"Courting Miss Amsel" Book Review

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingCourting Miss AmselBethany House (January 1, 2011)byKim Vogel Sawyer

MY REVIEW:

What a delight. This book is full of great characters, wonderful plot points and a fantastic setting (it's in Nebraska!). Miss Amsel is a delight - full of enthusiasm for teaching in a one room school house and all kinds of ideas about how to help the children learn. Sadly, the townspeople aren't as convinced that these new ideas are for the best - why in the world do they need to learn anything but reading, writing and math? They are just going to grow up to be farmers after all. Joel Townsend is the guardian to his two nephews and knows that they need a mother. Is it possible that Miss Amsel could be that mother? This book is a wonderful way to find out. I love Kim Vogel Sawyer's commitment to character throughout all of her books and this one certainly doesn't disappoint - this is one of my favorite of her books so far.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?

Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain on a woman like Miss Amsel.

Within the first week, she has the entire town up in arms over her outlandish teaching methods, which include collecting leaves, catching bugs, making snow angels, and stringing ropes in strange patterns all over the schoolyard. Joel can't help but notice that she's also mighty pretty with her rosy lips, fashionable clothes, and fancy way of speaking.

When Edythe decides to take her pupils to hear Miss Susan Anthony speak on the women's suffrage amendment, the town's outcry reaches new heights. Even Joel isn't sure he can support her newfangled ideas any longer. And if he can't trust her to know how to teach the boys, how can he trust her with his heart?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Courting Miss Amsel, go HERE.