The Bargain by Stephanie Reed is the 1st in her Plain City Peace series of Amish literary family drama novels set amidst the cultural & political upheavals of the 1970s, possibly with strong romantic elements, free courtesy of Christian publisher Kregel.
Reed is also a Harlequin Love Inspired author, but the blurb and the customer reviews seem to indicate that this is primarily a family drama/young woman's coming-of-age novel where any romance (just barely mentioned by only a couple of customers out of a pageful who mostly focused on praising the depictions of Amish/non-Amish lifestyle conflict) is a subplot to her overall life experiences. This is apparently being made free to promote the upcoming 2nd in series, which follows the heroine as she continues to adjust to her situation.
Currently free, probably just for a day @
B&N (may also later drop in the
UK),
Amazon UK (slated to drop in the
main store after midnight Pacific Time), &
Google Play (available to Canadians).
Description
It’s 1971, and Betsie Troyer’s peaceful and predictable life is about to become anything but.
When their parents flee the Amish, nineteen-year-old Betsie and her seventeen-year-old sister Sadie are distraught. Under the dubious guidance of a doting aunt, the girls struggle to keep the secret, praying their parents will return before anyone learns the truth—a truth that may end all hopes of Betsie’s marriage to Charley Yoder.
Worse still, Betsie must learn a trade while she boards with a dysfunctional Englisher family: Sheila, a twelve-year-old desperately searching for a friend and in dire need of her mother; the free-spirited mother, who runs off to "find herself" on the stage; the angry father whose structured life crumbles; and Michael, a troubled college dropout nearly killed in the Kent State Massacre.
Thrust into the English world, Betsie must grapple with the realities of war and miniskirts, pot parties and police brutality, protests and desertion. Can she help the Sullivan family and find peace in her new surroundings, or must she forget the bargain she made and seek refuge back in Plain City with protective and reliable Charley?