HER FEAR – Shelley Shepard Gray
The Amish of Hart County,  Book 5
Avon Inspire
ISBN: 978-0-06-246921-2
July 2018
Romantic Suspense

Present Day Ohio (briefly) and Kentucky

Sadie grew up with harsh and unforgiving parents. When she found warmth with a local Amish man named Harlan, she fell for him and believed he was courting her. Yet when she told him she was pregnant with his child, he refused to accept it was his (it could be no other) and lied to her family. They took his side, then sent her away to some relatives in Kentucky with a bus ticket and five dollars in her pocket . . . and bruises from her father's cane.

A few weeks later, Sadie was with those Stauffer relatives who took her in though she had to share sleeping quarters with her cousin Esther in the kitchen of the small house. Suddenly, the lady of the house complained of pains and dropped to the floor.  An ambulance came from the firehouse with three EMTs, two English, and one Amish EMT, Noah Freeman. As hard as they tried to save her, Mrs. Verba Stauffer died in the hospital, cause as yet unknown.

Noah couldn't help but notice the young lady (Sadie) in the background. He wanted to see her again. He also felt something odd about the whole episode.

While the admirable Noah and the troubled Sadie are principal characters in the dramas to come, HER FEAR has a large and interesting cast. The Stauffer family, the elder Willis, his grown son, widower Stephen and his near adult children, Monroe and Esther, add much to the story. So does the community in which Noah is a bridge between the Amish and the English authorities.

This author knows how to grab her readers' attention to plot and characters and to keep hold of it. The romance is sweet, and the mystery compelling without blood and gore. You may start to read this series anywhere and still enjoy the whole. You'll like it. And once again you'll find a welcome PS and sneak peek at the end.

Jane Bowers