Listening to Love Book Review

Book Description

Falling in love can only mean trouble for an Englisch girl and an Amish boy… unless there’s another way for them to listen to their hearts.

Englischer Natalie Collins looks forward to Friday night suppers at Levi and Mary Shetler’s house every week: delicious food, wonderful conversation with her Amish friends, and, best of all, the presence of Levi’s older brother Lucas. Natalie and Lucas have become best friends despite their different backgrounds. They share a love of books, and he is teaching her about God in a way that she can understand.

But the closer they become, the more opinions everyone seems to have. Levi and Mary, Lucas’s family, and even Natalie’s mother—whose own life is a mess at the moment—have concerns about their relationship. Why can’t everyone understand that it’s possible to just be friends? Besides, they couldn’t be together even if they wanted to be. Lucas would never leave the Amish faith, and Natalie is Englisch and pursuing a degree in veterinary medicine.

But when a terrifying accident happens, Natalie and Lucas are forced to confront their true feelings and decide if they can stay true to themselves and each other.  

This sweet Amish story is the second in the Amish Journeys series by bestselling author Beth Wiseman.

My Thoughts

Listening to Love is the second book in Beth Wiseman’s An Amish Journey series, and it follows the story of Natalie and Lucas. Natalie is an English girl that we met in the first book, and she is a close friend of Levi and Mary. Lucas is Levi’s brother, and the four of them meet every Friday night at Levi and Mary’s house for dinner and fellowship. Natalie is drawn to Lucas because of his deep understanding of God and His Word, but they are starting to feel something more than friendship which worries everyone around them.

Eventually, these feelings do develop into something more, and then this story becomes one where you wonder which one is going to adapt to the other person’s world and lifestyle. There are a few times when their feelings almost run ahead of themselves because they long to be together, long to get married, but everything moves more quickly than they are prepared for.

There were times during this period in their relationship that I almost stopped reading! The pace was just so rushed! I know it was done purposefully so that Natalie and Lucas could both realize that they needed to stop and take a breath, but….mercy, it’s a little bit of a roller coaster!

This story was not just about Natalie and Lucas. Natalie’s mother also needed some TLC after a horrible divorce left her bitter and spiteful. A new job (which she desperately needed) gave her life some direction, but something about her new employer doesn’t sit right. She was in for a surprise that she didn’t expect, and this made for an excellent twist to this otherwise ordinary Amish story.

I truly love Beth Wiseman’s books! Every single one is different from the one before it, even if they are all set in the Amish culture. This one had an ending I didn’t expect, and made me anxious to read the last book in the series – A Beautiful Arrangement. It’s already sitting on my TBR stack, waiting for its turn. 🙂

4 Stars

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**This book and series has a Jewelry Stories post. Click here to see what I was inspired to create after reading Listening to Love.

**Check out my review of book 1, Hearts in Harmony, by clicking here.