Wanda E Brunstetter just keeps giving me great books to read. This is the second book she has done in Hawaii and I love her descriptions of Hawaii and how she works in why an Amish girl would be there. I love Ellen’s character and was glad for her decisions she made. I look forward to many more books by Wanda. I received a copy of this book from Barbour Publishing for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Continuing the story from Book 1, The Hawaiian Quilt, Mandy and Ken find themselves back in Hawaii after Ken's dad has a heart attack and dies. They feel compelled to stay there and help Ken's mom run their organic chicken farm. When Ken is seriously injured, Mandy's Amish best friend, Ellen, comes to help Mandy out.

Ellen was such a true friend to Mandy and lived out her faith in the assistance she gave Mandy and Ken. Giving up her own life for almost 7 months to help out and being away from her family for so long was a sacrifice she was willing to make. The realism of Ken's accident and his struggle to recover was well portrayed. It took a strong man to learn to cope with disabilities and make the best of his situation. His faith and support from others made this possible. Rob was an interesting character, and I have to admit I was totally surprised when the truth about his past came out. The slowly developing friendship/relationship between he and Ellen was nicely done.

I enjoyed the setting of both of these books. And also that Brunstetter took a different approach to Amish fiction than the usual.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Shiloh Run Press through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review.

I am a huge fan of Amish fiction. Ellen is running Mandy and Ken's Bed & Breakfast due to the illness of Ken's father in Hawaii. Mandy and Ken traveled to help Ken's mother run the farm. Unfortunately, Ken's father passed away and Ken's brother, unable to deal with everything, moved away. It seems they may be in Hawaii for quite some time. Ellen enjoys running the B&B.
Then, Ken and Mandy make the decision to sell the B&B and remain in Hawaii helping Ken's mother. It sold rather quickly, putting Ellen out of the job she loved. Ken has an incident while surfing that put him in the hospital for quite some time and with serious injuries. Ellen got permission from the church leaders to fly to Hawaii to be there for her friends and to help on the farm. While there, she meets Rob, who is also working on the farm. She begins to develop feelings for him even though he is Englisch and she realizes she will be returning back home and there can be no relationship. And, is he hiding secrets?
For me, this book was predictable in many instances. It was also an extremely slow read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love Wanda E Brunstetter, she is such a great writer especially of Amish fiction. However I just could not get into this book. The main couple didn't feel like the main focus of the book, in fact we did not meet our "hero", Rob, until almost the middle of the story. I like when a novel brings other characters to the fore so that the story does not feel one dimensional but it almost feels like our couple were an afterthought to the whole book.
Besides going more than forty percent of the book before we the reader meets the "hero", his leading lady, Ellen, doesn't even meet him until past the middle of the book. The balance was just off, with too much emphasis being placed on what should have been the secondary story of the book.
I love that there were other characters to invest in and care about, that should never be lost just kept in it's proper perspective.

Ellen Lambert's best friend Mandy has left the Amish faith and married the man of her dreams from Hawaii. When a family matter forces Mandy and her husband to return to Hawaii, Ellen mourns the loss. When disaster strikes in Hawaii, Ellen flies there to help Mandy through this terrible time. Rob Smith works at the farm that Mandy's in laws own. When things begin to change between Ellen and Rob, Ellen's commitment to her faith is the only thing standing in the way. A heartfelt confession could lead to forgiveness and love. Will they be able to make the leap?
I love this series set in Hawaii and Indiana. The characters are well developed. The story makes you root for them to find love and happiness. It is hard to put down the book with the twists and turns that happen. I highly recommend this series. I received a copy through Netgalley. I was not required to write a review.

It was nice to revisit the beautiful state of Hawaii through the authors eyes. The beauty of the flowers and beaches were easy to visualize. I never thought of Hawaii having mosquitoes, but it was interesting to find out that they are bad during the summertime. I always picture Hawaii with beauty everywhere and no pesky insects. I liked Ellen and her friendship she had with Mandy. It was very hard when Mandy and her husband moved to Hawaii. What was really surprising for Ellen was the decision to sell the B&B that Ken and Mandy owned.

I could sense Ellen a bit lost after the B&B sold. She loved working there. She looks for a job, but an unexpected call from Mandy changes everything. Another interesting detail I learned was the Amish had to get special permission to fly somewhere. I just take it for granted that we can hop on a plane and go. A tragic accident with Ken has put Mandy in need of her best friend.

Ellen jumps right in when she arrives and takes Mandy's place at work. I wish I had half the energy Ellen has. She never seems to slow down. Ken has a long recovery ahead of him, and Mandy really needs Ellen to stay for awhile. I liked the turmoil Ellen faces when she must decide between staying in Hawaii and perhaps finding romance with a certain someone, or going back home where her family is. There is also someone she had started to grow fond of at home, so what will she decide? I liked how the characters prayed through situations and I think it helped them grow spiritually. Overall a good book and nice ending.

