About the Book

Book Title: Priscilla’s Escape

Author: Diane Craver

Genre: Amish Romance, Contemporary

Release date: March 23, 2018

When faith and freedom collide, mistakes made in the past may decide the future.

Twenty-year-old Priscilla King is unsure about joining the Amish Church and wants to use her rumspringa freedom to paint beach landscapes. She’s been offered a two-month-long nanny position in Siesta Key, Florida by an author on a tight writing deadline. The opportunities presented are more than a little tempting for Priscilla, even if it means disappointing her parents and leaving her new boyfriend.

Stephen Hertzler grew up in an Amish family, but, like Priscilla, he’s undecided about joining the church. He loves Priscilla and wants to marry her, though he knows she’s not ready to decide about anything other than her summer plans. His biggest worry is that she’ll meet someone else in Florida and forget him.

When Priscilla’s parents sabotage her part-time job at a local fabric store to dissuade her from following a “worldly lifestyle” in taking the nanny position in Florida, Priscilla is distraught. She knows she would regret not taking this chance. Leaving a note, she sneaks out in disobedience of her parents’ wishes.

Free to paint, dreams she’s never fully envisioned before seem within reach…but at what price?

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About the Author

Diane grew up on a farm outside Findlay, Ohio, and she often acted out characters from her own stories in the backyard. In high school Diane would read during classes and hide a novel in front of her in a propped-up textbook. After her high school graduation, she attended Ohio State University. Then Diane became a schoolteacher and play director. She met her husband while teaching at an orphanage, and they married three years later. It took her that long to convince him she was the one for him! While raising their family in southwestern Ohio, Diane started writing nonfiction and was published. Later she decided it would be a nice escape to write fiction. Diane was blessed with five daughters and one son. Two daughters were born with Down syndrome and live with Diane and her husband. Their other children live close by in Ohio so that’s wonderful. They also have four precious grandchildren. Diane published through a variety of houses. Several years ago, she decided to self-publish her books, so requested the rights back to her previously published stories. From the beginning, she enjoyed self-publishing her Amish romances. Diane gives thanks to God daily for her many blessings.

Guest Post from Diane

Hello, Reader Friends,

Priscilla’s Escape is Book 3 in The Bishop’s Daughters Series. This story features Priscilla King, and she is the fourth child born to Amos and Lillian King. You may remember meeting Priscilla in my Dreams of Plain Daughters Series. After I finished writing this series, I decided to continue to write about the Amish and English characters living in Fields Corner, Ohio. They became family and real to me.

The King family have six children with only one son. That is like our Craver family because we have five daughters and one son. Through the years, our family has faced certain challenges with two daughters being born with Down syndrome. Although Priscilla doesn’t have any siblings with special needs, she feels overlooked in her family. It’s like she’s invisible to her parents, especially to her father. He doesn’t understand her passion for painting but favors Molly’s talent for quilting. Everyone needs a cheerleader in their corner at times, and Priscilla is no different. Fortunately, her new boyfriend, Stephen, listens to her dream to paint beach pictures. He even understands her desire to wait to join the church.

All families suffer some type of hardships. It does seem like some more than others. A family’s faith in God gives them hope in their daily lives. Whatever the level of the pain, staying close to God and listening to his voice, gives us the strength to survive. The King family have their share of tragedies, but their faith reminds steadfast. When Priscilla leaves their close-knit unit, they all reach out to her by letter and phone calls. Her siblings even tell their father that he needs to share his secret with Priscilla.

I hope you will enjoy reading Priscilla’s Escape. There is a lot happening in the King family, so you can catch up with your favorite romantic couples in this novel. If you love going to the beach as much as I do, I think you’ll love reading about Priscilla’s beach experiences – some are good, and others are not.

My Review:

Priscilla’s Escape is one woman’s journey coming into her own womanhood despite opposition from her family for her choices. Priscilla is surprised when her parents forbid her from going on a 2 month trip to nanny as well as paint a family portrait for an Englisher woman while she finishes writing a book. For years Priscilla has dreamed of painting the ocean, and feels it’s the perfect opportunity. She believes she has tested that her heart is in the right place despite what her father believes. Shocking her community, she leaves in the night.

Unlike many in my generation, I don’t understand what it’s like to be considered and adult while still living under my parents’ roof. I have been on my own right from eighteen so I really skipped the stage of being an adult while fighting for independence. Culturally it’s different for the Amish because young women are often home until they wed. The context of remaining at home is far different than what us “Englishers” are familiar with. I’ll be honest that I felt myself getting physically angry at how Priscilla was being treated in this book, and was glad she stood up for herself even though it went against how she was raised to behave. At twenty years old if she wanted to go on a trip for two months with good intentions, then she should have had every right to do so.

While I’m not generally a fan of the “love triangles” in books, I actually wish the author would have added a little more conflict to the relationships between Priscilla and Mitch and Stephen. Especially with Priscilla debating on her future in the Amish community, I would have liked to see more of her “testing the waters” if she was going to consider herself in rumspringa. I don’t mean anything crazy, but maybe giving some more page space to her trying out English conveniences and how she felt about them.

Priscilla’s Escape is the 3rd book in a series. I have not read the first two but I was still able to follow along fairly easily. There were moments where I could tell that the book was referencing stories that happened earlier in the series, but it didn’t prevent me from being able to read and understand what was going on in this one. It wouldn’t hurt to start at the beginning, but I wouldn’t say it’s mandatory.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would be interested in reading more from this author in the future. It’s a great read for Amish fiction fans and clean romance. I would easily recommend it to others.

*I received a copy of this book from the author through CelebrateLit tours. I was not required to give a positive review. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

Rating: 

Age Appropriateness/Content Warnings:

I would consider Priscilla’s escape a clean read. The romance includes a few kisses but nothing more. If a younger reader were interested it would probably be fine, but I think it would hold interest better at 13 and up.

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Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Diane is giving a grand prize that includes a $25 Amazon Gift Card & The Bishop’s Daughters: A Three Book Collection – Amish Baby Snatched, A Plain Widow, and Priscilla’s Escape (paperback or eBook)!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d35a/priscilla-s-escape-celebration-tour-giveaway