Sarah's Garden (A Patch of Heaven Novel)

I cannot believe I am just now getting around to writing this review.This month for the Fans Of Amish Fiction group on GoodReads we readSarah's Garden by Kelly LongSarah's Garden is the story of Sarah King, a young Amish girl who lives at home with her family. A new neighbor, Grant Williams moves in next door.Mr. Williams is an Englisch doctor, a veterinarian, who has moved out to Amish country because of his love of the Amish and his desire to serve the Amish community, just as his father did as a physician.A kind man, Grant Williams quickly makes friends with the King family, and the community as a whole because of his willingness to serve the community and care for their animals at no charge.As Sarah King sees him daily on his visits to her produce stand she begins to fall for him, little by little. This kind of love is forbidden because she is an Amish woman, and he an outsider, and not someone she could ever marry without having to give up everything she knows, including all ties to her family.Sarah tries her hardest to fight the feelings, there is even a good Amish man, young Jacob Wyse, who has fallen for her and she tries to imagine a life with him, but try as she might, she just cannot see herself with anyone. Anyone but Grant Williams. It gets more difficult as she is forced into proximity with Grant as she helps him to plant his own garden, something she has master skills at.As Sarah's family notices they try to cause a rift between herself and Grant including her father who tells him that he cannot be with his daughter, and for her sake Grant must let her go.To try to deal with all of her emotional struggles Sarah begins to quilt, something she has never done much before, making her rather different than most women in the community, and she puts together the most beautiful quilt anyone has seen in a long time. She envisions her using it for her life with Grant, but he has disappeared and no one has heard from him...Will Sarah ever find true love and happiness? And to do so will she be forced to choose between her life as an Amish woman and the outside world with Grant? Or will she decide that he is not worth the sacrifice and instead choose Jacob Wyse, even though she does not return his feelings...?Read Sarah's Garden, the first book in the Patch of Heaven Series by Kelly Long to find out!I thought this was such a beautiful read for January. What a great way to start the year with a group read in our book group!Kelly Long did an excellent job weaving the story of Sarah and her struggle between the two worlds; between the man she has fallen for and the life she has always known.I won't give it away, but I have to admit the ending was not what I had anticipated, but I found it lovely and wonderful and very fitting.I felt we got to know Sarah pretty well, and Grant, but I felt for Jacob Wyse who was feeling this unrequited love for Sarah but saw that she was falling for an Englischer. I wanted to know more about Jacob and learn more about his thoughts and feelings for Sarah. Luckily, Kelly Long has confirmed he will be featured more in the next book in the series, due out sometime this year, and so perhaps I will then get to see into the heart of Jacob Wyse even more.I also look forward to learning more about what happens with Sarah, and if there are any struggles with the paths that she and Grant have chosen.I thought that the love between them fell together quietly. It wasn't an outspoken love, but it was quick. The only thing I did not like is I felt that Grant was a bit too forward for what would have been appropriate concerning touching Sarah. For me, it almost felt a bit disrespectful for him to touch her face so many times when he knew that she was uncomfortable with it, and that it was forbidden. I know he meant well, but if I was Sarah I would have been very unhappy with how he handled that.But that aside it was a wonderful book.Five out of five stars, and I will definitely read the next in the series!

Sarah is a very shy and faithful Amish woman who is 20 years old and not married. She is given the responibility of managing the farm stand at the end of their driveway. She is very nervous since she has never dealt with Englishers. Then she meets her new neighbor, Dr. Grant Williams. He is an honest man looking to make friends and become accepted by the Amish communiy as the new vet.As time goes on, Sarah starts to develop feelings for Grant and Grant feels the same but is more vocal about his thoughts and feelings. Their friendship begins to bloom as she assists in preparing a kitchen garden for him at his house. But there is more growing between them than should. Will Sarah leave her faith, family and community to follow her heart???I am really looking forward to reading the next book in this series, Lilly's Wedding Quilt, which is due out in April 2011. I love Kelly Long's writing style and character development. As a quilter myself, I loved how she used it to help Sarah think through and work out her problems.

A good fast-paced read that brought the reader to feel as the characters felt. It left me wanting to read a sequal! One could feel the sadness in the main characters as they wrestled with their feelings and obvious tries at denial. It was a relief when the heroine's father realized the love between his daughter and the vet was real and a way was forged for their marriage. A 2nd book for a series, perhaps?

