Nana's Reviews > Courting Cate

In Paradise, Pennsylvania 23-year-old Amish beauty, Cate Miller remains single and the talk of her community. Referred to as a shrew because of her irritable and stubborn nature, Cate has lost all hope of finding a husband. Her quick tongue, stubborn attitude and lack of proper domestic skills has turned every young bachelor against her. She would rather spend her free time reading books or working for her father than spending time cooking, cleaning, or in the sewing room. For Cate the only eligible bachelors appear to be middle-aged widowers with several children. Cate raised her 17-year-old sister since the age of 2 days when her mother died, and isn't interested in raising someone else's children. She prefers to remain single rather than marrying an older man and taking on the duties of an already established household and family. Her beautiful and flirtatious sister Betsy, has every young bachelor in Lancaster County looking to court her, but Cate's father draws the line and insists that Cate must marry before Betsy can continue to court. This edict is preposterous to both daughters. Betsy will do whatever she can to be courted by handsome bachelor, Levi Rupp, including deceiving her sister.

Pete Treger, a young Amish man in his mid-twenties and a questionable past, comes to visit Paradise looking for Bob Miller, in the hope of finding a job, and eventually a wife. He aspires to start his own business in the future. He demonstrates a stubbornness all his own, and when forced together as Pete works for her father, Cate bristles. The only things they have in common are the love of reading and their obstinacy. Betsy, her father, and her friends attempt to get Pete and Cate together in the hope that they will begin courting and marry so that Betsy can continue courting and ultimately marry Levi.

Leslie Gould provides a high level of entertainment in this creative story about a high-strung young Amish woman and her flirtatious younger sister. There is nothing predictable about this Amish taming of the shrew. It's definitely a page-turner. The characters in this captivating story are so well defined they could well be people you know. I thoroughly enjoyed this first in the series of the The Courtships of Lancaster County, and look forward to the next in the series. This was a fast-paced and action packed book. I loved it and highly recommend it to anyone who loves Amish fiction.

This book was provided by Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group for the sole purpose of promoting this title and writing my own personal review. The opinions stated in this review are my own.