Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway: Andrew by Jennifer Beckstrand

About the Book



Book: Andrew  
Author: Jennifer Beckstrand
Genre: Amish Romance  
Release Date: June 25, 2019

Andrew, Abraham, and Austin Petersheim’s family business has earned them the nickname The Peanut Butter Brothers. But if their matchmaking younger siblings have their way, all three may soon bear another title: husband . . .

Handsome, hardworking, and godly, Andrew Petersheim has always been sure of his place in his Wisconsin Amish community. He’ll be a welcome catch for the local girl who finally captures his heart. Mary Coblenz certainly isn’t that girl. Two years after “jumping the fence” for the Englischer world, she’s returned, unmarried and pregnant. Yet instead of hiding in shame as others in the community expect, she’s working at the Honeybee Farm, ignoring the gossips—and winning over Andrew’s eight-year-old twin brothers . . . 

For all Andrew’s certainty about right and wrong, it seems he has a lot to learn from Mary’s courage, grace, and resilience. She’s changing his notions about forgiveness and love, but will she in turn accept the challenge of starting over and choose to stay—with him?

Click here to grab your copy!




My Thoughts:

  
Andrew is the start of a new series about two little 8 year old imps whose house has become too crowded. Due to unfortunate family circumstances, twins Alfie and Benjie have lost the occupancy of their bedroom and have been sent to the cellar for the foreseeable future. Since there are spiders and maybe ghosts, this does not sit well with them so they concoct plans to get their three older brothers married off quickly. What happens is a delightful story of matchmaking done by twin brothers unbeknownst to anyone but their grandfather who is recovering from a stroke and cannot communicate.

Mary Coblenze tried the English world and she ended up worse for it. Pregnant and unwed, she goes back home to her parents, who do not want her back. She is able to find a home with Bitsy, an oddity in this Amish community, and her husband. Mary was a nice girl with a smart head on her shoulders that made some life mistakes. She is doing her best to get by, and even though her pregnancy is not the outcome she would have picked for herself, she is looking forward to her baby.

Andrew is a wonderful son and grandson, but he certainly has some lessons to learn when it comes to sins and forgiveness and what it truly means to forgive as God forgives. Mary is confronted with many pharisaical judgements and we as a reader get to look at how ugly all sin is. 

I look forward to the more matchmaking from the twins for their brothers Abraham and Austin.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.


About the Author



Jennifer Beckstrand is the two-time RITA-nominated, #1 Amazon bestselling Amish romance author of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hillseries, The Honeybee Sistersseries, and The Petersheim Brothersseries for Kensington Books. Huckleberry Summer and Home on Huckleberry Hill were both nominated for the coveted RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America. Jennifer has written twenty-one Amish romances, a historical Western, Jessie and James, and the nonfiction book, Big Ideas. She and her husband have been married for thirty-four years, and she has six children and seven adorable grandchildren, whom she spoils rotten.


 

More from Jennifer

If you enjoyed The Honeybee Sisters, you’re going to love The Petersheim Brothers, or the Peanut Butter Brothers as they’re known in their small Amish community of Bienenstock, Wisconsin. The Petersheim brothers work their small farm and make peanut butter. The idea for The Petersheim Brothers series came when two of my friends and I were creating The Honeybee Sisters Cookbook. My friend Alicia suggested I write a book about Peanut Butter Brothers, and the idea stuck.

One of my favorite characters in my Amish romances is Aunt Bitsy, the irrepressible, unconventional woman who raised the Honeybee Sisters, tried to chase off all their suitors, and then lit fireworks at their triple wedding. In Andrew, the first book in the Petersheim Brothers series, Aunt Bitsy takes in a girl who has jumped the fence and wants to come back to the Amish community to have her baby. Aunt Bitsy is still protecting her dandelions and her bees, still dyeing her hair all sorts of bright colors, and still praying to Gotte right out loud.

Andrew is about forgiveness, second chances, and learning to love. It will have you laughing and crying, and you might just fall in love with two of the most mischievous little boys in Wisconsin. Enjoy.

In honor of the Peanut Butter Brothers, I want to share one of our favorite family recipes. These bars are perfect for picnics, parties, and potlucks. They’re easy and delicious!    

Peanut Butter Bars  

Cream together:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar  

Blend In:

2 unbeaten eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup peanut butter
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla  

Stir In:

2 cups flour
2 cups quick oats

Spread mixture in greased jelly-roll pan or large cookie sheet. Bake: 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from oven.    

Sprinkle on: 1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips. Let stand five minutes.

For peanut butter mixture on top, combine:

½ cup sifted powdered sugar
¼ cup peanut butter
2 to 4 Tbs. evaporated milk

Mix well. The chocolate chips will melt on the bars. Spread melted chocolate evenly. Drizzle peanut butter mixture on top. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Blog Stops

The Avid Reader, June 26
Moments, June 26
Bigreadersite, June 29
Genesis 5020, July 1
Mary Hake, July 5
Splashesofjoy, July 5
Vicky Sluiter, July 5
Quiet Quilter, July 9

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away a grand prize of a $20 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e57a/andrew-celebration-tour-giveaway

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your book and I enjoyed getting to hear about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for taking the time to review my book. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I think forgiveness is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves and others, even though it's one of the hardest!

    ReplyDelete