Accidentally Amish (Valley of Choice Book 1)

It doesn't seem right to give this novel only three stars, but I have to rate it on how it struck me, and the truth is, it struck me as just "okay." First, we're introduced to the protagonist, a software entrepreneur named Annie. For reasons never disclosed, her lawyer boyfriend is trying to cheat her out of the rights to some software she designed, and after an interesting opening involving a car chase and hiding out in the back of a pickup, she eludes him and ends up in Amish territory. That's where we're introduced to subplot #1, an Amish man named Rufus who becomes Annie's love interest. Rufus has two subplots of his own. The first is a business rival who's so worried about a little competition, he'll resort to criminal behavior, and the second is a sister who needs Christian love and forgiveness that takes a while in coming.If one main plot and three subplots aren't enough, about halfway through the book we're introduced to a completely different story in the form of flashbacks to three hundred years ago when Rufus's ancestors sailed from Switzerland to the New World. Now that might be an interesting story too, but I felt like I was reading two different books at the same time. Apparently the people in the flashback are the author's actual ancestors, and that's why she felt compelled to include them. But I wanted to concentrate on Annie and Rufus. I didn't care about the author's ancestors. I skimmed over chapter after chapter about them, and any book that has me skimming loses stars. Why didn't the editors put all that in a separate book? Maybe they wanted to stretch Annie's story into a trilogy?I suspect that's the case because that's what happened here. If Annie's story hadn't kept my interest, it would have lost yet another star when the book ended on several cliffhangers. Rufus's subplot with the business rival, the romantic subplot, and the extraneous flashback story are all "to be continued."So there we go. Three stars because of the only distantly related flashback story and too much left unresolved to make me feel rewarded for sticking with the book till the very end. I actually have the second book on my Kindle, but as I'm not anxious to be skimming over chapters again, I'm not sure when I'll get to reading it.

I REALLY loved this book. May contain a few light spoilers. I was looking for a typical Amish read, but I didn't get that here, and it was great! I am used to reading all about Amish kids/parents troubles, but they are already Amish. In this book you will read about Annie, an uber successful tech developer, fleeing from her creepy lawyer boyfriend who is trying to pull one over on her. And Rufus, a woodworking Amish man who just wants to be left alone. Or so he thinks. Annie is used to life on the go, connected to her laptop and cell phone at all times. While attempting to flee, she ends up smack in the middle of Amish life, when she hitches a ride on a lumber truck bound for Rufus Beiler. Rufus finds Annie stowed away in his barn, and tries to keep her at arms length, because she's English. This book follows the story of 2 people, one destined to forever be Amish, and the other looking for a way out of a lifestyle she never knew she hated. The relationship develops really slow (not in a bad way either) between Annie and Rufus, and they each bring their own issues to the table. I liked seeing this though, as some stories move way to fast, and leave you wondering if what just happened was even possible in real life. Olivia Newport weaves a story of love, patience, and letting go of what might have been. I really enjoyed this book, and will be looking for part 2.

With the title Accidentally Amish, I presupposed this book would probably be a bit silly, but I read other reviews and thought that it might be worth a read after all. I am really glad I bought this one because I totally enjoyed the characters, both past and present. The author did the one thing that totally endears a character to me, and that is that she made most of her characters, the main ones, out to be both honest and straight forward but not perfect. I've pretty much overdosed on characters who manipulate and lie to get their own way, especially when it is the hero/heroine doing it! While Annie tended to be an individual used to "getting what she wants" in life by hard work and perseverance, she was self aware enough to know that she over stepped the boundaries of appropriateness, especially when it came to the Amish, specifically Rufus. Nice. Really nice. And, the historical sub-story was also interesting, which I was not sure it would be. I found myself caught up in the relationships and the struggle those ancestors dealt with.There were a couple of rough transitions between the stories of past and present, but overall, I thought the author did a great job. My main complaint, though, is that the second in the series is not available already, but that only shows how much I liked the first one. "Couldn't put the book down", though an overused phrase on Amazon, is accurate in this case.

