This series just gets better with every book.  Gray did a terrific job with character development and touched on some hard-to-deal subjects. I did not want to put this book down.

The next to last book in The Walnut Creek series. I would suggest reading the books in order to make some sense of the story. Quick, enjoyable read for anyone interested in a little bit of romance and budding friendships.

Shelley Shepard Gray has a knack for the unusual plot lines....and she does it very well!! This novel will take you into the world of childhood abuse, it's consequences and lifelong pain that must be dealt with, on a daily basis. This book tells the story of "The Eight".....a group of 8 children, both English and Amish, who have remained steadfast friends, through thick and thin. But, life is short and "The Eight" has become "The Seven", when on of the group commits suicide. How does each of the eight people deal with their past and present life. Does the suicide impact them in a negative or positive way? How do they go on after this tragedy? You will find these answers in the pages of this book. Unusual topics for a book on the Amish, but so true to detail and honest to the topics.

I loved this story was so good! I even love how the author kind of intertwined 2 stories into one because she told a little bit of Kendra's story with Andy in a little blurb at the beginning of each chapter. But I also loved how through her hardship she found love. This book was really hard to put down after I started reading!

Another wonderful Amish story by Shelley Shepard Gray.
I received a free copy from the the publisher and Netgalley.

Young adult, new business owner Kendra struggles to overcome the abuse of her childhood. As the oldest of 5 children, she was the caretaker from an abusive father and a disconnected mother. Kendra guards her heart against others and still maintains a mama bear attitude toward her siblings. A high school friend who greatly offended her in high school, reenters her life. Kendra is not quick to forgive, even though he is clearly repentant.
Kendra's youngest sister, age 16, asks to move in with her and start high school in Kendra's town. The sister was placed with the maternal grandparents several years prior and she, too, struggles against the excuses the grandparents give for the disconnected mother's behavior.

Another amazing book by Shelley Shepard Gray. This book held my interest from beginning to end because Shelley incorporates real life situations that some people deal with on a daily basis.  Physical abuse and denial from her parents, being made fun of by a classmate in school, alcohol and substance abuse are just some of the issues the main character Kendra deals with. When she finally leaves her family and hometown, she receives her GED and becomes a successful business woman. She returns to her hometown to open her own business after 10 years and encounters Nate-the young man in school who made fun of her home life situation and being poor. She vowed 10 years ago that she would despise him forever and not have anything to do with him. Kendra realizes that she must now overcome her animosity and anger towards Nate and work on forgiveness and her faith.   Will they ever become friends and be cordial to each other?  Will she truly let go of the anger against her parents on the way they treated her?  This book will touch you mentally, physically and spiritually on how a person can overcome even the worst obstacles and learn to deal with them and make themself a better person. A copy of this book was provided to me for my honest opinion.

Author Shelley Shepard Gray pens another fascinating story in The Walnut Creek Series. This one is more somber than the rest, dealing with child abuse and neglect, as well as drug abuse. But it also deals with learning to forgive with God’s help. I do suggest reading the series in order so that you get to know the characters as they show up in each book.

Strong, well developed characters give this book an intensity that had me reading quickly. Nate and Kendra have a history from High School and they are thrown together again. Both have grown and developed personally and spiritually. But can Kendra forgive? Can Nate make things right?

If you enjoy contemporary Christian fiction that has depth as well as a romance then you’ll enjoy this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.

This is a terrific story.   Kendra’s story about her childhood abuse is heartbreaking.  Her courage in creating a better life for herself and her younger sister is inspiring.  I liked that the author allowed Kendra’s character to be open and honest about the abuse in her past.  These family relationships were not tied up with a pretty bow, and that made the story seem even more believable.  This book has fit very well with the rest of the series, and I think Kendra is my favorite character because of her courage and compassion for her friends and her siblings.  This book stands very well on its own.  I’d recommend reading this whole series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own

#TheTrustworthyOne#Net Galley  
Another great book by. ShropsHire Gray.  This story shows that even Amish and it Mennonite people are like everyone else.  Kendra who had an abusive father and a neglectful mother would protect her younger siblings.  She finally left home to get away and went to design school.  She had also been teased and made fun of by other kids in her town because of being poor and her family living conditions.  She receives word that a good friend has died by suicide and she goes home to those she left behind. Her younger siblings have moved on with their lives..She decides to open a shop two doors down from the hardware that is owned by her childhood net Hate and she still goes to dispose him forever.  Nate is an adult now and finally realized how bad to was towards Kendra as a teenager.  He apologized but can Kendra accept his apology ?  Kendra little sister who had been living with the grandmother but wants to move in with Kendra. Does Kendra forgive Nate ?  Will Kendra friends who were part of the "eight" that she aS on the fringes. of the trouble there for her ?  Will they help her shop too be a success and love her, and let the past stay in the past?  Will her subjunctive her forgiveness for leaving ?  Will her friendship with Hate become stronger ?  Will she be able to trust him ?  Will she find love and a happy life after her trials and burdens of her earlier life ? Thank you Net Galley for allowing me a read and review this book.