I received a copy of this book from the authors. The review is my own opinion.

I loved this book, it was set in Hawaii and Mandy and Ken moved there to help Ken's mother with the chicken farm after her husband passed away. Ken was in a horrible accident and couldn't help anymore, so Mandy's friend Ellen got permission to fly to Hawii to help out and also a friend of Ken's helped out on the farm to. It was a tragedy and a love story all in one. I don't want to give you the entire story, but I know you u really enjoy the book as much as I did. I would give it 10 stars of I could.

I enjoyed the characters, setting between Hawaii & Indiana, and the plot has a twist with one of the main characters. The family bonds in several Amish families are challenged; forgiveness is usually a given with the Amish, but here it takes some time for the offender to accept it; and the pride of a man to be head of his home and business is challenged. I also saw family loyalty and the value of friendship.

I loved this book. It is such a refreshing read, it makes you feel like you are in Hawaii with them. Thank you Net Galley and Barbour Publishing for the free copy. This is my honest review.

Ellen is morning the loss of her best friend and her job. But when she gets the one call the could shatter Mandy's life. Ellen jumps on the plane and sets out to help what she did expect was what and who she would meet and how it might change her life. Can she be there for her friend and also keep her Amish beliefs or will she leave the faith and stay in Hawaii?
I loved this book. I have read a few of Wanda's other books and she has a way of writing a story that has a ton of characters and it feels like you are really only following one or two. The story just flowed and was super fun and easy to follow. I like how the characters were faced with trials that seemed lifelike and nothing was held nothing back. I also enjoyed the lightheartedness of this story and how it was a good clean read for anyone. You really can't go wrong with this sweet love story.

In this sequel to The Hawaiian Quilt, the authors once again take us from Indiana to Hawaii where we catch up with characters from the first book and we meet some new ones in this book.
I actually liked this book more than I did the first one. It was nice to see Mandy with her husband, Ken in Indiana with their own B&B. It was sad to see them have to leave for Hawaii due to an emergency in Ken's family. So far in both in books, I've been more fond of Ellen than any of the other characters because I find her more grounded and responsible. The friendship between Mandy and Ellen is as strong as ever and it was touching to see Ellen head off to Hawaii to offer her love and support to Mandy as circumstances keep the couple there longer than they anticipated.
There were a couple of things that surprised me with the characters in this book and I love when that happens. I suggest you read the books in order to gain an understanding as to why this is a story of Amish traveling back and forth between Indiana and Hawaii and why both states have a special meaning to all of them.
Overall, I liked the story of friendship, faith and new beginnings and recommend it to readers of both Amish and Christian fiction.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Love love loved this book. Have been a fan of Wanda’s from the beginning and she did not disappoint. Loved the few surprises along the way. Highly recommend!!

The second book in the Hawaiian series has Ellen back in Hawaii helping her best friend, Mandy. Ellen is such an encouragement for Ellen as she deals with her husband's accident. This is a good clean Christian novel with a little twist that will surprise readers.

After finishing this book and struggling to find the words to review it I decided to go back and read my review of the first book in the series, The Hawaiian Quilt. I found it surprising that a lot of the feelings I have for this book are the same as I had for it. While I enjoyed The Hawaiian Discovery, I didn't love it. (Same for the first book.)

In my review of The Hawaiian Quilt, I said that I liked Ellen more and more throughout the book. I really liked her in The Hawaiian Discovery because I think she embodied everything readers look for in Amish characters. She's a good daughter, good friend, reliable, and dependable. She was everything I expected her to be. While I didn't care for Mandy much in the first book I liked her in this book. I think this is due to the fact that she is clearly English in this book and not wavering between Amish and English. There were several secondary characters in this story but none that really grew on me.

This book takes place in Hawaii and Indiana. As with the first book in the series, I was glad for this because without the Indiana scenes this book just wouldn't have seemed Amish at all. During the scenes that take place in Hawaii, it was oftentimes easy to forget that Ellen was Amish. I applaud the authors for trying to keep the genre and stories fresh but I think Hawaii may be too much of a stretch. During the Hawaiian scenes, I felt like I was just reading a contemporary fiction story and not Amish fiction.

Sometimes I felt like the dialogue in the book was off a bit. It was at times too formal and didn't sound like things that friends or family would say to each other. I had the same issue with this in the first book as well. Perhaps it's due to a fairly new author's writing.

While I had some issues with this book the story was interesting and it was a quick read for me. While I thought the first book was geared more for young adults this book had a more mature feel to it. I believe fans of the genre and Wanda Brunstetter will enjoy this story. Happy reading!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and was not required to write a review. All opinions are mine.

This was book 2 of the series by these authors. I have read book one, and felt that it would be an important to read book 1 first to better understand how two Amish girls, Mandy and Ellen make a connection to Hawaii.

