Keys of Heaven (Healing Grace #2) by Adina Senft

Sarah Yoder is learning to help the people in her Amish community as a Dokterfraa, creating teas and tinctures using the herbs she grows. But her latest patient seems to have a problem that can't be resolved with anything in Sarah's garden-a woman who, in Sarah's mind, would flourish anywhere but in the place she lives. Meanwhile, Sarah's relatives have decided to do a little matchmaking between her and a visiting Amish man. He would make a wonderful husband, and she knows she should be willing for God to show her His choice of partner...and not allow her friendship with her neighbor, Henry Byler, to grow into anything more.

Henry has seen some success as a potter since a major store commissioned a line of his work for their catalog. The trouble is that they want to market him as Amish. Though he was raised in the faith and now lives in Amish country, he has never joined church-and doesn't plan to, either. Which means that, despite the attraction between them, he must keep his distance from Sarah. But what happens when Sarah and Henry are called upon to help a runaway whose family is too worldly to see how lost their son has become? The plant Sarah calls Keys of Heaven may be able to grow in impossible places, but it's not so easy for people to find their own place. Which means it's quite a temptation for her to take matters into her own hands...

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About The Author

Adina Senft grew up in a plain house church, where she was often asked by outsiders if she was Amish (the answer was no), she made her own clothes, and she perfected the art of the French braid. She holds an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, where she teaches as adjunct faculty.
Writing as Shelley Bates, she was the winner of RWA’s RITA Award for Best Inspirational Novel in 2005, a finalist for that award in 2006, and, writing as Shelley Adina, was a Christy Award finalist in 2009. Three of her books have shortlisted for the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Award for book of the year. Of her fiction, publisher and industry blogger W. Terry Whalin has said, “Readers will be lost in the vivid world that [she] paints with incredible detail and masterful storytelling.”
A transplanted Canadian, Adina returns there annually to have her accent calibrated. Between books, she enjoys traveling with her husband, playing the piano and Celtic harp, and spoiling her flock of rescued chickens. These days, she makes period costumes and only puts up her hair for historical events and fun.

http://adinasenft.com/ 

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My Review

Keys of Heaven is part of the Healing Grace series, and although you should read the others, which are equally enjoyable, you can read this one alone. I felt right after I turned the first page that I was walking into an Amish Soap Opera, I could see it playing out before me.
I loved how families rallied around those in need, and how Sarah is now learning to make a living using what God has provided. She is a Dokterfraa in training using the plants that mostly grow wild for the taking. Made me think that this is where we all need to be heading, and have actually used the elderberry berries to make cough syrup.
We also have a bit of Amish matchmaking, and there are some repercussions that happen here, one going one way, while the other is heading in another direction. Signals sure get crossed, and yet maybe not.
Sarah is also guilty of being judgmental, and we all are guilty of this, hers tends a bit more toward meddling. Will she end up doing more damage that good? Will she be able to find forgiveness, and most important forgive herself.
We also have a side story of an angry teen that defies his parents and ends up in the middle of the Amish. Will he end up learning from this experience, or will his parents punish him? What about Sarah and Henry, or Henry and Ginny? I can’t wait for another book in this series, and I hope for more answers. Enjoy!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Faithworks, and was not required to give a positive review.