make the marriage a true one. He plans to take her to Atlanta to his family for a short while and then annul the marriage. Hmmmm, does he research to discover if the Amish will accept an annulment? They do not accept divorce. This is a story of forgiveness and love. True love expressed in all its forms. Some readers will be taken aback as this book does focus on Mary and Jude's physical desire for one another. I did not find it distasteful or overly erotic but it reminds me a bit more of Harlequin romances in that respect. I found it touching in fact. It reminded me of first love and all the tenderness a young couple (or an old couple too) feel for each other. This book is also about relationships in many aspects.....husband/wife, siblings, friends, parent/child, grandparents, paid household help/family they serve. I was greatly moved by this story and found myself thinking of the characters when I had to put my kindle down and attend to life for a while. I wanted to read more, to know more, to feel more! I am excited to see that a second book is planned. I rate this book 5 stars and highly recommend it to readers. I received a pdf version of this book from netgalley and a print copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Well that was unusual. An English professor steals a kiss from an Amish girl and is forced to marry her. For one thing I cannot imagine that ever happening. Doesn't the Amish have strict rules about marrying outside their faith? Jude was doing Amish studies for his university course and meets Mary King when that happens. I am shaking my head in disbelief. Then Mary leaves the community with her husband. You mean the Amish are okay with this and actually encourage it? I am guessing she never took her baptismal vows because there is no mention of shunning. Anyway they spend some time in the city with Jude's family. His father is an angry and bitter man making life difficult. Due to a misunderstanding Mary leaves Jude and goes back to the mountain. Jude decides he wants to join the Amish and woo his wife back. Up until then I was enjoying the book but then it went downhill after that. Jude and Mary could NOT keep their hands and lips off each other. Yes, yes I know they were married but GET A ROOM people! I don't like watching couples making out and don't like reading about it either. Disgusting! This did not seem like a very authentic book with all the discrepancies regarding the Amish.
Kissing a girl doesn´t mean much any more in the contemporary Western culture. In the Amish community of Ice Mountain, it is still a big deal. When Jude Lyons, an Englischer professor studying the Amish community succumbs to to charm of the moment and kisses young Mary KIng, little does he know that the kiss will lead to a shotgun wedding. Although attracted to Mary, Jude can´t imagine her adapting to his lifestyle, so he decides to have a marriage-in-name-only, to "borrow" Mary for while, take her with him to Atlanta to let her see the world and then "return" her and seek an annulment. Mary want more than just a wedding, she wants a true marriage. Her moral standards, faith, intelligence and kindness allow her to fit in Jude´s life and family surprisingly well and Jude soon starts to realize that Mary is a keeper. When after a misunderstanding Mary flights home, Jude has to decide what to do with his life.
The noel was a whirlwind of changes of scenery and situations, yet it flowed naturally. Beside the romance, it is also a nice study of spiritual journey from the slavery of perceived guilt and grudge held for a very long time to the exhilarating and life-changing freedom brought by forgiveness, Kelly Long inhabited her book by many interesting characters, both Amish and Englischer, and I have hoped that she would turn this book into a series. And yes - at the end of the book, there is an excerpt of the next story of Ice Mountain. Now I am looking forward to the spring publication of An Amish Man of Ice Mountain.
I received my copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am going to start my review off with a quick disclaimer. The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain pushes the boundaries of Christian fiction and could be described as “edgy” in the way the author approaches intimacy in the book. Certain details in this book may make some readers uncomfortable and I would not recommend this book for a teenage audience.
The author provides her own disclaimer about the story on Amazon so that her readers can make up their own minds about whether to choose to read this book.
All of that being stated…I have really enjoyed every book by Kelly Long that I have ever read and decided to read The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain even after reading the disclaimer that the author has posted on Amazon. I am very glad that I did. Yes, there is quite a bit more description of intimate thoughts and actions in this book. That is definitely true. However, I really enjoyed this story.
I loved the innocence of Mary and the worldliness of Jude. The way they were forced into the marriage and the way both of them handled the situation was special, too. And even though Jude was a very worldly man and was not a believer for a good portion of the book, he truly cared about Mary. The tender way he treated her, even when he was still adamant about annulling the marriage in the future gave us a glimpse into his heart.
It was interesting to watch as Mary was introduced to Jude’s world. She continued to try to be a good wife to Jude and hoped to make the wedding into a true marriage. I liked her take on the world. She had a way of seeing into the heart of the other characters. I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading the sequel.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I also purchased my own copy.
Perhaps more than 4 stars; I'm still thinking about it.
Some reviewers have expressed their dislike of this author portraying the physical attraction the husband and wife feel for each other, although, IMHO, there is nothing distasteful presented.
