About the Book

Book: Abraham

Author: Jennifer Beckstrand

Genre: Inspirational Amish Romance

Release Date: November 26, 2019

Things at the Petersheim house are getting too crowded for eight-year-old twins Alfie and Benji. As if things weren’t bad enough with three older brothers hogging all the bacon at breakfast and using more than their fair share of toilet paper, Mammi and Dawdi Petersheim have to move in because of Dawdi’s stroke. If Alfie and Benji have any hope of getting their own bedrooms, they have to get rid of their annoying brothers, and the only way to convince their brothers to move out is to make each of them fall in love. What could be so hard about that?

Abraham Petersheim is known as a man of few words. He’s painfully shy and doesn’t see the need to prattle on like other boys in the community do. That’s why he can’t understand his unexpected attraction to Emma Wengerd. For sure and certain she’s pretty, but she also has five or six boys buzzing around her all the time, and she seems to be constantly annoyed with Abraham and his little brothers. Emma would never be interested in someone as boring as Abraham, and he could never set his sights on someone as wunderbarr as Emma.

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About the Author

Jennifer Beckstrand is the two-time RITA-nominated, #1 Amazon bestselling Amish romance author of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series, The Honeybee Sisters series, and The Petersheim Brothers series for Kensington Books. Huckleberry Summer and Home on Huckleberry Hill were both nominated for the coveted RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America. Jennifer has written twenty-one Amish romances, a historical Western, and the nonfiction book, Big Ideas. She and her husband have been married for thirty-five years, and she has six children and eight adorable grandchildren, whom she spoils rotten.

More from Jennifer

Alfie and Benji Petersheim will do just about anything to get their brother Abraham to fall in love with Emma Wengerd, even adopt a stray dog. But to catch that dog, they’re going to need Aunt Bitsy’ help. Alfie and Benji are about to get in a lot of trouble.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from Abraham.

Benji pushed his coffee cake around his plate with his finger. “Maybe we could keep that stray dog.”

Maybe they could keep the dog. Alfie’s heart started pounding. A dog could find them if they ever got lost in the woods. A dog could fetch sticks and bring Dat his slippers. A dog would eat crumbs off the floor. Mamm would never have to mop again. Bitsy shrugged. “That’s up to your mamm.”

Alfie’s heart sank to his toes. “Mamm would never let us have a dog. She won’t even let me have a goldfish.”

“I have a pet spider,” Benji said.

Alfie popped a small bite of coffee cake into his mouth. “He’s not your pet. He just lives in the corner of the cellar and kills other spiders.”

“You tried to spray him,” Benji said, “and I saved his life. He’s my pet now.”

Bitsy nodded. “Spiders are gute pets. They feed themselves and don’t poop on the carpet.”

Benji sat very still before wrinkling his forehead like he did when he was upset. “We need to help that dog.”

Alfie wanted a dog as much as anybody, but they had to be sensible. They’d been asking Mamm for a dog ever since they could talk. “Mamm won’t let us.”

Benji started crying. “But he’s going to get gassed.”

Bitsy reached over and patted Benji’s arm. “He might not get gassed. The pound might find a nice family that wants to adopt him. People like chocolate labs. I’m told they’re cute.”

Benji caught his breath and suddenly stopped crying, as if someone had turned off a faucet. “Do girls like chocolate lamps?”

“Chocolate labs?” Bitsy folded her arms. “Well, I’m a girl and I don’t think he’s cute, but most girls love dogs. Do you remember Vernon Schmucker? Poor fellow had a face like a potato, and the girls ignored him. One night he brought a puppy to the gathering, and he was surrounded by girls all night. That’s how he met his wife.”

Benji jumped from his chair and threw his arms around Alfie, making Alfie spill milk down his new shirt. “Hey. Watch it.”

“Alfie, girls like dogs!”

Benji was a good partner, but sometimes he made no sense. “So?”

“If Emma Wengerd saw us walking our chocolate lamp down the street, she’d run out of her house to pet him.”

Alfie’s heart started pounding. Benji was the best bruder in the world. “We could bring Abraham with us.”

Benji got more and more excited with each word. “And they could talk about dogs and chickens and maybe start kissing.”

Alfie set his milk on the table. “We’ve got to catch that dog.”

My Review

With the upsurge of Amish fiction in recent years, finding original books within the genre can be a difficult task. It’s easy for them to become formulaic and predictable. However, this makes discovering different authors all the more exciting, as was my experience with Jennifer Beckstrand’s “Abraham”. I have not read the first book in the Petersheim Brothers trilogy, but after hearing very positive responses to it, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read and review book two. While I was able to assimilate into the story relatively easily, I do wish that there had been a glossary of Amish terms, some of which I was not completely familiar with. There are also many spoilers from the previous book, so read them in order if you prefer the element of surprise.

“Abraham” has a delightful balance of humor, poignancy, and romance. The antics of the 9-year-old twins, Alfie and Benji, form part of the plot as they take on the role of matchmakers because if one of their remaining two older brothers gets married, they figure that they will be able to move out of the cellar they’ve been rooming in since their grandparents came to live with them. As an only child, I have no experience with siblings or little boys, and I enjoyed the way in which Beckstrand taps into the twins’ thought processes and puerile reasoning. I also enjoyed the subplot about the chocolate lab, or as Benji calls it, chocolate “lamp”. The dog on the cover is part of what initially drew me to this book. With constant mischief afoot, the twins’ scheming leads to both comedy and heartache.

As for the other two main characters, Abraham and Emma, their idiosyncrasies make them all the more endearing. I appreciated Beckstrand’s representation of two young people who for the most part retain their individuality despite how this makes them different from their peers. Although I identified much more with Abraham’s character, Emma’s approach to life made me chuckle: “She already had plenty of friends and several exotic chickens. What more could a girl want?” In spite of her chicken-raising hobby, Emma is popular and draws the attention of the young men at gatherings, whereas Abraham is an introvert who can’t ever seem to say the right thing. Nevertheless, “[i]t seemed he found happiness in doing what he liked without having to impress anyone else.” Abraham exhibits a tender humility, whereas Emma seems rather self-centered at times. The difference in their personalities reminds me of how, as Christians, these two dispositions need to exist in harmony; we need to be humble and selfless but also bold and courageous for our faith. Jesus is our ultimate example of this; so, then, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

I received a complimentary copy of this book through CelebrateLit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own.