A Mother’s Gift by Charlotte Hubbard

A Mother’s Gift

by Charlotte Hubbard

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GENRE:  Inspirational Romance (Amish)

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BLURB:

For Leah Otto, marrying Jude Shetler is a long-held dream come true. As a young girl, she was captivated by his good looks and talent as an auctioneer. When Jude, now a widower with three children, begins to court her, Leah doesn’t hesitate. Other men may not appreciate her tomboy ways, but Jude values Leah’s practical nature and her skill with the animals she tends, and both enter the marriage with joy and optimism.



Three months later, Leah feels as if her world is coming down around her. Her twin teenage step-daughters, Alice and Adeline, are pushing boundaries and taking far too many risks, while five-year-old Stevie deeply misses his mother. Leah, more at ease in a barn tending her goats and chickens than in a kitchen, struggles with her housekeeping duties.



Then a baby is abandoned on their doorstep, and Leah must search her soul. Caring for little Betsy fills her with renewed purpose and the strength to begin pulling her family together. With Jude’s steadfast support, Leah finds that what she once thought of as a happy ending may be something even better—the beginning of a life rich in love, faith, and unexpected blessings.

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Excerpt Two:

Jeremiah Shetler leaned his elbows on his kitchen table, gazing earnestly at his younger brother—who, at thirty-three, was surely old enough to know better about what he was getting into. “Last chance to see reason, Jude,” he stated bluntly. “If you go through with this wedding tomorrow, you’ll be signing on for a lifetime of sorrow and regret.”

Jude’s dark eyes flashed with resentment. “Sounds more like my marriage to Frieda—God rest her soul,” he added quickly. “Why can’t you let me find my happiness with a woman who won’t keep secrets? A woman who adores me and makes me laugh?”

“Leah’s a nice girl, jah,” Jeremiah said with a shake of his head, “but she’s clueless about such basic activities as putting a gut meal on the table—”

“Why are you telling me this?” Jude demanded.

Jeremiah exhaled forcefully. He’d never understood what Jude saw in Leah. He could only assume that his widowed brother was so desperate for affection and companionship that he was willing to settle for a woman who’d never progressed beyond being the tomboy daughter Raymond and Lenore Otto hadn’t taught much about a wife’s responsibilities.

“Have you ever eaten a meal Leah cooked?” he challenged. “Vernon Gingerich has told me that any time he’s visited the Otto home, Lenore’s been bustling around in the kitchen and Leah’s been in the front room chatting with him and her dat. And at our family dinners these past months, Leah’s cleaned up the dishes, but I’ve not seen any signs that she knows how to operate a stove.”

“Lenore does the cooking when Vernon visits because he’s her bishop, and she enjoys cooking for a man now that Raymond’s gone,” Jude explained impatiently. He raked his hand through his disheveled dark waves, glancing downward with an anguished sigh. “Come on, man. You know how it is to lose a wife—and you don’t even have kids to look after. Doesn’t the loneliness—the need for adult conversation—eat you alive at times?”

Jeremiah looked away, his heart pierced by the blatant reminder of Priscilla’s absence. After three years of living without her, he did indeed know how the silence of nights alone clawed at a man’s heart like a relentless beast. But he needed to pursue his present purpose before Jude made the biggest mistake of his life.

My Review: 5*
I am a huge Charlotte Hubbard fan, I have been reading her books for a few years now which is kind of shocking being as my go to genre is paranormal. Charlotte doesn't need any hosts or ghouls to bring her fascinating tales of Amish families to life.  This book is the my favorite so far of all of her books I have read, and I have loved them all. As a Stepmom myself I can relate to some of this of this book, and enjoyed all of this book. Perfect book with Mother's Day just around the corner. 

The book is about Leah Otto, a real Tomboy. Instead of learning to cook and sew like most Amish girls, Leah helped her father with the farm animals. When she was about 13 she goes with her father to auctions and she meets Jude Shetler who is calling the action. 

Years later Jude is a widower with 3 children. He has  twin 16 year old girls and a 5 year old boy. Jude and Leah fall in love and decide to marry. Both of their families do not believe this to be a good idea, and the night before the wedding tell each of them their thoughts on the marriage. But they go through with it anyway.

Once married the twins really test Leah to the point after just a few months Leah is just miserable. She has kept all the things the girls have done to her over the past few months to herself, but at her wits end tells Jude she cannot live with him anymore. Jude unlike a lot of men steps in to keep his family together.  

This is not just a case of telling the girl to be nice to their new step mom. It goes way further then that.  Already acting out and dating English men the girls over hear Jude tell Leah that he is not their biological father.

While trying to get their little family straightened out. One night they hear a car pull up then leave, then a cry of a baby. Someone has left a tiny baby on their porch. Leah now has to decide how she can make them all a family.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Charlotte Hubbard is the acclaimed author of Amish romance and fiction that evokes simpler times and draws upon her experiences in Jamesport, the largest Old Order Amish community west of the Mississippi. Faith and family, farming, and food preservation are hallmarks of her lifestyle—and the foundation of all her novels. A deacon, dedicated church musician and choir member, she loves to travel, read, try new recipes, and crochet. A longtime Missourian, Charlotte now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband and their border collie, Vera. Please visit Charlotte online at www.CharlotteHubbard.com.



CharlotteHubbard.com

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Order Print

Kensington Bouquet

March 27, 2018

ISBN-13: 9781496712189

ISBN-10: 1496712188

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The Book Depository

Interview with Charlotte Hubbard  

Can you describe your dream home?

Yes, because I live in it! When Neal and I moved to St. Paul for his job about seven years ago, we totally remodeled the townhome we bought with some nice updates, especially in the kitchen. Got rid of all the wallpaper and went with wall colors like Copper Pot and Rustic Adobe, with a few deep red accent walls—colors that look nice with our family antique pieces. I love my kitchen with its full-extension drawers/cabinet shelves, mixer lift shelf, and lots of storage and work space. We look out on a nice green space in the back, where our dog Vera can play—and we don’t shovel snow, mow grass, or rake leaves anymore. Now THAT’s a dream come true!

If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?

You’d probably get food that’s a whole lot like what I write about in my Amish books, because I enjoy baking and cooking fresh, mostly unprocessed foods. You might even become guinea pigs for any new recipes I wanted to try out before I included them in a new book!

Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.

Wow, that’s difficult. Now that fan “letters” tend to be emails or Facebook messages/comments, I enjoy them but I can’t possibly keep them all! I do receive letters in my PO box, mostly from readers who don’t own computers, and no matter what they say or what format they come in, I’m gratified that readers take the time to write and send me their thoughts. Among the highest compliments are “you kept me up all night reading your story” or “I feel like the people in this book are my close friends” —or, “your books have helped me get through a tough time in my life”. These compliments tell me my stories reach readers on a deep level, and that’s very rewarding.

Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?

Oh, don’t tempt me with an offer of “fly you anywhere in the world” on my publisher’s money, because I might not return home! I love to travel—but researching Amish books would more likely be within the US, and most likely be a road trip. It would be fun to visit the Plain settlements in Canada and Alaska to see if those folks live differently from the ones we most often read about in the eastern US and Midwest.

Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?

My publisher, Kensington, has an art and marketing department that produces all of my covers. They go by events in the book, as well as ideas my editor and I have discussed—and she knows to let me have a look at the early cover drafts to correct any goofs like electric porch lights or tendrils of curling hair hanging in front of the Amish heroine’s kapp.

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2018/03/vbt-mothers-gift-by-charlotte-hubbard.html