I have not yet read the first three books in this series, but this one was very good.  It dealt with so many issues: abuse, independence, grudges, friendships, forgiveness, and love.  The characters are realistic and likeable.  It was an inspiring novel for me.  
Many thanks to Gallery Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Gray gives a different outlook from the Amish and Mennonite world where some of these subjects just aren't talked about. I like how she shows us the Amish and Mennonites aren't that different from everyone else and she doesn't beat around the bush about it. 
I have enjoyed this series because it shows true friendship among the 8 and how they keep it going after one of their own does something so horrific that you never hear about from this particular group,
A lot of life's lessons are learned here and lots of over comings as well. 
I've loved Grays stories from the beginning.  I think what I like best about her stories is that her characters seem realistic and believable and at times lovable just simply from the things that life manages to throw at them.  And of course, they always come out for the better than they started out with. 
I do know one thing, I couldn't put this book down until I finished it.  Just wonderful and at the same time perfect!
Forgiveness and Love are the main theme in this story along with abuse, drugs etc.
Forgiveness is important. It's what Jesus would want us to do. Plus, it would give ourselves some peace knowing that we tried even if the other person didn't want to. 
I highly recommend this book. Gray is an awesome author! 
My thanks to Gallery books and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book and I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

I say each book in my series is my favorite and it is true. The series gets better and better. Kendra's story was so real and filled with love from all aspects. I have laughed, cried, and swooned while reading.

The hardest part of the book for me to get past was the cover. After reading I am not sure if I would have used that cover considering Kendra owns a shop filled with yarn and other household notions and Nate owns a hardware store. Not that a book cover is what makes the book.

The Trustworthy One is filled with love and friendships but it also discusses hard stuff like drug addiction and abuse. 

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Gallery Books, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

Received from Net Gallery. The fictional story shows so many emotions in the characters that you will fall in love with all the  characters,they become so real to you as you begin to know each and everyone of them. Emotions run high when they all met back up again after so many years gone. Facing the past is the hardest anyone can ever do and in this story you have that but can you forgive,do you have it in you? Very well researched and written where you are right there . How will their story end,the family that has not been together for so long.Will they all survive and can they live through it? Read,you will be so glad that you did!

Kendra’s earlier life was not easy with an abusive father and all she endured along with how she was an adult at an early age sacrificing for her younger siblings. I admire how Kendra overcame obstacles in her time away from Walnut Creek when she hit bottom. Her return to her home town wasn’t easy but her strong fortitude and hard work was paying off until Nate Miller entered. The lifetime friends and memories shared even when Kendra and Nate was not part of “the eight” impacted their lives. Their story is one that will keep readers engaged until the end. The lessons of being open, forgiveness and learning to trust gave way to beautiful ending. 

Kendra is one of my favorite characters in this series with all she obstacles she overcame even with seeing her younger siblings and how she reacted was realistic. This is the last book in Gray’s Walnut Creek series but it can be read as a standalone. I highly recommend reading each book and novellas to understand each member of this close knit of friends through the years and appreciate barriers they conquered. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Galley Books for an ARC of this book. I was under no obligation to write a positive review but have shared my own opinion.

He'd embarrassed her. Made her feel like she was less than everyone else. And that had hurt so bad that she'd tried to avoid him at all costs. In short, Nate Miller was a constant reminder of how badly she'd wanted to fit in and how impossible that goal had seemed back when she was fourteen.

The series continues to center around Andy who had committed suicide and the friends that he left behind. One of those friends was Kendra. Kendra had shown a side of herself to Andy that no one knew. She came from a poor abusive Amish family. She was left to care for her younger siblings. She stills carries the baggage of her family and along with other demons that she hung on to for support. But now she is starting her own Amish store and her younger sister is living with her. Nate Miller cannot understand the mistrust Kendra has towards him and when she does tell him, it changes him.

