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Sunshine and Shadow
Could their explosive love bridge the chasm between two impossibly different worlds?
He thought there were no surprises left in the world...but the sudden appearance of young Amish widow Susan Peachey was astonishing—and just the shock cynical Alan Wilde needed. She was a woman from another time, innocent, yet wise in ways he scarcely understood.
Irresistibly, Susan and Alan were drawn together to explore their wildly exotic differences. And soon they would discover something far greater—a rich emotional bond that transcended both of their worlds and linked them heart-to-heart...until their need for each other became so overwhelming that there was no turning back. But would she have to sacrifice all she cherished for the uncertain joy of their forbidden love?
He thought there were no surprises left in the world...but the sudden appearance of young Amish widow Susan Peachey was astonishing—and just the shock cynical Alan Wilde needed. She was a woman from another time, innocent, yet wise in ways he scarcely understood.
Irresistibly, Susan and Alan were drawn together to explore their wildly exotic differences. And soon they would discover something far greater—a rich emotional bond that transcended both of their worlds and linked them heart-to-heart...until their need for each other became so overwhelming that there was no turning back. But would she have to sacrifice all she cherished for the uncertain joy of their forbidden love?
341 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1986
22 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Curtis
12 books25 followersThe husband and wife writing team Tom and Sharon Curtis also write under the pen name Laura London.
Married more than forty years, Tom and Sharon published ten historical and contemporary romance novels from 1976 to 1986, many of which have come to be regarded as classics in the genre.
The daughter of a petroleum geologist father and historian and magazine editor mother, Sharon was raised overseas and lived in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Canary Islands, Turkey and Iran, and attended high school in London. As an adult, she worked in bookstore management.
Tom attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison and has worked for a public television station as a writer and on-air reporter. He is currently employed as a semi truck driver for a chemical company and plays guitar with a Celtic band that includes a son on bodhran and a daughter on fiddle. Together they have played eighteen years of annual performances at the largest Irish musical festival in the world.
Married more than forty years, Tom and Sharon published ten historical and contemporary romance novels from 1976 to 1986, many of which have come to be regarded as classics in the genre.
The daughter of a petroleum geologist father and historian and magazine editor mother, Sharon was raised overseas and lived in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Canary Islands, Turkey and Iran, and attended high school in London. As an adult, she worked in bookstore management.
Tom attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison and has worked for a public television station as a writer and on-air reporter. He is currently employed as a semi truck driver for a chemical company and plays guitar with a Celtic band that includes a son on bodhran and a daughter on fiddle. Together they have played eighteen years of annual performances at the largest Irish musical festival in the world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
December 29, 2014
This book is astonishing.
It's a four star read, up until the last third. Then it becomes something else. Something raw and honest and heartbreaking. I have never read a fluffy romance that has done anything like it.
Alan is a bigshot, oscar winning movie director. He is filming a horror movie in backwoods Wisconsin. Susan is an Amish schoolteacher who stumbles on his filmset after attacking the horror movie monster in the woods. It's nothing. It's slightly patronising, cliched comedy.
But from that very beginning, Susan is treated with dignity by the authors. She's not stupid. She's just never encountered this before. Able to learn, as smart as any of the people on the film set laughing at her. It would be so very easy to make her bumbling, make her seduced by the film director and their romance is him taking her into his world and her being constantly wide eyed and making stupid mistakes and him laughing and saying 'there there, I'll protect you, don't worry your pretty little head'. I've read it a million times.
If you have a worldly man and an innocent, that is what you get. A man who wants to preserve her innocence by keeping her sheltered from the world and laughing at her adorable ignorance.
Or flip side, you have an Amish woman. Their world is all sunshine and rainbows and good decent hard work. The film producer realizes how tawdry all the shiny baubles in his work and world are and is so happy to walk away and finally be free of the awful modern world, where they have so much but see and appreciate so little. Now he is in his Amish paradise and they live blissfully ever after pushing a plow together.
Basically you have the premise for every fire meets water relationship you've ever read. For every bad boy to be redeemed. You put two people together who shouldn't be attracted to each other, and it could never work, but due to authorial wand waving one of them changes and suddenly it works, huzzah!
This book has all the cliches. But it takes it deeper. What would happen, honestly, if you had these two fall in love?
And it is heart wrenching. Truly an impossible situation. There is no physical way there could be a happy ending for this couple.
And in a literary novel, that's what you'd get. He would ride off into the sunset, and having given him her all she would stand defiant as she is tormented by those she around her, a martyr stoned and despised but with one happy memory in her heart that was worth all the cost.
But this is romance. And you will not know what the ending is going to be until you get there. There is a happy ending. But astonishingly, impossibly, it is honestly reached. It is reached painfully, truly, with the utmost of reality in it. Without pulling sleight of hand tricks to skew the reader into believing either the modern world or the Amish world is a secret paradise with all the answers the other person needs.
I was utterly not expecting this. It's certainly not the best romance I've ever read - try their other book, The Windflower for that. But in a genre famous for bad boy 'heroes' who are rapists, stalkers, and domestic violence cases wrapped in a bow and called romance and they expect you to somehow swallow that, turn your brain off when you read - this book has the ingenue. The rake. And some truly touching honesty.
For adding unbelievable depth to a trite romance, five stars. This is a would-be author 'how to' book. And I stayed up past midnight to finish it.
It's a four star read, up until the last third. Then it becomes something else. Something raw and honest and heartbreaking. I have never read a fluffy romance that has done anything like it.
Alan is a bigshot, oscar winning movie director. He is filming a horror movie in backwoods Wisconsin. Susan is an Amish schoolteacher who stumbles on his filmset after attacking the horror movie monster in the woods. It's nothing. It's slightly patronising, cliched comedy.
But from that very beginning, Susan is treated with dignity by the authors. She's not stupid. She's just never encountered this before. Able to learn, as smart as any of the people on the film set laughing at her. It would be so very easy to make her bumbling, make her seduced by the film director and their romance is him taking her into his world and her being constantly wide eyed and making stupid mistakes and him laughing and saying 'there there, I'll protect you, don't worry your pretty little head'. I've read it a million times.
If you have a worldly man and an innocent, that is what you get. A man who wants to preserve her innocence by keeping her sheltered from the world and laughing at her adorable ignorance.
Or flip side, you have an Amish woman. Their world is all sunshine and rainbows and good decent hard work. The film producer realizes how tawdry all the shiny baubles in his work and world are and is so happy to walk away and finally be free of the awful modern world, where they have so much but see and appreciate so little. Now he is in his Amish paradise and they live blissfully ever after pushing a plow together.
