What a wonderful new series by Wanda Brunstetter. I was amazed by the characters in this book and wondered how Michelle could keep her real identity hidden for so long. Amazing story of grace and hope. I look forward to the continuing story with book 2.

** spoiler alert ** I am an avid reader of Wanda Brunstetter books, but this one really missed the mark for me. I could not get past the deceit, and constantly returning to Michelle's feelings of guilt over it did nothing to make her more likable to me. I know she had a rough childhood and wanted to be with a loving family, but lying from the outset makes that difficult. The feelings of hurt and betrayal seemed real, and I would aspire to be so forgiving as Willis and Mary Ruth. The real Sara seemed overly whiny as well. I can't say that I would recommend this one, and I won't read the rest of the series. Pick any other book by this author for a more enjoyable reading experience.

I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed above are my own.

I really enjoyed The Hope Jar. It was well written and kept me engaged from start to finish. The characters are delightful.

When things begin to look really bad for Michelle Taylor, she knows she needs to make some changes. Changes from her abusive boyfriend and the poor decisions she has made. She heads to the bus station to try and begin living her life differently, and while she is there, she is mistakenly called Sara by Willis and Mary Ruth Lapp. The Lapps have just learned they have a granddaughter that they are eager to meet. Michelle takes on the identity of Sara and goes to stay with the Lapps. The Lapps are an Amish family and they are overjoyed to spend time with Sara, aka: Michelle. The more time Michelle is in the Amish community, the more she realizes all that she has missed in her life. She is finally surrounded by people who accept her and love her. She also befriends an Amish young man named Ezekiel. Michelle and Ezekiel begin to spend time together and an attraction begins. But Michelle feels awful about what she is doing to the Lapps. She finds two old jars with slips of paper in them. Those slips of paper contain verses and prayers that resonate with Michelle.

When Michelle knows the real Sara is coming, she writes the Lapps a letter explaining what she has done and the leaves. The Lapps meet the real Sara but also find out they have been lied to. Ezekiel is also struggling with the lies Michelle has told. Brunstetter does a great job of pulling all the characters together and bringing the situation to a final conclusion that is well written and very satisfying.

I was given an ARC of this book and this is my honest feedback.

A new book by Wanda! I'm ready to enjoy the new series by Wanda Brunstetter.

Michelle had no where to go and when she was mistaken to be the Lapps' granddaughter she went home with them. She knew it was wrong but she rationalized that it was ok. I was surprised as to what length Michelle went to keep her secret.

I was upset that she deceived the Lapps. I felt like shaking her and asking her "What are you thinking"?

The Hope Jar represented Michelle's future. She discovered the jar as she was discovering her growing faith. It did give her hope.

I loved the book. I can't get enough of Wanda Brunstetter's books.

I received this free to review.

Welcome to a new series from an enduring and charming author. I was curious the moment I read the book’s summary. I wondered where it would take me and the characters. It was a complex story, Michelle in so much need of love that even the reader’s heart will hurt for her, and Sara looking for her family after her mother dies. Michelle makes choices that aren’t honest but I do believe she has a good heart and soul. She became Sara and in doing so, lied to those that showed her love.

I was thinking of all my experience working with kids that have a background similar to Michelle’s and as a reader I was able to forgive and want to nurture this character. It was extremely realistic in this character and the entire story, I loved that the Amish community opened Michelle’s eyes and heart in way that she hadn’t experienced before. It was opening for the reader as well, we should learn to forgive and love the way that these characters did.

I was wanting more closure in this story, but I think it will happen through the series and that certainly has me ready to read the rest. I truly believe this book will make us all kinder and more thoughtful

I had a harder time with this one. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t absolutely love it either. I just liked it.

See first off I guess I had a hard tie getting into it. I’m honestly not sure why.

The premise intrigued me though so I kept reading...I needed to know how they’d find out about the real Sara.

I received this book from Author for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

https://booksnbaubles.com/the-hope-jar-by-wanda-brunstetter/

I've read several of this author's works, but I was so disappointed by this story! It didn't have a true ending, but continued on into the next book in the series, making it more of a serial to me than a true series novel.

I really hated the deception Michelle kept perpetuating in the Lapp family household! I get that she was trying to escape a bad situation, but that was not the way to do it! I also kept feeling, with the flashbacks to Sara, that it could have been a switched at birth situation, but it's not resolved within this story.