The building of their friendship leads to trust and strength that both Kendra and Nate realized that they didn't have. The prose is how trust is built and the trustworthiness of friends. When Kendra reveals a weakness in her past, she is given new strength when Nate accepts that weakness to who she is today. Together they learn about what forgiveness means and moving forward with friendship and love.

A Special Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

"The Trustworthy One" continues the Walnut Creek Amish saga. In this novel, Kendra works at opening her new gift shop after moving back to Walnut Creek. Kendra deals with demons from her past life, in addition to moving into her new life in the present. The product of an abusive childhood, Kendra has served as a mother to her younger siblings, all of whom have also moved on with their lives. Kendra finds a way to make peace with childhood friends, and finds love in unexpected places. This book deals with themes of dyslexia, abuse, and addiction. Readers of Christian fiction should find this novel an interestingly different one from the usual Amish fiction. It is a clean novel, lacking descriptions of violence, adult scenes, and profanity.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

When Kendra Troyer ran from  Walnut Creek, the scars on her body mirrored the scars on her heart. In her case, the physical scars came at the hands, and feet, of her abusive father. The scars on her heart came from her mother's neglect, and her classmates' callousness in the face of her obvious poverty. Feeling guilty for leaving her siblings to the terror that was their home, Kendra fell into drinking and pills to get through her days. Now clean, she has returned to Walnut Creek to open a home furnishings store, a huge accomplishment for someone with her background.

Nate Miller owns the hardware store just two doors down from Kendra's new shop. He doesn't understand why she has avoided him for the past 10 years. Any time she comes through town, she makes sure they don't interact, which is tough, since they have the same set of friends. When he finds out how his youthful tongue gouged new wounds in her already damaged heart, he is remorseful. Can he ever become a man she can count on?

When Kendra's youngest sister, Naomi, asks to move in with her big sister, she agrees with some reservations but when her brothers arrive, with their neglectful mother in tow, Kendra's heart nearly breaks with the pressure they put on her to forgive their parents. Their father is dying from the consequences of his own actions. With Nate's help, can she stand strong when her family asks for more than she can give?

This was a tough story to read in some ways. Kendra's father's abuse was nearly constant from the time she was 5 years old, and the beatings didn't stop until she left home. How any parent could treat a child that way is beyond my understanding. For that man to be Amish, a peace-loving faith, hurts even more. And, for no one to step in for her???? Unbelievable. There is no way that no one noticed her bruises! 

This is a story about forgiveness and learning to trust when you've never had anyone trustworthy in your life before. I can absolutely recommend this, book #4 in the Walnut Creek series.

This book definitely has the most serious tone out of the books I’ve read in the series. The author deftly handles topics of child abuse and drug addiction in ways that are sadly realistic and relevant to today. I am thankful after turning the last page, that I still feel the effects of the story—meaning there is no sunshine-and-roses happy ending, but all told, a hopeful one. I think she captures the pain of Kendra’s past well. That said, I wish this book wasn’t a romance (I’m obsessed with romance, so that’s saying something). I like that Kendra and Nate are old friends, but they have absolutely no chemistry. I think it’s because so many other important issues rightly took precedence that the romance seems a bit of an afterthought. However, The Trustworthy One is a nice addition to the series. It’ll be interesting to see the direction of the next book!

I have enjoyed every book I've read by Shelley Shepard Gray.  She writes great Amish fiction. In The Trustworty One, Shelley has tackled some of the most heart-rending societal woes known to our world today.

Kendra is the victim of unspeakable abuse by her father, and utter neglect by her mother.  She left Walnut Creek as soon as she could make sure her siblings were going to be all right.  She often would go without food to make sure they had something to eat. 

After seven years she moved back to Walnut Creek to open a store.  Just two doors down from her store was the hardware store run by Nate Miller.  In the midst of all her hurt, he'd thrown a verbal dart that pierced her soul, but now he sees something entirely different in Kendra. 

There was a group called The Eight, who were almost a clique of friends in the New Order Amish Church that Kendra wished she could belong to.  There were friends among The Eight who would reach out to Kendra from time to time, but until she moved back to Walnut Creek, they had never really embraced her into their group. 

Soon after moving back, her brothers and her mother come to visit her to tell her that her father is terminally ill and that she should go see him in the hospital.  The reader will understand her visceral response to the request. Shelley has described through Kendra's words the abuse that Kendra suffered at the hands of her father, and it is unthinkable that someone would treat another human in such a degrading and harmful way. 

After her father dies, The Eight come to stand up with Kendra and enfold her while she processed the information. 

This is a heart-rending book that will touch every reader.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a group of friends who will stand beside you in your dark days.

Gallery Books and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.