Matched and Married

Title: Matched and Married

Series: An Amish Mail-Order Bride #2

Author: Kathleen Fuller

Publisher: Zondervan

Genre: Amish, Christian Fiction, Christian Romance

Source: Net Galley

My Review:

This is the second book in the Amish Mail-order Bride series by Kathleen Fuller. I would recommend reading the first book, A Double Dose of Love, before reading this one. While this book focuses on different characters, there are some from the first book, and it will make it easier to understand and follow all the relationships. 

This book is a sweet story about Margaret and Owen. Neither one of them want to get married and in their minds, their reasoning is solid. Unfortunately, Margaret's mother does not share her view and feels that Margaret has to get married before she turns twenty-one and goes through great lengths to make that happen. Owen's plans go awry when his father forces him to take a vacation and this sets an unexpected chain of events into motion.

Margaret and Owen's character grows a lot through the story. They learn a lot about themselves, their family, and love. This is a sweet story of forgiveness, exploration, hope, and love. While most things with the main characters are wrapped up in this story, this book opens the door for the third book in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

★★★/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

Neither Margaret nor Owen has any interest in getting married. But in the small Amish town of Birch Creek, where marriage is on everyone’s mind, their plans don’t stand a chance.

Margaret Yoder can’t seem to catch a break. Even though she’s dedicated to her Amish faith, her wild rumspringa won’t stay in the past, and her mother keeps pressuring her to get married. To placate her mother and get away from former “friends”, she decides to return to Birch Creek to visit family—and pretend to find a husband.

Like Margaret, Owen Bontrager isn’t looking for a spouse, something that’s hard to avoid in Birch Creek, where an ad for brides in the local paper has brought a swarm of single women to the thriving town. When he meets Margaret in an unexpected way, they discover they have more in common than they ever expected. In some ways, they are a perfect match.

Margaret struggles to keep her goal of avoiding romance in order to focus on being a faithful member of the Amish church, and it doesn’t help that she finds Owen intriguing. Knowing they don’t have a future together; she returns home and gives in to her mother’s insistence that she get married.

Can Margaret betray her feelings for Owen and become a dutiful daughter and wife to the man of her mother’s choosing? Or will Owen find a way to free Margaret of her past by giving her the future they both are surprised to find they desire?