Courting Miss Amsel

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Courting Miss Amsel Bethany House (January 1, 2011)
by
Kim Vogel Sawyer


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.


MY THOUGHTS:
Every child needs an Edythe Amsel at least once in his or her life to unlock the joys of learning! Shame on the stodgy citizens of Walnut Hill, Nebraska, who couldn't see the sense of teaching anything more than the 3 R's! As wonderful of a teacher as she is, however, she is stymied by the escalating antics of William Sholes. What will it take for her to get the upper hand? Edythe must face challenges in her personal life as well when her youngest sister, Missy, appears after running away from home. Edythe has practically raised the girl (and her other siblings as well) upon their mother's death soon after Missy's birth. Edythe longs to be rid of the pressures that come with raising someone else's children, so she refuses to be interested in Joel Townsend, who is raising his best friend's two orphaned boys. Now if only her heart will listen to her head. . . ! Kim Vogel Sawyer has once again written a wonderful story of love, friendship, and community.

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