Basically you have the premise for every fire meets water relationship you've ever read. For every bad boy to be redeemed. You put two people together who shouldn't be attracted to each other, and it could never work, but due to authorial wand waving one of them changes and suddenly it works, huzzah!
This book has all the cliches. But it takes it deeper. What would happen, honestly, if you had these two fall in love?
And it is heart wrenching. Truly an impossible situation. There is no physical way there could be a happy ending for this couple.
And in a literary novel, that's what you'd get. He would ride off into the sunset, and having given him her all she would stand defiant as she is tormented by those she around her, a martyr stoned and despised but with one happy memory in her heart that was worth all the cost.
But this is romance. And you will not know what the ending is going to be until you get there. There is a happy ending. But astonishingly, impossibly, it is honestly reached. It is reached painfully, truly, with the utmost of reality in it. Without pulling sleight of hand tricks to skew the reader into believing either the modern world or the Amish world is a secret paradise with all the answers the other person needs.
I was utterly not expecting this. It's certainly not the best romance I've ever read - try their other book, The Windflower for that. But in a genre famous for bad boy 'heroes' who are rapists, stalkers, and domestic violence cases wrapped in a bow and called romance and they expect you to somehow swallow that, turn your brain off when you read - this book has the ingenue. The rake. And some truly touching honesty.
For adding unbelievable depth to a trite romance, five stars. This is a would-be author 'how to' book. And I stayed up past midnight to finish it.
December 20, 2024
This was my second book by Sharon and Tom Curtis, a.k.a. Laura London. The first was The Windflower, which I still think about. A lot. Especially the part with the crocodile. And Cat! Lovely Cat. But I digress.
The Curtises have a beautiful, dreamy writing style that can apparently be applied successfully to any setting, whether that's an 18th-century pirate ship or rural Wisconsin. The latter is where Sunshine and Shadow takes place, and the book opens with a fresh-faced, beautiful Amish woman stumbling upon a monster in the woods. But! It is not a real monster. It is a character in a movie being filmed by Alan Wilde, a famous Hollywood director. He's immediately drawn to the Amish woman, whose name is Susan Peachey, and sets out to convince her to act in his movie.
So far, so romantically delicious: jaded and scarred celebrity + pure-of-heart Amish widow. But the Curtises elevate the story beyond opposites-attract and skillfully illuminate both Alan and Susan's psychology to get us to an HEA we can believe in.
It's an incredibly sensual book, not just in terms of physicality but also how the Curtises build a sense of place that amplifies the characters' chemistry: a horseback ride and stargazing on the grass, a bed on set of the movie, the peacefulness of Susan's home. They create almost a cocoon in which Alan and Susan's love can grow, which means that when Bad Things happen, they're all the more shocking, even though they've been lurking outside the cocoon all along.
I know little about the Amish faith and way of life, but from what I can gather, this was a respectful yet clear-eyed look at what that faith asks of its followers. (Perhaps the Curtises learned about it during their decades in Wisconsin?) The "English" world doesn't come away unexamined, either, particularly the harm it can cause to those who choose a life in the public eye.
I just thought this was such a beautiful book: sexy and sad and lyrical and affecting. I would read it again in a heartbeat.
I can’t end this review without mentioning the amazing shiny cover with art by Franco Accornero.
The Curtises have a beautiful, dreamy writing style that can apparently be applied successfully to any setting, whether that's an 18th-century pirate ship or rural Wisconsin. The latter is where Sunshine and Shadow takes place, and the book opens with a fresh-faced, beautiful Amish woman stumbling upon a monster in the woods. But! It is not a real monster. It is a character in a movie being filmed by Alan Wilde, a famous Hollywood director. He's immediately drawn to the Amish woman, whose name is Susan Peachey, and sets out to convince her to act in his movie.
So far, so romantically delicious: jaded and scarred celebrity + pure-of-heart Amish widow. But the Curtises elevate the story beyond opposites-attract and skillfully illuminate both Alan and Susan's psychology to get us to an HEA we can believe in.
It's an incredibly sensual book, not just in terms of physicality but also how the Curtises build a sense of place that amplifies the characters' chemistry: a horseback ride and stargazing on the grass, a bed on set of the movie, the peacefulness of Susan's home. They create almost a cocoon in which Alan and Susan's love can grow, which means that when Bad Things happen, they're all the more shocking, even though they've been lurking outside the cocoon all along.
I know little about the Amish faith and way of life, but from what I can gather, this was a respectful yet clear-eyed look at what that faith asks of its followers. (Perhaps the Curtises learned about it during their decades in Wisconsin?) The "English" world doesn't come away unexamined, either, particularly the harm it can cause to those who choose a life in the public eye.
I just thought this was such a beautiful book: sexy and sad and lyrical and affecting. I would read it again in a heartbeat.
I can’t end this review without mentioning the amazing shiny cover with art by Franco Accornero.
May 29, 2023
Alan Wilde is a former child star turned director and screenwriter that is filming a monster movie in rural Wisconsin. Susan Peachey stumbles onto his set in comedic fashion, and he rapidly develops a lurid fascination with the Amish widow. Wanting to sleep with her, Alan concocts a way to keep her in his company.
It feels a bit of an oversimplification to say this is an unlikely pairing in the vein of Flowers from the Storm, but I kept returning to that thought. In Flowers, Maddie is a Quaker entangled with a duke, and the biggest hurdle to their romance was all Maddie stood to lose to be with him. Susan has a similar struggle: just being around Alan and his moviemaking is enough to put her in the wrong with her family and community that she dearly loves. What would they do if they found out about the affair?
The book was written in the 80s, and the e-book I bought had some... halfhearted attempts to make the story seem more modern, which I thought was bizarre. Could this just not be a story set in the 80s? There are references to Angry Birds, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and other pop culture minutia sprinkled in to what is decidedly an 80s book. But it doesn't commit: Susan uses a telephone, not a cell phone. There are computers, not laptops. We have contradictory statements about it both being the twentieth century and that some characters are "stuck in the twentieth century." I'd step out of the story a few times to say "Wait what?"
I bought the 1st edition of Sunshine and Shadow because I loved it so much and I fully intend to read it as it was written. Not everything has to be timeless!
It feels a bit of an oversimplification to say this is an unlikely pairing in the vein of Flowers from the Storm, but I kept returning to that thought. In Flowers, Maddie is a Quaker entangled with a duke, and the biggest hurdle to their romance was all Maddie stood to lose to be with him. Susan has a similar struggle: just being around Alan and his moviemaking is enough to put her in the wrong with her family and community that she dearly loves. What would they do if they found out about the affair?