This was also more of a "Introduction to Amish Culture" story than anything else, and it dragged the story down a bit. It seemed like every three pages we had to stop for an explanation about the culture, and to someone slightly familiar with it already, it felt redundant and boring.

I doubt I will continue the series, I just wasn't invested in it enough to care.

I thought The hope Jar was an interesting story. I enjoyed stepping into the world of the Amish and learning more about their culture through the eyes of Michelle. I had trouble keeping my interest partway through but the story did pick up. The characters were interesting to get to know. I’m not sure who I liked best. I liked the message Wanda Brunstettler weaved through this story. The message of forgiveness, second chances and hope. I think readers can learn along with Michelle these important truths.

I recommend this book to my family and friends.

I received this book from the publisher to read and give my honest review.

A winner from one of America's favorite Amish authors, Wanda Brunstetter.

Many years ago the Lapps daughter left her Amish community for the English world. Unbeknownst to them she was pregnant with her daughter, Sara. When Sara's mom passes away she finds a letter in her mom's Bible telling her of her grandparents. As she tries to set up a time to visit them an imposter has taken her place with the Lapps.

The imposter is Michelle, a young woman who is so far down on her luck that she jumps at the chance to pretend to be Sara when the Lapps mistake her for Sara at the bus station.

Can Michelle make amends with the family and community she has come to love before the real Sara comes to visit her grandparents.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book it did take me some time to get through it. Mainly because I would get so frustrated at Michelle stringing the Lapps along. The Lapps are so caring and loving and I know she truly has found herself loving them back. For the first time in her life she has felt true love and felt apart of a real family.

The idea of a hope (prayer) jar sounds like a wonderful concept. I have heard of prayer journals but not hope (prayer) jars. Imagine keeping one and many years from now someone finds it and finds the help and/or strength they need.

I am very interested to see how this series progresses.

I received a complimentary copy from Barbor Publishing Inc. through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Brunstetter is one of a few authors that can write about the Amish world so well. She is able to capture the simplicity of their live while also capturing the complexity of their love for family and faith.
I was a little surprised by how the book played out. Since the book is titled "The Hope Jar" I expected the story to be centered around the protagonist Michelle finding a jar filled with bible quotations. While Michelle does find the jar, it doesn't play as leading of a part in the story as I thought it would.
I was captivated by the predicament Michelle got herself into; she took the place of the Lapps' granddaughter Sara and even goes so far as to burn her letters. Figuring out how Brunstetter would create a happy ending from this scenario kept me reading until the very end.
The only problem I had with the story was the lack of thought concerning the reactions of characters. What I mean by this is that the characters' reactions to certain instances didn't really seem real. When Michelle reads a slip of paper quoting a Biblical passage about trials, she comments on the lines of 'Wow, that person must have been going through something troubling.' Well, duh! Why would they have written it down if they weren't! I think the editors of Brunstetter's books need to do a bit of a better job in making believable characters.
But otherwise, it was exactly what I would have expected from a Brunstetter book.

Oh how I love a Wanda Brunstetter story! She had my emotions all over the place. Once I started reading THE HOPE JAR it was very hard to stop! The twists and turns made it impossible to put down, as I had to know what was going to happen to Michelle after living the big lie she had everyone believing! What an awesome story. All of Wanda's characters feel genuine and relatable and put your emotions on one heck of a roller coaster ride. As you are reading, you will find yourself cheering for all of them, praying they can work out their problems and be happy once again.


Once you start reading THE HOPE JAR it will be very hard to put down! Wanda sure knows how to put a new twist on Amish fiction. Michelle pretends to be the long lost grand daughter of Mary Ruth and Willis Lapp. They are at the bus station looking for their grand daughter Sara Murray and mistakenly think Michelle is Sara. Michelle's life is at a dead end and she goes along with the Lapps thinking she will pretend to be Sara for a bit until she can get her life under control. While she is on their farm, she learns what it is like to be truly loved and cared for, something she didn't have growing up. She's never had a real family as she grew up in foster care and no one ever took the time to really get to know her and love her.


THE HOPE JAR is without a doubt one of the best Amish books I've read in 2018 so far. I was instantly emotionally invested in all of the characters. When Michelle finds the prayer jar in the barn I found myself thinking of those prayers over and over again! Wanda Brunstetter is such a wonderful and heart tugging author and she had me laughing and crying on the very same page. I am now going to read all of her previous books that I have somehow missed and she is now an auto buy author for me! THE HOPE JAR is the first book in the Prayer Jar series and I can't wait to read the second book, The Forgiving Jar which comes out in February. Grab your copy today and get on the couch!

