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Dutch Country Brides #1
Heaven Can Wait
Paradise
In her secret heart, sheltered Lydia Beker yearned for more—a sea of sensation, a husband to be tender with. Surely such longings couldn't be wrong? And then came Jakob Neubauer, an outsider who promised her a world of passion...
One simple dream sustained Jakob: to work his land and build a life with the perfect woman at his side. Lydia Beker, unaffected and so serenely beautiful, seemed the embodiment of his every desire. But would he prove himself a man worthy of such a precious gift?
In her secret heart, sheltered Lydia Beker yearned for more—a sea of sensation, a husband to be tender with. Surely such longings couldn't be wrong? And then came Jakob Neubauer, an outsider who promised her a world of passion...
One simple dream sustained Jakob: to work his land and build a life with the perfect woman at his side. Lydia Beker, unaffected and so serenely beautiful, seemed the embodiment of his every desire. But would he prove himself a man worthy of such a precious gift?
299 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
47 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Cheryl St. John
72 books554 followersCheryl is the author of more than fifty historical and contemporary romances. Her stories have earned numerous RITA nominations, Romantic Times awards and are published in over a dozen languages.
In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real-life situations.”
With a 4.9 star rating on amazon, her bestselling non-fiction book, Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict by Writers Digest Books is available in print and digital.
In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real-life situations.”
With a 4.9 star rating on amazon, her bestselling non-fiction book, Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict by Writers Digest Books is available in print and digital.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 8, 2020
I just can't get a break! DNF at 47%
I usually love St. John, and this is the first I have read of hers that got me so angry!
Too much angst, the H was supposed to marry another but she died, miscommunications, all of this and a dragged out story just put me over the edge. AND! an overly ignorant h, I mean she didn't even have a lick of common sense.
I also could not stand all the religious stuff it was just way too much, over the top. I don't usually mind religion or mention of God in my reads but this was radical religion which burns me up!
To clarify, the writing is good, I am just upset at the content which to me is not romantic.
Returned for a refund
I usually love St. John, and this is the first I have read of hers that got me so angry!
Too much angst, the H was supposed to marry another but she died, miscommunications, all of this and a dragged out story just put me over the edge. AND! an overly ignorant h, I mean she didn't even have a lick of common sense.
I also could not stand all the religious stuff it was just way too much, over the top. I don't usually mind religion or mention of God in my reads but this was radical religion which burns me up!
To clarify, the writing is good, I am just upset at the content which to me is not romantic.
Returned for a refund
May 28, 2012
It was a Sunday. And one of those nights where what ever you do, what ever you think about- it still does not make you sleepy.
I was doing nothing but hating my peacefully sleeping fiancé that snored next to me.
Still, I loved him enough to know that it was not fair to wake him up, and wreck his Mondey- the day he had a lot of obligations to fulfill.
Deciding that staring up at the ceiling is completely unproductive I decided to read.
My hand crept to my night stand for my Kindle.
But like any crappy moment in time – my bad luck was still there and I had nothing new on.
So I decided to re-read something and got stuck on this book.
Fun! Sweet! Nice!
Except….for the villainess. The arson crazy-pants kill-loving schemer and all around coo-coo.
I am not sure what the h and H did to anger the author enough to write this angry woman in to the plot. I am not sure what we, the readers did to earn the torture of her half baked schizophrenia. But most importantly – I have no idea what the heroes brother did to get her as a wife.
No, really, what did he do? O.o
The sad thing is- I really liked him. Even wanted to read his book…but the author made him in to a completely blind idiot in love with a pretty face. So much in love that he completely buys that his younger brother is fu*king his wife in front of his own misuses.
I hated her….not because she was evil enough to make me feel strong emotion, but because she frustrated me to no end over her unfound love for the H and the fact that her being the brother’s wife made the brother IQ loose about 50% in my eyes. Any way…I hated her so much that when the scene of her death came across I wish I had a match to contribute to her fiery end.
Again.
Because I wanted the same thing the first time around.
The only difference was that after this re-reading I was not so much angry as much as depressed. This is a book by a very good author. I just can not wrap my brain around the fact that she wrote something so….lukewarm with a antagonist that felt transplanted from a Stephen King novel. I kept waiting for her to turn cannibalistic or something.
So, bottom line: Was it a bad book? No. And if I go Laalalalaaaa-laaaaaa-this-never-happened!!! over the villain of the story then it would be a sweet story about a newly married couple.
I was doing nothing but hating my peacefully sleeping fiancé that snored next to me.
Still, I loved him enough to know that it was not fair to wake him up, and wreck his Mondey- the day he had a lot of obligations to fulfill.
Deciding that staring up at the ceiling is completely unproductive I decided to read.
My hand crept to my night stand for my Kindle.
But like any crappy moment in time – my bad luck was still there and I had nothing new on.
So I decided to re-read something and got stuck on this book.
Fun! Sweet! Nice!
Except….for the villainess. The arson crazy-pants kill-loving schemer and all around coo-coo.
I am not sure what the h and H did to anger the author enough to write this angry woman in to the plot. I am not sure what we, the readers did to earn the torture of her half baked schizophrenia. But most importantly – I have no idea what the heroes brother did to get her as a wife.