The book was written in the 80s, and the e-book I bought had some... halfhearted attempts to make the story seem more modern, which I thought was bizarre. Could this just not be a story set in the 80s? There are references to Angry Birds, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and other pop culture minutia sprinkled in to what is decidedly an 80s book. But it doesn't commit: Susan uses a telephone, not a cell phone. There are computers, not laptops. We have contradictory statements about it both being the twentieth century and that some characters are "stuck in the twentieth century." I'd step out of the story a few times to say "Wait what?"
I bought the 1st edition of Sunshine and Shadow because I loved it so much and I fully intend to read it as it was written. Not everything has to be timeless!
May 29, 2022
It took me a while to get into this book, the writing seemed a bit uneven, at times it felt like Sharon and Tom took turns writing sentences but when it finally came together it was beautiful; the most touching romantic story I’ve read in a long time.
September 14, 2014
Hollywood and Amish cultures clash together in the lyrical story of lust, love and redemption. Alan Wilde, cynical, jaded famous writer and movie director is filming his next horror movie in rural Wisconsin. The film set is located near Amish settlement. Susan Peachey, widowed Amish teacher, accidently stumbles on the set during her school field trip. Their first glimpse of each other is both funny and riveting. He is entranced by her beauty and inner peace. She is drawn to his commanding presence and demons and angst in his eyes. Their different worlds make it almost impossible to be together. Knowing that this is a romance, I could not figure out almost to the end how the authors can bring the story to the required HEA. But they did it in a way that was both believable and satisfactory to this reader. The only complain I would have is that the writing seems to be choppy at times and story dragged little bit at the beginning.
May 1, 2024
If I remember right, the only Amish romance I’ve read is the inspirational romance trilogy that launched them all: The Heritage of Lancaster County by Beverly Lewis. The Shunning, published in 1997, was the first commercially successful Amish romance and a billion iterations quickly followed. While I remember enjoying the trilogy at the time, I was in high school and didn’t question the narratives put forth. Plus, the only kind of romance I was “allowed” to read was Christian so I accepted my lot, aside from the decidedly non-Christian romances I hid under my dresser. All that to say, I’ve never felt the need to read other inspirational Amish romances. However, I tend to enjoy general market romance that explores religion. When this contemporary romance came across my radar, I was immediately intrigued. The FMC is Amish, the MMC is a movie director, and it’s not an inspirational. How would that go?!
This was published in 1986, a decade before the Beverly Lewis books. I have heard of a couple of other general market romances featuring Amish MCs—the premise of Thee, I Love by Annette Blair (1999) sounds WILD—but by and large that market is written and published by evangelical Christians. I wish it weren’t so, as my sense is those books aren’t respectful of Amish beliefs but are instead salvation narratives. Yikes. Incidentally, the first Amish romance was Sabina: A Story of the Amish by Helen Reimensnyder Martin, published in 1905.
The Curtises include an Author’s Note at the start of the book. While it doesn’t detail what inspired them to write Sunshine and Shadow, Witness, the movie starring Harrison Ford, came out in 1985 and had to have contributed to their interest. They write, “Not long ago, most of us were as the Amish are now. America was a nation of farmers. The fascination many of us feel for things Amish may come not from how foreign and apart from us they seem, but from how familiar. They are living our heritage, prospering in a history that is rapidly vanishing beyond their horse-tilled acreage.” The authors glamorize and whitewash a culture they do not know or fully understand, just like the Amish romances that came after Sunshine and Shadow. The Amish may be pacifists but that seems to only apply to the outside world, as abuse is a widespread issue, particularly for women and girls. That is not at all acknowledged here. Given when it was published, that’s not surprising but I was still troubled the depiction wavered between infantilization and exoticism. As the story progresses, we do get to see a few different sides of the community, though the most attention is paid to those who have been shunned and what the various rules are. Susan’s twin sister Rachel was excommunicated, for instance, but Susan is still in touch and their brother, who has so far refused to be baptized and therefore isn’t held to the same rules, even visits Rachel in Chicago.
It’s fair to say that if Amish folks were to read this, they wouldn’t find much they recognize about their community, nor would they find Susan to be a believable character. I didn’t find her to be a believable Amish woman myself and yet she is absolutely the reason to read this romance. Some readers could find her to be overly naive and sheltered—and she is those things given her culture and upbringing. However, she is compassionate, curious, and even fierce when the occasion calls for it. She is driven by her convictions and beliefs, though they don’t always completely align with the way she was raised. We’re never given an explanation for why she didn’t shun her sister like everyone else; they were never even particularly close. But Susan finds it difficult to turn her back on someone, maybe in part because she knows she hasn’t completely fit in with her community since the death of her husband. Wanting to financially help Rachel is her reason for agreeing to be in Alan’s film, which is being shot in her small Wisconsin town. However, it becomes just as clear that she hungers to learn. She doesn’t fall in love with the English (outsider) way of doing everything but it does open up her mind to other ways of living, even if she doesn’t ultimately want to do the same for herself.
Alan, on the other hand, is infantilizing and paternalistic. He feels superior to the Amish, worldly through and through. He’s overbearing with Susan and completely unprofessional, if not predatory, with every female cast and crew member. I did not care for Alan in the least. He has a sad backstory that could have pulled on my heartstrings if he wasn’t such a cliche of a Hollywood director and former child star and if he had ever treated Susan with care and understanding, instead of focusing on how badly he wanted to have sex with her. He never explains anything to her, from technology she’s never encountered before to what appearing in the movie will require of her (which originally included a sex scene!). Susan deserved so much better than Alan.
I really tried to be on board with their relationship but Alan just kept being so selfish and frequently ignored Susan’s wishes. He took advantage of her, which is not what you want to see from an MMC. Ever present in the background is the question of how these two can possibly be together. Susan doesn’t want to leave her community. Alan’s life is in California, no matter how much ennui he has about it all. He slowly starts to see there’s more to Susan’s world than he originally thought, to the point where I thought he should just leave Hollywood behind and convert. Alas.
Alan had changed enough by the end that I could accept him and Susan together. But I still think she could have done way better. Despite the choices toward the end, I really enjoyed this one and the way it got me thinking about Old School Romance and the rise of Amish inspirational fiction.