The hero is a Professor of Amish Studies in a Georgia university setting, who has been given a grant to study a different kind of Amish community and culture in a former mining area. He is from a wealthy dysfunctional family and this comes into play later in the story. To have the Bishop's approval to spend time studying their faith community's life and practices, our hero is required to live in a mountain cabin as simply as they do.
The heroine is a young Amish woman who helps explain various things to the hero. One day, Hero forgets himself and kisses Heroine. This kiss is witnessed by heroine's brothers and a "shotgun" style wedding takes place. Hero has in mind to remain celibate and to have the marriage annulled when they return to Georgia.
Misunderstandings, family dynamics in both locations, and so on interfere with Hero's (and heroine's) plans.
I enjoyed reading this story of clashing cultural values and seeing the other's cultures through different eyes.
The human condition is explored in a bit more depth than I'd expected, and I was glad for the process through which many people found their faith (or lack of same) challenged.
I found on another goodreads site the author's statement that this Amish Mountain community does exist, and she comments briefly about their slight differences with other kinds of Amish communities. Interesting to note.
I do plan to read the sequel to this story, but I do want to emphasize that this is NOT a cliffhanger. It can be read alone and I recommend it to adult readers who don't mind a bit of PG rating. Also, because of an attempted criminal event regarding a different Amish family on the mountain, I would not recommend this book for teen readers.
My grandmother was Amish and so I wanted to read books about their ways and life. Imagine my shock to read this book and several others in Kelly Long's series and find that are as far away from true Amish values, mores and lifestyle as you could possibly get. They focus on sensual acts of sex and violence, they ignore the non-violent beliefs of the Amish faith and they even imply child sexual endangerment with youth marriages, etc. Such books are not only disreputable but they aren't even well written. The library is wasting their money on this trash.
This genre is not for me. Christian and/or Spiritual romance leaves me with a sense of 'meh'. Jude and Mary as a couple had very little depth, the obstacles they faced were resolve without much fanfare and the evil ex-girlfriend wasn't that evil at all. The sexual tension was there but again, meh. I tried. I read the whole book and it will be my last. Not Ms Long's fault. I'm the wrong audience for her books.
Jude comes to Ice Mountain to research the Amish community there and kisses the wrong girl and that is how he got Mary as his wife. She wants a real marriage and he said after he exposes her to the English world he will give her an annulment. The book is not very realistic and all about making it a real marriage. I did however, like her description of marriage of heart, mind, body and soul.
I am DNFing at 42%. I overcame the fact that it's modern day and no non-Amish fiance would be living at her future in laws' house. But at 42% the MC did something that seems unlikely for her Amish character. so I am out!
Well. A series of far fetched plot devices that just kept coming. In one book we had an attempted rape, an almost death from falling in a cave, violently forced wedding between an Amish girl and an English man (who was engaged to someone else), a bear attack on a dog, beaver fever infectious epidemic which was casually ended by a call to CDC friends, 2 deaths, a secret divorce, an unknown dead twin, and yet these were all side missions to the primary point of the sexual life of the main couple. And that was still pandering to the woman's childlike innocence and her new husbands control over her in an unnerving way. It was just distracting and unbelievable. Also, I thought the jumping the broom for a wedding was a black slave tradition in pre-Civil War times, not a modern Amish one. And no mention of baptism vows and the English guy was accepted so quickly into the community at the end and put as teacher over Amish kids which seems a bit far fetched to me. There was much talk of forgiveness and the "doing the right thing" and Gott but most of it was centered on feelings anyway.
It certainly was a roller coaster.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A professor goes to Ice Mountain to gather information on his study of the Amish there to write a book about them. He is caught kissing an Amish gal and is forced into marriage by her father and brothers to save her from the disgrace. He then takes his new "wife" back home with him, planning to get an annullment because they've been married in name only and he never wanted to marry her. His family is very wealthy and live in a mansion; his father is harsh and has never had a relationship with his son. He also had a fiancee at home. Time goes on and he is very attracted to his beautiful wife. She finds his papers saying she is a research project and is very hurt so she leaves and goes back to the mountain. He hears she is very sick and goes to see her. Yada, yada, yada. Yes, they then fall in love and live happily ever after. Ho hum.
I really enjoyed this book! The characters were wonderful and their storyline was sweet and very enjoyable. I loved reading about them and how they truly came to live each other.
Some reviews have mentioned the sex. They made it seem like it was graphic and all the time! Do not believe them! The author never went into detail, it was mentioned twice at the end of the book! She talked about them making love, that was all! Married people do that!
Do not let those reviews deter you from reading this wonderful book!!
