Butterfly Garden - Softcover

Blair, Annette

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897562861 ISBN 13: 9781897562864

Publisher: Lachesis Pub, 2011

Synopsis

Amishwoman Sara Lapp, all but shunned for studying with the local doctor to become a midwife, is shocked that, after months of waiting, her first call comes from “Mad” Adam Zuckerman, a self-appointed outcast. Adam doesn’t want her to attend at a birth, but to tend to his children because his wife has died in childbed. Adam wants to love his children, but he is afraid he will hurt them in the way his father hurt him. Without his late wife, Abby, to protect them, Adam must find someone else to care for the girls. He can think of only one woman brave enough, Spinster Sara Lapp, the little midwife whose passion for things beyond her control is greater than is good for her. Though Sara knows the four little girls belong with their father, how can she leave them with a man who seems not to care for them? As much as she loves and wants the girls, she will only take them long enough to teach Adam to love them. Then Adam falls from the barn loft and Sara moves in to look after him. But in the Amish community a man and woman living together must marry or be shunned. The Bishop takes a stand and Sara and Adam are forced to face the greatest challenge of their lives.

About this title

About the Author:

Former prep-school administrator and award-winning author Annette Blair owes her theme of "Magic with Heart," to Salem, Massachusetts. The national bestseller writes single titles for Berkley Sensations and Vintage Magic Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime. And thanks to Lachesis Publishing, her historical backlist can soon be found on an e-reader near you. In her thirty plus books, she’s explored nineteenth-century Amish Country; Regency and Victorian Britain; and madcap, modern Salem Mass, where bold women follow the Celtic faith with heart. There, she fought dragons, and fell in love with an angel. More recently, she’s solved mysteries beside Connecticut’s Mystic River. Wherever Annette landed, she thrived. An adventurer and storyteller at heart, she’s proud to be a second generation American with French Canadian roots. Annette's work has garnered multiple Romantic Times TOP PICKS, Reviewers’ Choice Awards, and HOLT Medallion nominations. A triple Golden Heart Finalist, she's also finaled in the Golden Leaf, the Lauries, the Golden Quill, and the National Readers' Choice Awards. She’s won multiple Booksellers Best Awards, LORIES Awards, Laurel Wreath, Blue Boa, Aspen Gold, RIO, Southern Magic, More than Magic, Orange Rose, Winter Rose, PRISM, Beacon, Colorado Awards of Excellence, Write Touch Readers' Choice Awards and an Orange County Book Buyer's Best Award. With Sex and the Psychic Witch, Annette took home three Anne-Bonney Readers’ Choice Awards out of four. Vampire Dragon, her third Works Like Magick novel, a "B&N Jules's Pick Must Read" and a "Night Owl 5 star TOP PICK" hit stores in April 2011. Skirting the Grave, her fourth Vintage Magic Mystery, arrived in July 2011.

Review:

" . . . has all the warmth and beauty of an Amish quilt . . . a tale of love, commitment, and family ties, told with tenderness and sensitivity."
-- Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of Thee, I Love

"Answering gruff Adam Zuckerman's summons, Amish midwife Sara Lapp assumes that she is to assist in the birth of Abby Zuckerman's latest child. She arrives to find Abby dead, the baby already born, and Adam determined to give his four young daughters into her care. Spinster Sara agrees to take the girls--for a time. Then Adam is injured in a drunken fall, and Sara and the girls move in to care for him, prompting the Amish elders to insist that they marry or be shunned. The results are predictable, but it takes Adam a long time to come to terms with his reservations. A giving, intelligent heroine, a conflicted hero, and a quartet of adorable girls will charm their way into readers' hearts in this heartwarming, leisurely paced story, one of several romances featuring the Amish to hit in recent months. With a goodly amount of cultural but not necessarily religious detail, this story will appeal to historical and some inspirational fans who like their romances sexy and romantic but with a gentle, introspective touch. Blair (The Kitchen Witch) is a seasoned writer of both historical and contemporary romance; she lives in New England."
--Library Journal, April 2005 (Library Journal 20050401)

"The Butterfly Garden tells and exceptionally moving tale of life and love in a community apart from the mainstream but with humanity in common with the rest of us. Sara is totally sympathetic as a heroine; who could help but her with a feisty, yet caring and giving nature. Adam on the other hand, evokes as much or more sympathy, but you?d still like to give him a good shaking. Two characters from the past show up that test him even more. Yet, when faced with emergencies, Adam rises to true heroism. Two protagonists face many conflicts, internal and external, that give richness and suspense to The Butterfly Garden."
--Romance Reviews Today, April 2005 (Romance Reviews Today 20050401)

"The author, Annette Blair, has a real writing talent. She inserts tiny things that the reader does not immediately notice, but makes the reader come to care for the characters as if they were kin. You may need tissues nearby at some points of the story. Another award winner that I cannot recommend highly enough."
--Huntress Reviews, March 2005 (Doody Enterprises 20050301)

About this edition

• Publisher: Lachesis Pub
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1897562861
• ISBN 13: 9781897562864
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 237