I just finished reading this book and absolutely loved it Wanda Brunsetter is one of my favorite authors as my mom had started reading her books. If you enjoy reading more about the Amish community, this book really allows you to take a look at their community. Michelle was an English girl who had a hard life, until she met Mary Ruth and Willis. She felt the love that she hadn't had much in her life. Even though she pretended to be their granddaughter who they never met, they created a special bond. I also enjoyed the recipes added at the end of the book. I would recommend this book.

Wanda Brunstetter is known for her simpler writing style that can tell a story with depth and faith like no other. She is proof that fancy does not equal better. Wanda's books are the perfect place to start with Amish fiction, while she uses Pennsylvania Duetch throughout she also does so in a way that you easily learn their meanings and uses with little questioning. Her older books however, have less of that simpler feel to them. They are both equally as good and she's always a go to for me when I just need a good book I can sink into. I had thought that perhaps, having read the synopsis, this book might be a blend of the old and new. It was sorta. I really enjoyed 'The Hope Jar' and can't wait to see where the series takes me but. . .there were a few hiccups for me.

Hiccups are an annoyance but not a deal breaker. One hiccups is purely in editing. I mean here we have Michelle who takes on the identity of Sara, not intentionally really but it's a think she did. There were instances in the book that the wrong name was used, once very clearly out of place. Not an author issue or really a book issue but one of those things that despite best efforts slipped through editing. One of those things I find amusing more than anything :D The next hiccup wasn't quite so amusing. We learn a lot about Michelle through her journey, who she really is, where she's from and how she's gotten here. It's pretty clear and set and really well set up. And then comes the constant reminders through her own inner dialogue and self-flagellation every single chapter, sometimes more. It started to become redundant and then annoying before escalating to making me not really like her as a person. I mean, I get it, we all do that to ourselves. Whatever it is we can't let go of or even lie to ourselves about so much that we start to believe it. It's human nature but it was a bit too much and for me at least, truly did start to make Michelle unlikable. Hiccups.

I didn't get all the answers I wanted in this book so I'm ever so impatiently grateful for the sequel. Despite hiccups and questionable feelings about Michelle I still fell in love with this story. I feel like I am dealing with real people with real emotions and even real motivations. I do have to say though, I wish the prayer jar had played a bigger role in the story than it did. It did it's job, it set the stage for what is to come in book two but I wanted more and I wanted answers now. Obviously, patience is not my virtue. I am invested in Willis and Mary Ruth and their real granddaughter (Sara) and their pretend granddaughter (Michelle) and how their lives will intertwine in the future. I'm invested in Ezekiel's future and even in Brad's as well. I need to know more about the antique jars filled with prayer slips and Bible verses. There's just so much I need to know. This book did have hiccups for me, but just hiccups. I can't wait for the next book, soonish please?

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Barbour Publishing, NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Hope Jar is remarkable.I love Christian fiction and Wanda Brunstetter is one of the best! This book is well worth the read.

I've been looking forward to reading The Hope Jar by Wanda E. Brunstetter since I first heard about it. I particularly found the blue jar filled with slips of paper containing thoughts, quotes, and prayers by an unknown author to be an interesting storyline.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the overall concept of a mistaken identity and the jar. It was different from many of the Amish Fiction books out there and that is something that always stands out to me. That said, it didn't grip me the way most of Wanda's other books have.

I enjoyed the concept of the story and I'm excited to read the next one to see where Brunstetter takes the story. I didn't feel this story was Wanda's best. It lacked the depth that I have come to enjoy in her books.

This is one of the more intense stories from Wanda Brunstetter that I have read. It really hit my emotions. I don't want to ruin the storyline so I'll just say my feelings were 'hit' with this story. I couldn't believe that a person could live a falsehood and totally immerse herself in someone else's life. Wow! At first I felt a little mixed up as I thought this was going to be Sara's story but it is really about Michelle. The introduction of an Amish and "English" set of male main characters to be possible love interests for Michelle was interesting. This story has a lot going on. The mysterious prayer jars are a good touch and still leave a form of mystery for future books in the series.


Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of this book.