Further reading:
All About Romance: Sunshine and Shadow (December 8, 2009)
Los Angeles Review of Books: Bonnet Rippers: The Rise of the Amish Romance Novel by Valerie Weaver-Zercher (March 21, 2013)
Gale Literature Resource Center: Tracing the backstory of Amish romance novels by Valerie Weaver-Zercher (October 2012)
Cosmopolitan: Uh-Oh, Are Amish Bonnet-Rippers Red-Pilling Me? by Molly Longman (April 1, 2024)
The Globe and Mail: Why Amish romance novels are such a big hit for Harlequin by Emily Donaldson (March 7, 2020)
Leaving Eden Podcast: Ep 169: Amish Romance (February 14, 2024)
Characters: Susan is a 25 year old white Amish teacher and a widow. Alan is a 32 year old white movie director and former child star. This is set in Greyling, WI and Los Angeles.
Content notes: past rape of FMC’s sister , sexual assault by MMC , workplace sexual harassment by MMC, past child physical abuse (as a child actor; removed from home at 14), past death of newborn (hyaline membrane disease), excommunication, physical assault, accidental drug use (FMC didn’t understand what she’d been given), chronic migraines, needle (secondary character injects drug in front of FMC), laceration (secondary character), past horse riding accident (broken bones and puncture wounds), discussion of Vietnam War, overdose (off page actor; they recover), ableism, fatphobia, forgetting to eat, body commentary, possible disordered eating for MMC, misogyny, slut-shaming, anti-Indigenous racism, Orientalism, past excommunication of FMC’s twin sister, vandalism, past death of FMC’s husband (accident), past death of FMC’s grandfather, blind movie character, secondary character’s grandmother is blind, white secondary character has 8 multiracial adopted children, unsafe sex practices (no condom for penetrative sex without discussion of STI and pregnancy prevention), baby epilogue, on page sex, alcohol, inebriation, cigarillos, gendered pejorative, gender essentialism, ableist language, hyperbolic language around suicide, hyperbolic language around addiction
This was published in 1986, a decade before the Beverly Lewis books. I have heard of a couple of other general market romances featuring Amish MCs—the premise of Thee, I Love by Annette Blair (1999) sounds WILD—but by and large that market is written and published by evangelical Christians. I wish it weren’t so, as my sense is those books aren’t respectful of Amish beliefs but are instead salvation narratives. Yikes. Incidentally, the first Amish romance was Sabina: A Story of the Amish by Helen Reimensnyder Martin, published in 1905.
The Curtises include an Author’s Note at the start of the book. While it doesn’t detail what inspired them to write Sunshine and Shadow, Witness, the movie starring Harrison Ford, came out in 1985 and had to have contributed to their interest. They write, “Not long ago, most of us were as the Amish are now. America was a nation of farmers. The fascination many of us feel for things Amish may come not from how foreign and apart from us they seem, but from how familiar. They are living our heritage, prospering in a history that is rapidly vanishing beyond their horse-tilled acreage.” The authors glamorize and whitewash a culture they do not know or fully understand, just like the Amish romances that came after Sunshine and Shadow. The Amish may be pacifists but that seems to only apply to the outside world, as abuse is a widespread issue, particularly for women and girls. That is not at all acknowledged here. Given when it was published, that’s not surprising but I was still troubled the depiction wavered between infantilization and exoticism. As the story progresses, we do get to see a few different sides of the community, though the most attention is paid to those who have been shunned and what the various rules are. Susan’s twin sister Rachel was excommunicated, for instance, but Susan is still in touch and their brother, who has so far refused to be baptized and therefore isn’t held to the same rules, even visits Rachel in Chicago.
It’s fair to say that if Amish folks were to read this, they wouldn’t find much they recognize about their community, nor would they find Susan to be a believable character. I didn’t find her to be a believable Amish woman myself and yet she is absolutely the reason to read this romance. Some readers could find her to be overly naive and sheltered—and she is those things given her culture and upbringing. However, she is compassionate, curious, and even fierce when the occasion calls for it. She is driven by her convictions and beliefs, though they don’t always completely align with the way she was raised. We’re never given an explanation for why she didn’t shun her sister like everyone else; they were never even particularly close. But Susan finds it difficult to turn her back on someone, maybe in part because she knows she hasn’t completely fit in with her community since the death of her husband. Wanting to financially help Rachel is her reason for agreeing to be in Alan’s film, which is being shot in her small Wisconsin town. However, it becomes just as clear that she hungers to learn. She doesn’t fall in love with the English (outsider) way of doing everything but it does open up her mind to other ways of living, even if she doesn’t ultimately want to do the same for herself.
Alan, on the other hand, is infantilizing and paternalistic. He feels superior to the Amish, worldly through and through. He’s overbearing with Susan and completely unprofessional, if not predatory, with every female cast and crew member. I did not care for Alan in the least. He has a sad backstory that could have pulled on my heartstrings if he wasn’t such a cliche of a Hollywood director and former child star and if he had ever treated Susan with care and understanding, instead of focusing on how badly he wanted to have sex with her. He never explains anything to her, from technology she’s never encountered before to what appearing in the movie will require of her (which originally included a sex scene!). Susan deserved so much better than Alan.
I really tried to be on board with their relationship but Alan just kept being so selfish and frequently ignored Susan’s wishes. He took advantage of her, which is not what you want to see from an MMC. Ever present in the background is the question of how these two can possibly be together. Susan doesn’t want to leave her community. Alan’s life is in California, no matter how much ennui he has about it all. He slowly starts to see there’s more to Susan’s world than he originally thought, to the point where I thought he should just leave Hollywood behind and convert. Alas.
Alan had changed enough by the end that I could accept him and Susan together. But I still think she could have done way better. Despite the choices toward the end, I really enjoyed this one and the way it got me thinking about Old School Romance and the rise of Amish inspirational fiction.
Further reading:
All About Romance: Sunshine and Shadow (December 8, 2009)
Los Angeles Review of Books: Bonnet Rippers: The Rise of the Amish Romance Novel by Valerie Weaver-Zercher (March 21, 2013)
Gale Literature Resource Center: Tracing the backstory of Amish romance novels by Valerie Weaver-Zercher (October 2012)
Cosmopolitan: Uh-Oh, Are Amish Bonnet-Rippers Red-Pilling Me? by Molly Longman (April 1, 2024)
The Globe and Mail: Why Amish romance novels are such a big hit for Harlequin by Emily Donaldson (March 7, 2020)
Leaving Eden Podcast: Ep 169: Amish Romance (February 14, 2024)
Characters: Susan is a 25 year old white Amish teacher and a widow. Alan is a 32 year old white movie director and former child star. This is set in Greyling, WI and Los Angeles.