No, really, what did he do? O.o
The sad thing is- I really liked him. Even wanted to read his book…but the author made him in to a completely blind idiot in love with a pretty face. So much in love that he completely buys that his younger brother is fu*king his wife in front of his own misuses.
I hated her….not because she was evil enough to make me feel strong emotion, but because she frustrated me to no end over her unfound love for the H and the fact that her being the brother’s wife made the brother IQ loose about 50% in my eyes. Any way…I hated her so much that when the scene of her death came across I wish I had a match to contribute to her fiery end.
Again.
Because I wanted the same thing the first time around.
The only difference was that after this re-reading I was not so much angry as much as depressed. This is a book by a very good author. I just can not wrap my brain around the fact that she wrote something so….lukewarm with a antagonist that felt transplanted from a Stephen King novel. I kept waiting for her to turn cannibalistic or something.
So, bottom line: Was it a bad book? No. And if I go Laalalalaaaa-laaaaaa-this-never-happened!!! over the villain of the story then it would be a sweet story about a newly married couple.
July 5, 2013
This is one of my favorites of Cheryl St. John's books. I not only loved Lydia and Jacob and their tender and sensual story, I found the information on the Harmonists very interesting. Cheryl's voice lends itself to the warm and hard-working place I always think created the Heartland.
December 7, 2020
I have read a couple books by Cheryl St. John and bought this expecting something sweet, maybe even what one would call saccharine. I was in the mood for it! Lydia and Jakob are a sweet pair. Their storyline focuses on newlyweds struggling to strengthen their bond and work through intimacy issues. I would say that approximately two-thirds into the story, they work through their problems and are finally honest with each other. At this point, the storyline ultimately sputters and flounders to an end.
The weakest point would be the superficial, oddly sketched scheming of Jakob's sister-in-law, Peine. Peine is painted as being crazed and unconvincingly obsessed with Jakob. Within the first few pages of the novel she attempts to set Lydia on fire because Jakob states that she is pretty. She bullies and antagonizes the heroine, fights with her husband on a daily basis, and openly ogles her brother-in-law and the family never comments on or even seem to notice her behavior. At one point she concocts an absurd story and it is easily shut down, and yet she is NOT confronted about lying. The family members just continue to behave as if the entire incident never happens. Her antics are extremely one-note and her characterization is without dimension.
I knew this was an older romance novel, so I expected melodrama and mustache twirling villains. I draw the line at outright stupidity.
The weakest point would be the superficial, oddly sketched scheming of Jakob's sister-in-law, Peine. Peine is painted as being crazed and unconvincingly obsessed with Jakob. Within the first few pages of the novel she attempts to set Lydia on fire because Jakob states that she is pretty. She bullies and antagonizes the heroine, fights with her husband on a daily basis, and openly ogles her brother-in-law and the family never comments on or even seem to notice her behavior. At one point she concocts an absurd story and it is easily shut down, and yet she is NOT confronted about lying. The family members just continue to behave as if the entire incident never happens. Her antics are extremely one-note and her characterization is without dimension.
I knew this was an older romance novel, so I expected melodrama and mustache twirling villains. I draw the line at outright stupidity.
September 5, 2019
This is Cheryl St. John's second Harlequin novel, but it is an interesting look into her future, as it contains both a sensual love story (of which she's written several for HQN Historicals) and a story heavy in religion (she has since switched over to writing HQN Love Inspired, the inspirational line). There's probably too much sex for the Christian set to like this, and too much religion for those who dislike heavy doses of God in their romance novels.
I thought it struck an interesting balance, because the religious aspect comes in the form of the Rappite colony, a radical sect that broke away from German Lutheranism, rather similiar, I think, to the way the Swiss-based Mennonites broke away from the Anabaptists. The Rappites were definitely a strange bunch, though, because they believed that any sort of pleasure was sinful, and the purest path to God was through celibacy. The Rappites literally died out because of this belief. Crazy, no??
Our heroine, Lydia, is from the Rappite colony, and she finds herself attracted to a German Lutheran, Jakob, aka an Outsider. She leaves the colony to begin her life with this man, and it is fairly rough going. They are both young and inexperienced (Lydia is outright ignorant in ways that are rather unbelievable), and they don't know how to use their words to sort out their differences. A jealous sister in law, Peine, doesn't help matters: she's in love with Jakob herself and is willing to do anything to drive Lydia away from the homestead so that she can have him for herself.
The story rolls along in a conventional way, but I found the last 1/3 highly irritating, as, in spite of everything they have shared and learned about marriage together, Lydia and runs off. Just because Jakob hadn't said three little words, she immediately believed the worst of him in spite of all actions and deeds to the contrary. I hate this particular trope. I am a firm believer in actions being louder than words, so I have little patience for characters who get hung up on a singular phrase.
The ending was unnecessary, too. No need for drama, especially when its in the form of bloodthirsty melodrama.
These are things that St. John grows out of as her books continue, though, so at least there's hope - but I am unlikely to ever hunt down her debut because of them.