Sarah is a young Amish woman who has not found herself yet. She is shy and loves to spend hours in her garden growing her vegetables. Now that her older sister is married she is taking over running the road side stand which puts her out of her element. On her first day at the stand she meets Grant the new Englisch vet. There is an immediate connection but such a relationship is forbidden. Will Sarah give up all she knows for true love or will Grant find himself by becoming Amish? You will have to read this book to find out!!I really liked this book. I admit I love a romance book where there is a bit of a block in the road for the couple. I found myself holding my breath wondering how it was going to turn out. I read this book with an online book club and some of the other members questioned the relationship between the two. I guess I found it so fun to read because I liked how true love was crossing a line. Over all a great book and I can't wait for the next one in the series.

Kelly Long has woven a masterpiece about the Amish faith, family,and the way The Lord works in every aspect of our lives if we truly look to Him for guidance. From the moment I picked up this book until the very last page, I was held captive. I felt like I was with Sarah, moving about and experiencing every day of her life. Kelly Long has done such a wonderful job of incorporating the Amish ways and culture in this book, I feel as if I have visited the community in person. Thank you, Kelly Long for growing my own faith through Sarah's story! I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the Amish and at the same time, reading a beautiful story of unconditional love!!

Ive read the other books in this series and enjoyed them. This one however was a very s l o w read. to be honest I couldnt wait until I finished it. The underlying lesson of the book was good but again I would of rather had the story go alittle faster. It is good but a slow read!!!

This is a beautiful, well-written story -- my first book by this author and I can't wait to read the rest in the series. I loved Grant and Sarah and the secondaries. especially Sarah's family and the Bustles. There were a lot of serious scenes, but also humorous scenes that I loved. I enjoyed the descriptions of Sarah and Grant's lives, especially the writing about the garden with lots of varieties of vegetables that I hadn't heard of.I wish I could give more than five stars--this is one of the best Amish books I've read in a long time!

My wife enjoyed it very much

Sarah buries her shyness in her garden, nurturing her plants with her God-given gift and love of the land. But when her sister marries and leaves the family farm, Sarah has to step into her shoes and tend the vegetable stall. Initially scared at the prospect of having to deal with people - especially Englishers! - on a regular basis, Sarah soon finds that she's enjoying herself. Especially since Grant Williams, the local English vet and her new neighbour, continually visits the stall and becomes a close friend. It begins to feel like Grant has always been part of her life, and as Sarah spends many hours helping him plant a vegetable garden she realises that what she feels for Grant is more than she's ever felt for any Amish boy. But where can their relationship go? Sarah could never leave her community. Could Grant ever give up his sports car and join the Amish world?Kelly really grasps the essence of the Amish way of life in this simple love story. I felt like I was working with Sarah in her garden and walking beside her and Grant in the forest. There was a true sense of peace, despite the dramas occurring in the lives of the characters. And I really got the impression that the Amish were welcoming, loving people. While some novels choose to focus on shunnings and people who find themselves pitted against the Elders in their community, this portrayal was entirely different. I loved the way in which the Amish welcomed Grant with open arms when he expressed his desire to become a vet for their community. And they freely accepted his help in emergencies, allowing him to drive them to the hospital or a friend's house if needed. This was very different to other novels where the Amish avoid anyone English at all costs.Sarah and Grant's story isn't terribly complicated. A girl falls for a boy that she cannot be with because of societal differences, yet both yearn to be together. Sarah's parents were surprisingly accepting of their daughter's developing relationship to an outsider, and while they discouraged her they didn't actively try to stop them being together. They could have banned her from seeing him, but they let her make her own choices. And while Sarah does have another love-interest, her best friend Jacob, it is clear that Grant is the only man that she's interested in. I appreciated that Kelly showed not only the blossoming friendship between Sarah and Grant, but also their attraction to each other and the physical aspect of their relationship. While the emotional and spiritual foundations of any relationship are always the most important, a lot of authors forget about attraction and even simple hugs and kisses. I'm sure that any reader will agree that the kisses shared between Sarah and Grant were not lustful, but emphasised their love for each other and their desire to be together.My only minor complaints about this book would have to be that Grant initially appeared to be far too forward in his flirtations, and that the situation with the Fisher farm was resolved a little too easily. Grant is, in my eyes, clearly flirting with Sarah from their first meeting at the vegetable stand. Something just didn't sit right with this, and it made me a little wary of him to begin with. I wouldn't have minded if their relationship had built up to flirtations, but it seemed a little odd to behave in such a forward manner from the start. I did warm up to him, but this niggled me for a while. As for the Fisher farm and the mystery surrounding that, all the problems were resolved in a couple of pages near the end of the novel and it just seemed a bit too fast and too easy.I thoroughly enjoyed this story and became so involved in the lives of the characters that I even shed a tear or two over their struggles! Kelly Long is definitely an author to keep your eye on if you're interested in Amish fiction. Not only does she understand her subject inside and out, she creates characters that you'll wish you never have to say goodbye to. 9/10