The Gift of Joy

The Gift of Joy by Kristen McKanagh is a charming Amish tale. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the second book in the Unexpected Gifts series. Each book can be read as a standalone (in case you have not had a chance to read The Gift of Hope). I like the author’s writing style. It is engaging and makes the story easy to read. I just loved Joy and Joshua. Joy is such a lively character who brings sunshine and happiness to others. Joy has a big heart. She truly cares about people and wants to help them. Her schemes, though, are often impetuous and land her in hot water. Joshua is usually the one who rescues Joy. However, there are times when Joshua finds himself in a predicament and needs a little assistance. I enjoyed getting to know Joshua and Joy’s families. I can see why Joy pushed the boundaries with the various rules her mother had in place. Joy’s younger brothers are comical. They get into more trouble. Joy and Joshua are kept on their toes with those two boys. I laughed often while reading The Gift of Joy. There are misadventures, miscommunication, mayhem, and marriage. Joy’s impetuous proposal takes these two friends down a different path. What follows is a heartwarming story. I like that we get to catch up with Hope and Aaron from The Gift of Hope. I loved the descriptions of Joy’s beautiful quilts (I wish I could quilt like Joy). The Gift of Joy is a roller coaster of a story. There is romance, friendship, frustration, humor, and so much more. I am glad the author included an epilogue that nicely wrapped up the story. I look forward to reading Kristen McKanagh’s next story. The Gift of Joy is a charming Amish tale with an impetuous proposal, two busy boys, a cute colt, matchmaking complications, miscommunication mayhem, a quilt quandary, benevolent bishop, and a caring community.

A True Gift of Joy Joy Yoder's childhood friend, Joshua Kanagy, loves working with horses and helping out at her father's horse business. While that arrangement has been working out just fine, it runs into a snag when Joshua's family needs him to work at their shop. This poses a challenge for Joshua, because he wants to keep working with horses, but he also knows his family is depending on him. Meanwhile, Joy is facing challenges of her own. She's trying to find a way to do more with her quilting while doing her best to keep her mother's attempts of marrying her off to the minister's son from becoming a reality. Through the years, Joshua has been pulled into being an unwilling, and sometimes willing, participant in Joy's well-meaning schemes. Joy knows how much Joshua would love to continue working with horses rather than work at his family's shop, and she knows that he needs a solution for his dilemma. Joy also knows that she needs a solution for her own situations, which of course gives Joy a grand idea that she's sure will solve everything for Joshua and and for her. The Gift of Joy is a wonderful story! I was completely drawn in from the first page, and I didn't put it down until I had read the entire book. It was fun, entertaining, heartwarming and just simply delightful. Joy truly is a joy. She has such a huge heart and really just genuinely wants to help people and her grand schemes, which can be somewhat impulsive at times, are just her way of helping. Even though Joshua is a little grounded, Joy manages to pull him into her schemes one way or another. And that is just part of what makes this story such a joy, pun intended, to read. Joy and Joshua's interactions, as well as the interactions with the other characters, had me smiling, sighing, hold my breath, laughing out loud, and even pushed me to frustration a time or two. Yes, it was a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride for me, but those elements combined are what made this such a wonderful and delightful story that in the end left me smiling and saying, "That story was a true gift of joy!" ***I received a copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. All comments and opinions are strictly my own.

The Gift of Joy by Kristen McKanagh, book two in Unexpected Love series, tugs at your heart, holding you hostage until the very last page. This was a story I could not put down, reading it in one day. Through the years Joy Yoder's childhood friend, Joshua Kanagy, has been pulled into being an unwilling, and sometimes willing, participant in Joy's well-meaning schemes. Joshua loves working with horses and helping out at her father's horse business. While that arrangement has been working out just fine, it becomes a problem when Joshua's family needs him to work at their shop, fulltime. Joy knows how much Joshua would love to continue working with horses rather than work at his family's shop, and she knows that he needs a solution for his dilemma. Joy also knows that she needs a solution for her own situations, finding a way to do more with her quilting while doing her best to keep her mother's attempts of marrying her off to the minister's son from becoming a reality. Joy gets inspiration for an idea that she's sure will solve everything for Joshua and her; they should marry each other. Marriage would allow Joshua to continue working for Joy’s father and Joy could work at the store in his place; where she could sell her quilts and teach classes. However, things don’t always work out the way they are imagined, allowing people to learn from their mistakes, misunderstandings, and lack of communication. Joshua and Joy make a really sweet couple and Joy truly is a joy. She has such a huge heart and genuinely wants to help people and her grand schemes, which can be somewhat impulsive at times, are just her way of helping. Even though Joshua is a little grounded, Joy manages to pull him into her schemes one way or another. That is part of what makes this story such a joy, pun intended, to read. Joy and Joshua's interactions, as well as interactions with the other characters, took me on an emotional roller coaster as they made me smile, sigh, hold my breath, laugh out loud at their shenanigans, and even get frustrated with them a time or two. Ms. Kanagh wrote a wonderfully sweet and moving story that had me feeling all the emotions; smiling, tearing up, crying of heartbreak, and frustrated with some of the characters. The message of love, faith, and forgiveness stood strong; making this sweet and inspiration read one I could not put down, draw me in, making me forget it was fiction. I highly recommend The Gift of Joy to other readers. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.