Thes is a really good well-written book. Annie plans on running from Rick, her boyfriend/company attorney, then finds out her best friend & company partner, Barrett, are working together to take over her business. She finds herself in the back of a truck, ending up in a very small town where some Amish live.-- She finds an attorney to help her fight against Rick & Barrett. But has also become friends with Ralph, an Amish man, who says things that makes her wonder about her self & her goals.--Annie also begins searching her ancestry and a different times, this author switches to the 1700s - which is very very interesting. I do not normally like books that switches back & forth - but this author has written this so well, it makes me wish there was a different book about the ancestors - but then, I do love Historicals. -------------- I did see that someone wrote that some things were left unanswered but I do not think so.

I think that if it weren't for the historical storyline, I probably would only give this book 3.5*. While the contemporary storyline was a good mixture of Amish, romance and suspense, the writing and characters weren't as strong as in Olivia's first novel, The Pursuit of Lucy Banning. It does seem as if historical fiction is where she's stronger, at least for now.That said, there were plenty of elements that I appreciated about this story. This is the second series I've read that's set among the newer Amish settlements in Colorado, and it's definitely interesting to read about how different Amish groups live depending on their regions and farming opportunities. Olivia lives in Colorado, and she was able to evoke the feeling of the small towns and Amish communities in her area.The city that Annie worked in never felt quite as real, and neither did her job. Mainly, I believe this is because my husband is a computer programmer and the descriptions of Annie's jobs seemed incredibly vague given my knowledge of the subject. But for those who don't deal with software engineering on a regular basis, the descriptions of her work might not be so vague.As for the romance, it was slow moving, but that's because this is the first book in a series. Given that there are so many Amish romances where an English character's conversion to the faith feels rushed, I appreciated that the book didn't end with everything neatly tidied up. As confident as Annie was about making changes to her life, I think she still has a long way to go and I'm interested in reading more about her. As strange as it might seem for a computer programmer to become interested in the Amish lifestyle, I got the impression that Annie got far more involved in the business world than she intended and no longer enjoyed her job, so the changes she made at the end of the novel made sense.I also liked the sub-plot about Rufus's sister, Ruth, and I hope that the next novel delves more into the family dynamics and Ruth's attempts to reconcile with her family while still becoming a nurse. I felt like her story was a realistic portrayal of someone who left the faith before baptism for educational reasons, and I appreciated this change from the usual stories about people who leave to "explore the world". Ruth kept much of her faith while studying nursing.The storyline about the construction company wasn't really resolved, which was a bit disappointing, but I'd be interested to see how that panned out, even if I preferred the other storylines. I had mixed feelings about this sub-plot as I wasn't sure what kind of message it was giving about justice, retaliation and turning the other cheek. I'm intrigued to see where it goes.Ultimately, I liked the contemporary storyline, but at times the historical plot caught my attention more. I haven't read many stories about Amish settlers in the eighteenth century, so the story of Annie and Rufus's ancestors was fascinating. It really captured just how difficult life was for new settlers, if they made it through the long journey. Jakob's struggle between sticking to his faith and wanting to remarry was very heartfelt, and although the novel focused far more on the contemporary storyline, I still became attached to the historical characters. I hope that Olivia continues their storyline, or at least focuses on some other ancestors, in the next book.I ended up writing a lot more about this book than planned, so obviously it touched me more than I realised. Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Pursuit of Lucy Banning but it was a compelling and original story. For those who like dual-time narratives of a lighter fare, this would definitely suit. I might not have connected with Annie as much as some Amish heroines, but this novel definitely brings something a little different to the genre. I'll be looking out for the second book in the series later this year.

I'll admit I liked this book, and the other two in the series. You are going to want to read all three, as the three books really tell one long story. It wasn't really deep, and if you're looking for the Christian point of view in this book, you're going to find it very superficial. There really is no talk of Bible verses, or even reading the Bible. You don't really get a look into their prayer lives, or how they are growing to be better Christians. It is talked about superficially for Annie as she contemplates leaving the every day lifestyle in current day for the Amish lifestyle, but over 90% of the time, instead it talks about her liking the plainer, simpler way of life. So in that aspect, I found the book very disappointing. The story though is good, and worth the read if you have time to read all three books.

The lure of the quiet and simple life is something that beckons many, including me. Loved this book and how simplicity can be so alluring. I am not a Christian, however, I agreed with many of the tenets of this book. A lovely read.

an interesting story and makes one wonder about the what is the real reason of our fast living world

great story !