The Hope Jar by Wanda E. Brunstetter is the first novel in The Prayer Jars series. Sara Murray’s mother passed away two weeks ago without revealing the identity of her birth father. Sara is going through her mother’s Bible when she finds a letter telling her about her Amish maternal grandparents. Excited to find out more about her family and potentially her birth father, Sara writes to them about her impending visit. Mary Ruth and Willis Lapp are at the bus station looking for Sara. They notice woman with red hair who resembles their deceased daughter, Rhoda and approach her. Michelle Taylor is looking for a fresh start away from her abusive boyfriend and the Lapp’s provide it. Mary Ruth is so excited to meet her granddaughter that she does not give Michelle, a chance to talk and she soon finds herself off to their home. Michelle quickly settles into life on the Lapp’s farm enjoying the serenity and the lifestyle. She feels guilty for deceiving them, but Michelle does not know how to correct the situation. One day in the barn, Michelle finds a blue mason jar filled with slips of paper. On the slips of paper are quotes, prayers, thoughts and Scripture that speak to Michelle and budding faith. Michelle has come to love the Lapp’s, but what will happen when they discover the truth. Can they forgive her deception?

The Hope Jar is a lovely, fulfilling story. I thought it was well-written with steady pacing which makes the book easy to read (and enjoy). The Hope Jar captured and held my attention. It is an intriguing and thought-provoking novel. The book contains good characters with my favorite being the Lapp’s. They are such sweet, welcoming down-to-earth people. Mary Ruth shares her love, wisdom and faith with her family, friends and the people she encounters on her journey through life. I could feel the Lapp’s heartbreak when they found out that Michelle was deceiving them. While The Hope Jar focuses on Michelle, there are sections with Sara’s story from her point-of-view. I hope we find out more about Sara in the next novel. We get to see Michelle grow throughout the story, though, she still has a way to go (as do we all). At the end of the book, there are still unresolved issues. I like the inclusion of the history of the Amish people. It provides insight into the Amish religion and their way of life. There are discussion questions and recipes at the end of the book. The Hope Jar is a story of faith, hope and love. I look forward to reading The Forgiving Jar when it releases.

I have never been disappointed by a book by Wanda E. Brunstetter and this one is no exception. I really liked Michelle/Sara. I look forward to reading more in this series. I want to know who started the prayer jars. I know what Michelle did was wrong but you had to root for her life to get better. She really was trying to better herself. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Michelle is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and cannot pay her rent. She hops on a bus to leave the area and boyfriend. An older Amish couple approach her in the bus station, mistaking her for the granddaughter they just learned about, and Michelle played along. Her behavior was, oh, so, disappointing and, at times, unrealistic. She went home with them and immersed herself into the family with her deception.
Willis and Mary Ruth Lapp's daughter had ran away from home years earlier, leaving only a note. They had never seen nor heard from her again. To have the unknown granddaughter write to them that she was coming for a visit, and to have her in their home was the next best thing to having their daughter back.
Michelle found not one, but two jars filled with bits of paper which appear to be prayers and scriptures. She would take them out when she was alone and read the papers and wonder who had written and hidden them. She knew it was wrong, but continued to do so. She was just deceptive from the beginning.
Michelle (who the Lapps believe to be Sara) also intercepts the Lapp's mail and hides letters to them from the real granddaughter. She even writes her back, pretending to be Mary Ruth.
She does feel guilt over what she's done and realizes she will be forced to leave before the 'real' granddaughter does show up.
I felt the story was slow. Not as enjoyable as others I've read by this author. The ending was very abrupt and left things very much undone. While I realize there will be a sequel, I felt this one ended leaving very important loose ends.
I received a complimentary copy of this book Barbour Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Web of Lies

The Hope Jar is the first book in The Prayer Jar series by Wanda E. Brunstetter. It was an interesting read even though I didn’t like how the one character has lied and deceived the people in the book.
Michelle is caught up in a web of lies that she weaves after meeting Willis and Mary Ruth Lapp (her pretend grandparents who are Amish) at the bus station. The grandparents mistook Michelle for the granddaughter Sara whom they have never met. Michelle just lost her job, lived in a rundown apartment and was desperate to get away from an abusive boyfriend when she met Willis and Mary Ruth. With no money and no place to live, she played along and pretended to be their granddaughter and went home with them. Her lies about her life as the daughter of the Lapp’s recently deceased daughter whom they haven’t seen or heard from in twenty plus years just kept getting bigger. In the end Michelle comes clean and told the truth about who she was in a letter the day she left and the real Sara shows up. You need to read the book to find out how it all played out. I cannot wait to read more of this series and find out what happens with the real Sara and if Michelle comes back. Wanda E. Brunstetter is an excellent author and one of my favorites. I highly recommend this book and many of the author’s other books.