"Between Two Worlds"

I am a member of the "Fans of Amish Fiction" reading group on Goodreads.com and a new author asked about us reading their new novel, "Between Two Worlds." I mentioned if you send me a copy, I'll review it and a copy came in the mail. Thank you for the copy Shelter.

Here it is...

From Dreamspinner Press:

Aiden Cermak and Daniel Schrock are the definition of “worlds apart.” It doesn’t get more different than agnostic and Amish, and no one is more aware of this than Aiden. The young Chicago journalist travels to central Illinois Amish Country to research an article and ends up as a house guest of Daniel and his family after an act of bravery leaves the Schrocks in his debt. 

Aiden is drawn to the solemn and mysterious Daniel and decides to hang around Amish Country for a while longer, despite the risk of terrible consequences for Daniel. But Daniel’s suspect sexuality might not be the only secret he’s harboring, and as Aiden becomes more and more enmeshed in the community, he discovers that a hidden past may make it even harder for Daniel to face his emerging feelings. It may be impossible to build a bridge between their worlds—their only hope may be to carve out a world of their own.

There was only a portion of one line on the last page of novel where I felt awkward with the context. I have read a lot of Amish fiction but this was my first gay Amish fiction. I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe some discomfort with the topic, but over all I liked it. I enjoyed the characters, their strengths and their flaws. Aiden was much like any Englisher in the Amish community, naive and curious. We always see something new that our fictional Amish friends do that the English think curious but I had to chuckle when Daniel told Aiden, “Amish do lots of things real people do.” Daniel’s family and community was much like any other fictional Amish family & community – tight knit, caring, and devoted to each other. I enjoyed reading what was going through the characters minds, not just their actions, it made their actions more realistic. It was nice that the tension between Aiden and Daniel was built on emotion and not sex – one of the reasons I so enjoy Amish fiction. I enjoyed the side stories that made the whole story come together.