Content notes: past rape of FMC’s sister , sexual assault by MMC , workplace sexual harassment by MMC, past child physical abuse (as a child actor; removed from home at 14), past death of newborn (hyaline membrane disease), excommunication, physical assault, accidental drug use (FMC didn’t understand what she’d been given), chronic migraines, needle (secondary character injects drug in front of FMC), laceration (secondary character), past horse riding accident (broken bones and puncture wounds), discussion of Vietnam War, overdose (off page actor; they recover), ableism, fatphobia, forgetting to eat, body commentary, possible disordered eating for MMC, misogyny, slut-shaming, anti-Indigenous racism, Orientalism, past excommunication of FMC’s twin sister, vandalism, past death of FMC’s husband (accident), past death of FMC’s grandfather, blind movie character, secondary character’s grandmother is blind, white secondary character has 8 multiracial adopted children, unsafe sex practices (no condom for penetrative sex without discussion of STI and pregnancy prevention), baby epilogue, on page sex, alcohol, inebriation, cigarillos, gendered pejorative, gender essentialism, ableist language, hyperbolic language around suicide, hyperbolic language around addiction
February 21, 2014
Alan Wilde, ex bambino prodigio di Hollywood ed ex piccolo genio, è oggi un affermato regista horror dotato di una grande capacità di visione, un magnifico musicista e un uomo dotato di grande carisma e fascino. Eppure anche se dovrebbe sentirsi realizzato si sente in realtà vuoto. Diverso dalle persone che lo circondano, svuotato di ogni gioia di vivere e troppo disincantato col mondo che lo circonda. Il denaro, le donne che lo inseguono, tutto gli è ormai insopportabile e gli sembra inutile. Vive in una specie di limbo di sua stessa creazione da cui non riesce ad uscire e che probabilmente è frutto della sua infanzia difficile e del rapporto malsano che ha avuto con i suoi genitori che lo hanno sfruttato per puro guadagno. Crede di non aver più nulla per cui vivere, di essere una pessima persona troppo cinica e pessimista per stare bene al mondo, finché, per caso, sul set del suo nuovo film che sta girando vicino a una riserva Amish non incontra una giovane vedova Amish, Susan Peachey che riesce a stupirlo. Susan è bella ma non sa di esserlo, ha un grande carisma ma lo ignora, in casa non possiede neppure uno specchio, è, innocente, eppure saggia in modi che Alan non riesce pienamente a comprendere, ma soprattutto ha una visione del mondo e della vita che è magica e sorprendente. Vede il bello e il buono in ogni cosa, ogni cosa è un dono di Dio, qualcosa di magico, e ha un carattere solare e spiritoso che riesce a far diventare un gioco qualsiasi cosa. Inutile dire che Alan è pazzamente attratto da lei, ma al tempo stesso combatte quest’attrazione, poiché sa che non può avere un futuro, che Susan ne soffrirà quando lui finirà di girare e dovrà andarsene, poiché lei non è certo una donna di mondo che può prendersi liberamente un amante, anzi se venisse scoperta dalla sua comunità rischia l’espulsione che significherebbe non vedere più la sua famiglia che lei ama. Eppure non riesce ad impedirsi di stare con lei e quando riesce a convincerla a prendere parte al film inizia per lui il periodo più felice della sua vita
La mia opinione: All’inizio il libro non mi aveva preso tantissimo, nonostante conoscessi già questi autori e li amassi. Il personaggio di Alan all’inizio non è di facile comprensione, il lettore vede tutto attraverso il suo cinismo e perciò lo ritiene veramente un personaggio negativo. E’ solo con la comparsa di Susan, il cui punto di vista si alterna a quello di Alan che il lettore acquista una visione più oggettiva della realtà e intuisce il vero carattere di Alan. Quando poi si aggiungono i punti di vista dell’assistente di Alan e del fratello di Susan il libro assumo nuova luce e diventa ancora più bello facendoci approfondire ancora di più le complesse personalità dei personaggi. L’assistente di Alan in particolare è un personaggio molto simpatico, ricalcato forse un poco sulla figura di Marylin Monroe, è una giovane donna dotata di molto sex appeal a cui piacciono gli uomini e a cui piace prendersi cura di loro, ma fin da giovane è stata abituata a venir considerata solo come una bella stupida piuttosto che come un essere pensante. Spesso è stata usata e scartata, la sua generosità è stata mal ripagata e Alan è stato il primo a considerarla per la sua mente e a trattarla da gentiluomo. Lei avrà una storia col fratello di Susan, Daniel, che sarà l’unico altro uomo della sua vita a non considerarla solo un bel corpo, ma una bella persona. Non vi rivelo altro riguardo a loro.
Aggiungo solo che questo libro non è solo una bella e toccante storia d’amore, che grazie al cielo nonostante le premesse finisce bene, è anche un affascinante viaggio dietro la macchina da presa di un registra, su un tipico set di Hollywood, sulla vita degli attori, sulla vita di una comunità Hamish e su cosa significhi realmente il termine famiglia. Non è un libro semplicemente romantico, è al tempo stesso lirico, poiché sia Susan che soprattutto Alan sono anime molto artistiche, e toccante, poiché in un paio di punti mi sono pure commossa, cosa molto rara per me. E’ un libro che consiglio, ma con l’avvertimento che è uno di quei libri che fanno riflettere, non semplicemente un riempitivo piacevole per passare qualche ora.
La mia opinione: All’inizio il libro non mi aveva preso tantissimo, nonostante conoscessi già questi autori e li amassi. Il personaggio di Alan all’inizio non è di facile comprensione, il lettore vede tutto attraverso il suo cinismo e perciò lo ritiene veramente un personaggio negativo. E’ solo con la comparsa di Susan, il cui punto di vista si alterna a quello di Alan che il lettore acquista una visione più oggettiva della realtà e intuisce il vero carattere di Alan. Quando poi si aggiungono i punti di vista dell’assistente di Alan e del fratello di Susan il libro assumo nuova luce e diventa ancora più bello facendoci approfondire ancora di più le complesse personalità dei personaggi. L’assistente di Alan in particolare è un personaggio molto simpatico, ricalcato forse un poco sulla figura di Marylin Monroe, è una giovane donna dotata di molto sex appeal a cui piacciono gli uomini e a cui piace prendersi cura di loro, ma fin da giovane è stata abituata a venir considerata solo come una bella stupida piuttosto che come un essere pensante. Spesso è stata usata e scartata, la sua generosità è stata mal ripagata e Alan è stato il primo a considerarla per la sua mente e a trattarla da gentiluomo. Lei avrà una storia col fratello di Susan, Daniel, che sarà l’unico altro uomo della sua vita a non considerarla solo un bel corpo, ma una bella persona. Non vi rivelo altro riguardo a loro.