I thought it struck an interesting balance, because the religious aspect comes in the form of the Rappite colony, a radical sect that broke away from German Lutheranism, rather similiar, I think, to the way the Swiss-based Mennonites broke away from the Anabaptists. The Rappites were definitely a strange bunch, though, because they believed that any sort of pleasure was sinful, and the purest path to God was through celibacy. The Rappites literally died out because of this belief. Crazy, no??
Our heroine, Lydia, is from the Rappite colony, and she finds herself attracted to a German Lutheran, Jakob, aka an Outsider. She leaves the colony to begin her life with this man, and it is fairly rough going. They are both young and inexperienced (Lydia is outright ignorant in ways that are rather unbelievable), and they don't know how to use their words to sort out their differences. A jealous sister in law, Peine, doesn't help matters: she's in love with Jakob herself and is willing to do anything to drive Lydia away from the homestead so that she can have him for herself.
The story rolls along in a conventional way, but I found the last 1/3 highly irritating, as, in spite of everything they have shared and learned about marriage together, Lydia and runs off. Just because Jakob hadn't said three little words, she immediately believed the worst of him in spite of all actions and deeds to the contrary. I hate this particular trope. I am a firm believer in actions being louder than words, so I have little patience for characters who get hung up on a singular phrase.
The ending was unnecessary, too. No need for drama, especially when its in the form of bloodthirsty melodrama.
These are things that St. John grows out of as her books continue, though, so at least there's hope - but I am unlikely to ever hunt down her debut because of them.
September 3, 2021
I liked this book and how it showed Jakob and Lydia getting to know each other.
I liked how Jakob and Lydia still tried to get to know each other after their wedding as most of the time that doesn’t really happen in books. I liked how they interacted with Jakob’s family but I wanted to see more scenes where Lydia’s family was shown.
I liked the story and how the characters learned to communicate, even though I thought some of the things that happened could have been easily resolved by them just talking to each other.
I do want to read the next book, about Anton, but I’m a bit scared that if Emily will be talked about, she will be talked about as if she’s a saint. I really didn’t like her in this book. I understood that she felt like she didn’t fit in but she never talked to anyone about it and Anton tried to talk to her a few times but every time she would start an argument or just not say anything. I thought that she was manipulative and I didn’t like her at all.
I liked how Jakob and Lydia still tried to get to know each other after their wedding as most of the time that doesn’t really happen in books. I liked how they interacted with Jakob’s family but I wanted to see more scenes where Lydia’s family was shown.
I liked the story and how the characters learned to communicate, even though I thought some of the things that happened could have been easily resolved by them just talking to each other.
I do want to read the next book, about Anton, but I’m a bit scared that if Emily will be talked about, she will be talked about as if she’s a saint. I really didn’t like her in this book. I understood that she felt like she didn’t fit in but she never talked to anyone about it and Anton tried to talk to her a few times but every time she would start an argument or just not say anything. I thought that she was manipulative and I didn’t like her at all.
January 20, 2024
Love how you merged two cultures
May 21, 2019
This is a story about a couple being attracted to someone of a differing background and religious tradition. Jacob is attracted to Lydia, who is a member of a religious colony. Despite their differences, they are able to make a life together because of their faith in God and each other.
This is an earlier book by this author and it drags in places. Although this is listed as Neubauer Brothers, Book 2. I believe HEAVEN CAN WAIT is Book 1. 3.5 stars
Neubauer Brothers Series
**1) Heaven Can Wait (1994)
2) Rain Shadow (1994)
This is an earlier book by this author and it drags in places. Although this is listed as Neubauer Brothers, Book 2. I believe HEAVEN CAN WAIT is Book 1. 3.5 stars
Neubauer Brothers Series
**1) Heaven Can Wait (1994)
2) Rain Shadow (1994)
September 27, 2013
St. John puts you into the thick of this story. You feel for the characters as you get to know them throughout the book. Jakob is the hero without his own knowledge and as we see through the story an honorable man. Lydia, the innocent, finds that all me are not the same. With Jakob's help she finds love and a man she can feel safe loving. St. John takes us on the journey through her details of the story that makes you want to keep reading until you find you are at the end of the story and wanting more.
November 10, 2024
Good Book
I have read this book several times and have enjoyed it each time. I have learned something new each time. This is about people who move away from their familiar families and into an unknown environment. It also presents a lesson in communicating with others and how that prevents misunderstandings. Very good about an Amish young woman who marries a man outside of her religious group. It shows the differences and the adjustments people have to make when moving into a new situation. Good characters and good descriptions of the way of life.
I have read this book several times and have enjoyed it each time. I have learned something new each time. This is about people who move away from their familiar families and into an unknown environment. It also presents a lesson in communicating with others and how that prevents misunderstandings. Very good about an Amish young woman who marries a man outside of her religious group. It shows the differences and the adjustments people have to make when moving into a new situation. Good characters and good descriptions of the way of life.
November 7, 2010
Not my favorite by her, but it was still really good.
February 22, 2013
Loving this author review to come soon.
May 1, 2013
It was a sweet
August 20, 2013
Better than the usual. Interesting plot twist. One section a little far fetched but..still enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews