I really kept reading because of the author's firsthand knowledge of Amish life. What is this secret, and will it bring Katie closer to the life she has always dreamed of? Will it tear her family apart and destoy every semblance of peace in the community of Hickory Hollow?This book was alright. and a family secret she discovers in the attic one day, in search of her mother's wedding dress. Katie struggles with the constant longing for something else in life - and that something else includes music, guitars, boys.

But she can't help but dream of her first love and loss, Dan Fisher, who taught her to play the guitar and sing songs she would never hear in church (gasp!). She lives a normal female Amish life with her loving, close-knit parents and brothers in Hickory Hollow, taking care of her people, the house and preparing for the next great step in her life - marrying Bishop John, a 40-year-old widower with ready-made children of his own to be cared for.

Read moreĪmish teenager Katie is one of the more headstrong, passionate women of her family.

I was hoping just this once I could get away with reading just the first book in a series, but no, now I have to get the second book, The Confession. I can't wait to see what Hallmark does with the story in their movie.Of course, the whole thing ended with a cliffhanger and thus the potential for Katie, who suffered with herself so much in this novel, to find happiness. Things really got interesting about halfway through and I just plowed through the end. Soon she must come to terms with her past and figure out what to do with her future.The novel was a very good and quick read, I read it in an afternoon. Life gets even more complicated when she finds a fancy baby gown in her parents' attic, too fancy to be from an Amish child. After her beau dies tragically, she struggles even more despite the fact that she's engaged to the bishop in her town. I wanted to read it soon because Hallmark made a movie from the novel that's premiering on April 16th and I wanted to have read the book before seeing the movie.Katie Lapp has struggled with her Amish heritage for as long as she can remember, often wanting to just indulge in a simple song. You know Amish novels are my guilty pleasure and this was one of the best Beverly Lewis novels I've read.

Beverly lewis the shunning book