Cute story. It started out kind of disbelievable, but progressed into a nice little story. I saw a review or two thinking it was a little racy but I don't see it. Sweet story of a married couple who did things in reverse. Marriage first then the courtship. I will be reading the second one in the series
I'm not exactly knowledgeable about Amish culture at the moment but this book seemed a little far fetched to me. The main thing being the book starts with an Amish women being forced to marry an English man because they were caught in a passionate embrace.
The other thing that made me give this a low review was that the main characters were constantly thinking about the other in a sexual way.
Jude and Mary’s first kiss turns into a hasty marriage that the Englisch professor hopes to get annulled because he has no intention of staying on Ice Mountain now that his study of Amish mountain culture has ended. I was impressed with Mary’s blind trust to venture into the Englisch world because she truly wants her marriage to work and how her faith plays a huge part in the story. She has no fear because it’s God’s plan for her though Jude’s world is filled with mean spirited people and she has to flee. As their two cultures clash Jude and Mary will be tested time and again as they struggle with honesty, compassion and commitment in the Amish community. I really enjoyed the antics, wisdom and spirituality of Bishop Umble who is quite an entertaining character.
This is another romantic Amish story. Setting is Pennsylvania with the mountains as the background. The characters are thought provoking and the ending is pleasing. copy right 2014
The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain by Kelly Long is a sweet Amish romance. It is different from other Amish books on the market. It is set in Ice Mountain, Pennsylvania where a group of Amish live without running water and indoor bathrooms (their moral compose is stuck in the 1800’s). Jude Lyons is an associate professor from Atlanta that has spent the summer learning about the Amish of Ice Mountain. He is planning to write a book. Jude is engaged to Carol, but has grown close to Mary King. Mary is only eighteen years old, but she is attracted to Jude. One day Jude kisses Mary and unbeknownst to Jude, they are seen by Mary’s brother, Joseph. Joseph reports the kissing incident to Abner King, their father. Abner gets the Bishop and insists that Mary and Jude be married immediately (for kissing). Jude is reluctant to marry. He has a fiancé back home, but he is attracted to Mary. Abner states that Jude can either marry his daughter or all his research notes will go up in flames. Jude agrees to marry Mary. Jude thinks that after a couple of months he can get an annulment and send Mary back to her family. Jude does not know that annulment is not an option for the Amish.
Jude leaves the mountain the next day with his new bride. They travel to his parent’s home in Atlanta, Georgia. It is different from anything that Mary has ever seen. Jude’s parents do not welcome them with open arms. Jude’s father wants Jude to give up his Amish studies and teaching and join his firm. He also seems to have a deep resentment towards Jude. Jude’s mother is a socialite and likes to talk. Unfortunately, Carol (Jude’s fiancé) is staying with them. She is determined to get rid of Mary. The one welcoming person is Jude’s grandfather. He is a loving man who welcomes Mary into the family.
When Mary finds some of Jude’s notes about using her as a research project, Mary flees for home. After a devastating loss and betrayal by his father, Jude goes to Ice Mountain. He will have to decide what he wants in life. Can he make his marriage to Mary work? The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain is a lovely and sweet story. The book is easy to read. I give The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain 4.5 out of 5 stars. There are some good points in the book, but it can be a little preachy at times. It is overall a good book with some interesting characters (I like how Mary is naïve but insightful. She can see the heart of a person). I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain is the first book of this series. I was lucky enough to find this as a book in my library.
This story does not have a "standard" beginning in Chapter One (don't skip the Prologue). "Associate Professor of Amish Studies" I read and stopped. Amish Studies? I've never heard of Amish Studies. "Would love to have or take the course though", I thought. So I was intrigued with this story from the beginning.
I can be quite critical of Amish books which have the community or a character that has been described as a gut Amish man or woman doing something that they just would not do. Kelly Long bases this story with a group called the "Mountain Amish". I've never heard of the Mountain Amish. But writer Long does a superb job of explaining anything that comes up within the story where the reader would know that this group is just a bit different from the normal (my word) Amish. Authors. Take note. This is how to write a story that allows you to bend what is known and not have a knowledgeable reader shaking their head thinking ... that would never happen.
The characters seem so real in this book but I would love to go to Ice Mountain and meet them. The taciturn Abner, the ever wise Grossmudder May, the Bishop...I love it when a writer can make the characters feel so real.
The story is full of wisdom and I have highlighted many passages. If you have or know of someone who has a past (action) that keeps weighing them down. The negative just continues to overwhelm the positive in their lives; this book provides more than just one quote for you/them. For example, "...we cannot undo the past but must learn from it, and look forward to Gott's future plans."
Kelly Long has become one of my favorite authors and not just because she writes in a genre I enjoy so much. I highly recommend this book.