Aggiungo solo che questo libro non è solo una bella e toccante storia d’amore, che grazie al cielo nonostante le premesse finisce bene, è anche un affascinante viaggio dietro la macchina da presa di un registra, su un tipico set di Hollywood, sulla vita degli attori, sulla vita di una comunità Hamish e su cosa significhi realmente il termine famiglia. Non è un libro semplicemente romantico, è al tempo stesso lirico, poiché sia Susan che soprattutto Alan sono anime molto artistiche, e toccante, poiché in un paio di punti mi sono pure commossa, cosa molto rara per me. E’ un libro che consiglio, ma con l’avvertimento che è uno di quei libri che fanno riflettere, non semplicemente un riempitivo piacevole per passare qualche ora.
October 11, 2020
"Sunshine and Shadow" could easily be a facile cliche. While on location in rural Wisconsin, jaded film director Alan Wilde meets Amish widow Susan Peachey and they fall in love. Obviously, the relationship will be full of complications. Tom and Sharon Curtis take this premise and spin it into a moving story of powerful love, both romantic, self-, and familial, with great empathy for all between the covers of the novel. Truly, it is a love story about grown-ups, for grown-ups. To talk in detail about it would be to spoil the journey for others. It's a marvelous book that made this reader laugh and, yes, cry. Highly, highly recommended.
October 23, 2010
Don't really know much about this book except it comes very well recommended. And the heroine is Amish. The hero a film company guy.
Edited to say that this is a magnificent book. It is so stark and so compelling. The heroine, Susan, is an Amish widow (Old Order) and the hero, Alan, is an extremely successful film director. You just know from the first meeting that this is not going to end happily, and for a while, it doesn't. Because Susan is a member of a family and part of a way of life that absolutely permeates every decision she makes. Loved this book.
Edited to say that this is a magnificent book. It is so stark and so compelling. The heroine, Susan, is an Amish widow (Old Order) and the hero, Alan, is an extremely successful film director. You just know from the first meeting that this is not going to end happily, and for a while, it doesn't. Because Susan is a member of a family and part of a way of life that absolutely permeates every decision she makes. Loved this book.
April 1, 2014
This wasn't a perfect story. But I loved every minute, every page, every word of it. I'm still recovering from all the good feelings it gave me. For a contemporary novel, it wasn't super dated (except there ARE a ton of Star Wars references). The hero was maybe the nicest, sweetest, most loving and tender hero I've ever read. The heroine was, eh...whatever. The plot was actually pretty dumb and unrealistic in retrospect. And yet, Tom and Sharon Curtis were able to write a beautiful and touching novel with such unlikely ingredients.
Highly highly highly recommended. You will weep.
Highly highly highly recommended. You will weep.
Currently reading
May 6, 2021Just a heads-up: The newer version of this book has been updated for the present. I was reading my library’s ebook copy of this book and was shocked when I saw this bit in chapter 2:
“... a twenty-two-year-old (...) who spent the day playing Angry Birds and tweeting ungrammatical messages to her fans...”
I wanted to read an 80s book set in the 80s. 😭 I don’t want to read about the present because I’m living it.
I’m gonna find an older print version because I’m really interested in the story! I just want to experience this read in its genuine form.
“... a twenty-two-year-old (...) who spent the day playing Angry Birds and tweeting ungrammatical messages to her fans...”
I wanted to read an 80s book set in the 80s. 😭 I don’t want to read about the present because I’m living it.
I’m gonna find an older print version because I’m really interested in the story! I just want to experience this read in its genuine form.
June 18, 2025
4.5 stars. Beautifully written, although at times it gets purple. This is an incredibly romantic book, the MCs had to overcome a lot to be with each other, and love was a salvation for them (arguably more for the MMC). I get a sense that the writers are immortalising their memories or stories passed down in their families through this book. Will explore more titles by this author. (Not 5 stars because I like my conflicts to end later in the story and with perhaps more angst in its resolution. The final chapter felt too complete.)
February 2, 2025
DNF 33% because I'm kind of bored. And I don't get anyone's motivations. Might pick back up later
February 7, 2010
I loved this book. It is one of my all-time favorite books.
Alan Wilde is a movie director shooting on location in Wisconsin. He is a former child actor who was emotionally and physically abused by his parent. Having grown up in the movie business, he is very cynical and jaded and not happy.
Susan Peachey is a young Amish widow who has lost her husband and infant daughter but still is an optimistic person. She meets Alan when she come onto the movie set in pursuit of the movie monster.
Alan sees something in her and casts her as the heroine of the film (since the actress formerly in the role has suffered a drug overdose). Susan needs the money and really has no idea what she is getting into.
The two from very different worlds become fascinated with each other and fall in love. But the only way for them to be together is for Susan to leave everything behind and live in Alan's world.
I loved the clash of cultures and viewpoints in the story.
Alan Wilde is a movie director shooting on location in Wisconsin. He is a former child actor who was emotionally and physically abused by his parent. Having grown up in the movie business, he is very cynical and jaded and not happy.
Susan Peachey is a young Amish widow who has lost her husband and infant daughter but still is an optimistic person. She meets Alan when she come onto the movie set in pursuit of the movie monster.
Alan sees something in her and casts her as the heroine of the film (since the actress formerly in the role has suffered a drug overdose). Susan needs the money and really has no idea what she is getting into.
The two from very different worlds become fascinated with each other and fall in love. But the only way for them to be together is for Susan to leave everything behind and live in Alan's world.
I loved the clash of cultures and viewpoints in the story.
May 2, 2014
I am a huge fan of Laura London; aka husband and wife team Sharon and Tom Curtis. I would call this a romance.
I read this book many years ago ( in the early 90's maybe). A young Amish girl meets jaded gorgeous actor cum director/film producer. They are instantly attracted to each other but are poles apart on how to approach a relationship. He has no morals and a damaged past. She is raised in a loving yet controlling family and is very moral and innocent I am not saying this well, forgive me. She must make a choice between her family and her love for him. There is angst and resolution with the expected HEA , their journey quite enjoyable.
I may have to purchase this in e-book, reread and update this. I had the paperback but traded it in at some point. I have several of L. London's other books and will never part with them.
I read this book many years ago ( in the early 90's maybe). A young Amish girl meets jaded gorgeous actor cum director/film producer. They are instantly attracted to each other but are poles apart on how to approach a relationship. He has no morals and a damaged past. She is raised in a loving yet controlling family and is very moral and innocent I am not saying this well, forgive me. She must make a choice between her family and her love for him. There is angst and resolution with the expected HEA , their journey quite enjoyable.
I may have to purchase this in e-book, reread and update this. I had the paperback but traded it in at some point. I have several of L. London's other books and will never part with them.
