About the Book

Book: The Amish Mother’s Secret

Author: Diane Craver

Genre: Amish Romance

Release Date: December 22, 2022

Sometimes a beautiful miracle comes to you at exactly the wrong time… 

Lindsay Prescott is 40 and single when tragedy strikes. Diagnosed with stage 4, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer, her instinct is to right the wrongs in her life. Her unfortunate childhood with an alcoholic, verbally abusive mother drove her to break free in desperation at the age of 17. While working at a hotel along the beach on the East Coast, she met Harris Manning. He took her breath away and she gave herself to him in love.

Harris’ life was already planned out for him by his wealthy parents. Falling for Lindsay had been a dream. However, compelled to wed the woman his parents chose for him, he’d left her to endure a shaky marriage.

Though Harris never knew it, Lindsay found herself pregnant when he left her with no way to care for identical triplets on her own.  When the triplets were five months old, she reconnected with an Amish couple—Katie and Roman Yoder—who were unable to have children. The Yoders adopted Amy and Jenna while Lindsay kept Phoebe. She couldn’t bear to give all three babies away. In the years that followed, Katie worked hard to keep her away from her adopted daughters.

When you let go of a miracle, can you ever capture it again? 

After Harris learns his ex-wife intercepted Lindsay’s calls years ago to tell him she was pregnant, he rushes to her side, thrilled to discover he’s a father. But life rarely gives fairytale endings. Revealing the truth may prove more devastating than the hurdles that came before…and all that will surely come after for a woman fighting for her life.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Diane Craver is the author of The Amish Mother’s Secret, Book 1 in The Amish Adoption Series and two popular Amish series, Dreams of Plain Daughters and The Bishop’s Daughters. Diane also writes romantic suspense, inspirational contemporary romance, historical Christian fiction and women’s fiction. Her emotional reads receive great reviews. Although she started her career writing non-fiction, she switched to writing fiction. She wanted to keep her sanity in the midst of having a large family. Writing fiction with quirky and memorable characters gave her the escape she needed from her noisy household. Diane met her husband Tom while teaching at an orphanage. They enjoy their life in southwestern Ohio, and have been blessed with six children and several grandchildren. Two adult daughters with Down syndrome live with Tom and Diane. Her family is supportive of her writing career, and her favorite vacation is going to the beach with them. She gives thanks daily to God for her wonderful blessings, including being in remission from Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

 

More from Diane

When I started writing The Amish Mother’s Secret, a friend had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I decided to have my main character, Lindsay, to have the same type of cancer. I used many of the details of his illness for my character’s cancer. Then an unbelievable thing happened to me. I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I never expected to have cancer with none in my family history.

It was hard telling our children I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. It was stage four because it was found in many of my lymph nodes throughout my body. I rewrote the details in my manuscript so that my character reflected the type of lymphoma I had. Also, after the six months of chemo, I started two years of maintenance therapy. My oncologist said doing this therapy treatment during remission could reduce the risk of recurrence and improve the cure rate for me.

While doing my months of chemo treatments, I received thoughtful gifts, devotional books, two prayer blankets and cards with wonderful Bible verses from friends and relatives. Feeling God’s love through them helped me to get through a difficult time in my life. I appreciated all the prayers said for me to recover from cancer. I have been blessed with an awesome support group of readers.

During this stressful time, I heard from agent Lesley Sabga of The Seymour Agency.  She wanted to represent me and told me how much she loved my voice. I hadn’t been looking for an agent so it was a wonderful blessing to sign with Lesley. I had planned on The Amish Mother’s Secret to be a standalone novel, but Lesley acquired a three-book contract for me with Vinspire Publishing. I enjoyed writing about the two mothers, Lindsay and Katie, in Book One, The Amish Mother’s Secret. Both mothers were from two different worlds, but their love never wavered for their children. The second book in my Amish Adoption series, An Unexpected Gift, continues the adoption theme and is also available for purchase. Book three will release next year.

MY REVIEW

Keeping secrets seems to come up at some time. We think we are doing the right thing when we hold a secret close to us. In this story a secret has a domino affect on many lives. I can’t begin to imagine what it was like for Lindsay to find herself pregnant with identical triplet girls. Being alone with no way to support them she makes a hard decision. This is a shock when her secret is found out by the daughter she kept. I had many questions I wanted to ask Lindsay. What I did do however was try to put myself in her shoes. With no judgment I understood that she was doing the best she knew by having two of the girls adopted. All these years she had lived with this secret until the day she had to tell the truth. 

I was very surprised how Phoebe reacted when her mother told her about her other two sisters. This young woman gave her mother grace and knew that she had to support her mother as she  was going  through Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. What I appreciate is how the author gave us an insight into this illness with a personal  account that inspired the story. Going through cancer treatment is difficult and I admire Lindsay and how important it was to her to have her daughter meet her family. 

The parents who adopted  Amy and Jenna are Amish. This is such a different culture than their sister. They have always been loved by their adopted families and have grown into sweet young women. When they both decide they want to be paramedics, their mother is not pleased. She believes that her daughters should get married and have families. The family does discuss this with understanding and I love how the decision made was respected by everyone. 

It does look like everyone is doing well until the past starts to come up for both families. I think about Katie and Roman who adopted the girls and how much joy they brought to them. Will the girls find out that  their parents have kept something from them? How will it affect everyone? One family has been on their own and now faces an illness that could shatter a bond. The other family has worked hard and grew up Amish. The girls are ready to branch out on their own. The emotions are felt deeply in this story and does have a few sensitive subjects that may be a trigger for some. The author handles these subjects with grace and delivers a realistic view of how abuse and alcoholism can affect a family. 

What you will discover in this moving story is an illustration of forgiveness, reconciliation, grace and faith that continues to bring peace and unconditional love. I appreciate how each character is able to share their own prospective and trust that God will work everything out for good. Thank you to the author for sharing part of her  own personal journey through cancer and how it affects many.  

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 9

Texas Book-aholic, September 10

Mary Hake, September 10

Lighthouse Academy Blog, September 11 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 12

Connie’s History Classroom, September 13

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, September 14

Splashes of Joy, September 14

Bizwings Book Blog, September 15

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 16

The Book Club Network, September 17

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 18

Vicky Sluiter, September 18

For Him and My Family, September 19

Cover Lover Book Review, September 20

JESUS in the EVERYDAY, September 21

Books I’ve Read, September 22

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Diane is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/27a70/the-amish-mother-s-secret-celebration-tour-giveaway