So that being said, I have really enjoyed most of the books by these authors but this one was not my favorite one.

I did enjoy the easy reading style and understandability, yet some events seemed a little too unrealistic. I had no trouble finishing the book and it was a totally different Amish theme then I would normally expect, which brought a definite interest on my part especially since my husband was from Hawaii. I think you will enjoy the book. But just not her best, I don't think.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

*thank you Netgalley and Barbour Publishing for granting me this ebook in exchange for an honest review!*


I love Amish fiction. I’ve never read anything by Wanda Brunstetter but I’d heard she is a good writer.....I’m not sure if this was an earlier work or if we have different definitions of “good” because this one was fairly slow.
There’s some good writing, of course, but also some really not-so-good writing too. It’s almost as if the writer doesn’t think that the reader knows how “read between the lines” and pick up on subtext: everything is explained, re-explained, and over-explained. Some of the conversations between characters needs to be modernized or made less awkward: I’ve never heard a husband ask his wife is a particular dish sounds “appealing”, nor have I heard friends talk to each other in such a stilted, highly formal way as some of the lines between Ellen and Mandy. I understand that the Amish are different from we English, but most assuredly they don’t still talk to each other like it’s the mid-1800’s? I see that she co-wrote this book with her daughter-in-law, so it could be possible that the poorly worded bits of dialogue are the sign of a new author, and not a seasoned veteran who is tired.

The story overall is a nice mix of romance, tragedy, and everyday life. There are some aspects of the romances parts that are predictable, but that what makes it easy to settle in the story and go on the ride to see how “boy meets girl” and they end up together. The tragedy was very unexpected and I, like the family involved, was just as shaken up by it. I found myself wondering about the injured person, too! This shows the handle the authors have on the emotionality of the story and the emotions of the reader.

Overall, I think this was a good read! I would recommend this to a friend with a line of caution about the writing style of the authors. I love a happy ending and The Hawaiian Gift was no exception.

Heartwarming story with settings in Middlebury Indiana and in Hawaii. From devotion to family and friends, to the possibility of finding love amidst tragedy, this is a story that touches the heart. Good read. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

The Hawaiian Discovery is the second installment from Wanda Brunstetter and Jean Brunstetter’s Hawaiian series. I love this unique story of beautiful Hawaii and Amish love. Ellen is a likable character and I enjoyed the adventure she goes on. There are a few plot twists and surprises that I know I did not see coming.

Overall, The Hawaiian Discovery is a good book that I recommend. It would be helpful for a reader to first read book one, The Hawaiian Quilt. I give this one four stars.

I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

This is book 2 of the Hawaiian series by Wanda & Jean Brunstetter.

We are reunited with characters from the first book and meet new ones. The book begins in Indiana where Mandy and Ken have moved and now run a bed and breakfast. Mandy’s best friend, Ellen works at the B&B for them. Ken’s father, living in Hawaii, passes away and Ken and Mandy feel they need to permanently stay in Hawaii to help his mother with the family farm so sell the B&B. Ellen feels she needs to be with Mandy to support them and help out anyway she can, for however long she can. Once in Hawaii again, we see many exciting things take place in all of their lives. Love, family and faith are the integral parts of their lives leading to a future, directed by God.

This was a very enjoyable book, which I read in a couple of days. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy Amish books, especially those by the Brunstetters. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

The Hawaiian Discovery by Wanda E. and Jean Brunstetter is a beautiful story of following God’s plan for one’s life.
This is book two in the series; if you haven’t read book one I would recommend it. I did read this one first and it has enough background information so you don’t feel like you missed something.
That said the story begins in Indiana with Mandy and her Hawaiian husband, Ken, running a B&B. Mandy’s friend Ellen works for them. After Ken’s father passes away, his brother is devastated and decides to leave the island and the family business. Ken and Mandy decide, through much prayer, to move to Hawaii to help his mother in her grief and to continue to run the family organic poultry farm. When another tragedy occurs, Ellen feels led to go to Hawaii to help her friend. She requests permission from the Bishop to fly as this is an emergency. Permission is granted and she is soon on her way. Ellen and Rob become friends as they work with the chickens but will it develop into more? Will Ellen return home or will she stay in Hawaii?
I enjoyed this book very much. There is a lot of information on Hawaii and the sights as well as the personal story of each character. God is the focus in the life of the characters and prayer is prominent. The book is not preachy and doesn’t imply that everyone has to have the same concept of God or their personal beliefs. The characters discuss the differences in church services and ways they pray.
I give this book 5 of 5 stars. It kept my interest throughout and the characters become good friends to the reader. I could feel the concern of Ellen’s parents as they support her wanting help Mandy and Ken yet have concerns that she may not return. Only faith that it is God’s will can comfort their hearts.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.