June 1, 2023
Someone please create a Goodreads list of more romances where a character has some complicated religious devotion that’s handled both respectfully and critically.
Perfect balance of romance, humor, gravity, angst, and whimsy.
“Don't you think in all the universe there could be just one star for us?" Gutted.
Perfect balance of romance, humor, gravity, angst, and whimsy.
“Don't you think in all the universe there could be just one star for us?" Gutted.
September 25, 2011
Not nearly as dated as you would think, mostly due to the timelessness of the Amish.
First read by Sharon and Tom Curtis, after seeing "the Windflower" on best of lists for years..
Surprisingly good (I enjoyed the compromises) just not a keeper.
First read by Sharon and Tom Curtis, after seeing "the Windflower" on best of lists for years..
Surprisingly good (I enjoyed the compromises) just not a keeper.
January 23, 2018
I am not Amish myself, but I do have Amish friends. And I think I can safely say that this girl's outlook on morality is about as Amish as a red cocktail dress.
I don't recommend it.
I don't recommend it.
August 25, 2025
At the beginning of the book, my impression of Alan was far from positive. Touching her inappropriately when he met her the second time, was beyond the boundaries of consent. Taking advantage of an innocent Amish girl cannot be called love. To him, Susan seemed nothing more than a fantasy to entertain himself with. Watching Alan's confidence in how easily he believed he could win her over with his charm, yet not wanting to "taint" her so early, was revolting. This was my initial opinion. However, once I read the entire story, I realized it was too soon to judge.
Alan comes across as a shallow and restless man, who has lived a chaotic and debauched life. Now having set his eyes on this girl he finds beautiful, he seeks to offer her something she cannot refuse—fully aware that it will have lasting consequences for her. However, i also ought to mention how gentle and patient he was. How respectful of her way of living and non judgmental in her culture. His approach towards Susan remained that of a caring and enamored man. His decision to reunite her with her family was honorabe, and his willingness to to sacrifice everything for her happiness revealed a depth of love I had not expected.
Susan, on the other hand is innocent, yet deeply self aware at all times. Being sheltered certainly hasn't impacted her ability to analyze everything and anyone with striking accuracy. She has a desire to live life and experience emotions never felt before. There is an air of curiousity around her, and her uncorrupted heart longs for things she hasn't even imagined. Faced with the impossible choice between family and love, her struggles feel painfully real. The excommunication she suffers highlights how religious devotion can, at times, take on extreme forms.
Furthermore, the romance scenes between the two MC are extremely sensual and very intense. I felt captivated and breathless whenever they as much exchanged glances with each other, that's how beautifully this scenes were written. Although, the third-person narrative prespective occasionally disrupts this immersion, as abrupt shifts between Alan’s and Susan’s thoughts create confusion.
Despite this, i can confidently say it is the most powerful love story i have ever read. It is filled with passion, yearning, communication, and respect. It warmed my heart witnessing their happy ever after surrounded by their loved ones.
Alan comes across as a shallow and restless man, who has lived a chaotic and debauched life. Now having set his eyes on this girl he finds beautiful, he seeks to offer her something she cannot refuse—fully aware that it will have lasting consequences for her. However, i also ought to mention how gentle and patient he was. How respectful of her way of living and non judgmental in her culture. His approach towards Susan remained that of a caring and enamored man. His decision to reunite her with her family was honorabe, and his willingness to to sacrifice everything for her happiness revealed a depth of love I had not expected.
Susan, on the other hand is innocent, yet deeply self aware at all times. Being sheltered certainly hasn't impacted her ability to analyze everything and anyone with striking accuracy. She has a desire to live life and experience emotions never felt before. There is an air of curiousity around her, and her uncorrupted heart longs for things she hasn't even imagined. Faced with the impossible choice between family and love, her struggles feel painfully real. The excommunication she suffers highlights how religious devotion can, at times, take on extreme forms.
Furthermore, the romance scenes between the two MC are extremely sensual and very intense. I felt captivated and breathless whenever they as much exchanged glances with each other, that's how beautifully this scenes were written. Although, the third-person narrative prespective occasionally disrupts this immersion, as abrupt shifts between Alan’s and Susan’s thoughts create confusion.
Despite this, i can confidently say it is the most powerful love story i have ever read. It is filled with passion, yearning, communication, and respect. It warmed my heart witnessing their happy ever after surrounded by their loved ones.
Read
September 14, 2023Surprised myself with how much I liked this. "Hollywood director + Amish widow" doesn't come close to capturing the intricacies of the relationship between Alan and Susan. Somehow the book explores faith and family and fame and love and lust and loss and choice and change. The epilogue was stunning and some of the prose is remarkable.
They kissed in lost ways, on their own path, as though this were a thing no one had taught them, that they had not experienced before. There was no one to be now. She had no cares. He had no identity except as her lover. They were too joy-filled to be proficient; too much in love to notice.
cw: It's problematic in ways one would expect for the time and topics covered.
They kissed in lost ways, on their own path, as though this were a thing no one had taught them, that they had not experienced before. There was no one to be now. She had no cares. He had no identity except as her lover. They were too joy-filled to be proficient; too much in love to notice.
cw: It's problematic in ways one would expect for the time and topics covered.
October 2, 2023
First 70% - 2.5 stars
Last 30% - compelling romantic 4 stars
Writing is lush and romantic, and Alan/Susan's first time is written so sweetly. Loved "They were too joy-filled to be proficient; too much in love to notice." In some parts of the book this got to be too much and even boring, but for the most part the excessive sweetness is nice.
Book somewhat romanticized view of the Amish and country living, though countered by a devastating wakeup call of the community's response to Alan and Susan's relationship.
Despite the book being about people from two different worlds who fall in love, and the setup suggesting coercion and exploitation (which Alan spends most of the book trying to avoid), this turned out to ultimately be more about the healing power of love and rejecting shallow concerns about accolades and power. Epilogue is A+.
Last 30% - compelling romantic 4 stars
Writing is lush and romantic, and Alan/Susan's first time is written so sweetly. Loved "They were too joy-filled to be proficient; too much in love to notice." In some parts of the book this got to be too much and even boring, but for the most part the excessive sweetness is nice.
Book somewhat romanticized view of the Amish and country living, though countered by a devastating wakeup call of the community's response to Alan and Susan's relationship.
Despite the book being about people from two different worlds who fall in love, and the setup suggesting coercion and exploitation (which Alan spends most of the book trying to avoid), this turned out to ultimately be more about the healing power of love and rejecting shallow concerns about accolades and power. Epilogue is A+.
November 13, 2017
Beautiful story
Beautifully written, moving and uplifting. I couldn't put it down and I know I will read it again and again.
Beautifully written, moving and uplifting. I couldn't put it down and I know I will read it again and again.
October 18, 2019
AMISH/ ENGLISH romance.. wish there were more. " A crime of the heart"by cheryl reavis is another one.
May 28, 2023
There's just no reason for it to be this good.
April 18, 2024
Wonderful
December 2, 2014
synopsis: alan is a famous movie director, who was a child star. he is making a horror movie in wisconsin, and one day, while they are filming a background shot, the monster is attacked by an amish school teacher, protecting the children from him. it is caught on film, and alan is intrigued by her. susan is one of the plain people, and has taken the children that she teaches on an expedition when she comes upon a monster. having never seen anything like it before, she thinks it is real, and goes on the attack. it is caught on film, and alan is fascinated by her face. when the lead actress has to pull out because of an overdose, alan convinces susan to play the part. he promises to pay her $30000, and susan plans to give that money to her sister rachel, who has been ex-communicated. there are many things that susan doesn't understand, having never experienced them, but she does understand the attraction that is burgeoning between herself and alan, and makes it clear that her community and her faith are important to her. when her sister rachel returns and gives their father the book that she has written, and their father doesn't acknowledge it, susan decides that it is time to take the attraction between alan and herself to the next level. the plain people community finds out about it, and susan is ex-communicated because she doesn't truly repent what she did with alan, because she loves him. she goes to l.a. with alan, they get married, but she languishes without the support of her life.
what i liked: that although the relationship grew out of a very short time period, it didn't feel rushed; it felt more like two people who were in the right place at the right time. i liked the fact that alan was the one to make the changes for susan, that he realized part of what he loved about her was dying without being in the type of community that she had grown up in. i liked seeing everything in a fresh perspective from susan's eyes, and i liked the fact that alan started seeing everything anew as well.
what i didn't like: it definitely wasn't flowery prose by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a lot of introspection between the two main characters, and very little dialogue.
what i liked: that although the relationship grew out of a very short time period, it didn't feel rushed; it felt more like two people who were in the right place at the right time. i liked the fact that alan was the one to make the changes for susan, that he realized part of what he loved about her was dying without being in the type of community that she had grown up in. i liked seeing everything in a fresh perspective from susan's eyes, and i liked the fact that alan started seeing everything anew as well.
what i didn't like: it definitely wasn't flowery prose by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a lot of introspection between the two main characters, and very little dialogue.
April 2, 2013
POSITIVES:
- Great emotional connection between leads
- Flawed hero
- Redemptive qualities
- Very descriptive to the point of picturing what their world looks like.
- Great concept (an Amish girl and a movie director? How interesting is that?)
- Male and female narrative
- Witty dialogue
NEGATIVES:
- A little too unrealistic (I live in a community up the road from Amish people. I can't imagine any one of them ever having adulteress sex with a male from the outside.)
- Alan changed himself too much for Susan (the give-and-take of this relationship seemed a little lopsided. It made me uneasy reading it.)
- We never got to hear about Alan's childhood from Alan.
- Sometimes they would describe so vividly that it would get confusing. There would be a reference to them sitting down two paragraphs earlier and then all of a sudden, they are standing. It confused me upon occasion.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved that there was male and female narrative that seemed to be written by Tom and Sharon respectively. It seemed more authentic to me. I've read one other book by this couple which featured a pirate and assumed it would be something adventurous like that. This was so completely different from that earlier read that I really would not have been able to tell this was written by the same people. It wasn't really a bad a thing, just vastly surprising. I highly recommend reading this book! It certainly will entertain and break your heart.
- Great emotional connection between leads
- Flawed hero
- Redemptive qualities
- Very descriptive to the point of picturing what their world looks like.
- Great concept (an Amish girl and a movie director? How interesting is that?)
- Male and female narrative
- Witty dialogue
NEGATIVES:
- A little too unrealistic (I live in a community up the road from Amish people. I can't imagine any one of them ever having adulteress sex with a male from the outside.)
- Alan changed himself too much for Susan (the give-and-take of this relationship seemed a little lopsided. It made me uneasy reading it.)
- We never got to hear about Alan's childhood from Alan.
- Sometimes they would describe so vividly that it would get confusing. There would be a reference to them sitting down two paragraphs earlier and then all of a sudden, they are standing. It confused me upon occasion.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved that there was male and female narrative that seemed to be written by Tom and Sharon respectively. It seemed more authentic to me. I've read one other book by this couple which featured a pirate and assumed it would be something adventurous like that. This was so completely different from that earlier read that I really would not have been able to tell this was written by the same people. It wasn't really a bad a thing, just vastly surprising. I highly recommend reading this book! It certainly will entertain and break your heart.
January 17, 2008
Sunshine and Shadow - NR
Curtis, Susan and Tom
He thought there were no surprises left in the world...but the sudden appearance of young Amish widow Susan Peachey was astonishing -- and just the shock cynical Alan Wilde needed. She was a woman from another time, innocent, yet wise in ways he scarcely understood.
Irresistibly, Susan and Alan were drawn together to explore their wildly exotic differences. And soon they would discover something far greater -- a rich emotional bond that transcended both of their worlds and linked them heart-to-heart...until their need for each other became so overwhelming that there was no turning back. But would she have to sacrifice all she cherished for the uncertain joy of their forbidden love?
I hated this book; I hated the characters, the whole aspect of the Quaker girl just didn't ring true at all.
Curtis, Susan and Tom
He thought there were no surprises left in the world...but the sudden appearance of young Amish widow Susan Peachey was astonishing -- and just the shock cynical Alan Wilde needed. She was a woman from another time, innocent, yet wise in ways he scarcely understood.
Irresistibly, Susan and Alan were drawn together to explore their wildly exotic differences. And soon they would discover something far greater -- a rich emotional bond that transcended both of their worlds and linked them heart-to-heart...until their need for each other became so overwhelming that there was no turning back. But would she have to sacrifice all she cherished for the uncertain joy of their forbidden love?
I hated this book; I hated the characters, the whole aspect of the Quaker girl just didn't ring true at all.
October 8, 2011
I decided to read this book after having seen Tom & Sharon Curtis' names on many best of romance lists for their highly praised novel The Windflower. A few months prior, I read one of their earlier historicals, Moonlight Mist, and felt it was pretty mediocre, so I wasn't sure what to expect with Sunshine and Shadow. Even though this is a contemporary romance written 25 years ago, the Amish theme kept it from being too dated. It is not only a great love story, but also really provokes a lot of thought about faith and acceptance. Extremely well written and deeply emotional, I highly recommend this one if you can get your hands on a copy.
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