Love at Pebble Creek by Lisa Jones Baker is the fifth Hope Chest of Dreams novel. Anna King loves to sketch, but she keeps it hidden from her family. It is Anna’s dream to study art. One day she sees a flyer for a contest with her dream as the prize. Jessie Beiler, the bishop’s son, discovers that Anna loves to draw, and he promises not to reveal her secret. The spend time together as he works on her family’s farm and they become close. Anna submits her sketch to the contest. If she wins, Anna would leave their community and Jessie. What does the future hold for this pair? Love at Pebble Creek can be a standalone if you have not read the other four novels in this series. I thought the book was easy to read with an interesting premise. I did feel it dragged in a few places. It is easy to guess how Love at Pebble Creek will end when you are about halfway through the story. Love at Pebble is a sweet Amish romance that has Lisa Jones Baker engaging writing. I thought the characters were realistic and developed. I liked getting to know Anna and Jessie. Anna is adopted and naturally curious about her birth mother. Love at Pebble Creek is different from the other books in this series with Anna having desires that are unlike other Amish women. If you are a fan of Amish fiction, then you will enjoy Love at Pebble Creek. ( )

"Love at Pebble Creek" is basically about dreams! The two main characters are young Amish people, and each is seeking to fulfill a dream. Anna, the artist, seeks a way to share her art with others through winning a contest and earning a college degree. Anna also is intent upon finding out more about her birth mother. Jesse, the bishops' son, seeks a stable life, a farm, a wife and children with whom to share his life.

While I found the premise of the story to be plausible, the plot moved along rather slowly. Too many details detracted from moving the action forward. References to people, who were apparently in earlier books in the series, confused me, because this background seemed important to the story.

I do not really like the seemingly modern writing style that consists of short, incomplete sentences and phrases. Having been a writer for years, I prefer to stick to the conventional writing style that uses proper grammar and sentence structure, rather than something that seems like texting.

Finally, there seemed to be some solutions to Anna's struggle that were fairly obvious. For example, why did she have to enter a contest and earn a college degree in order to use her art skills? She seemed quite talented, and could use her talents to teach art within the Amish community. Anna could also have created greeting cards or art works that she could sell or market in Amish shops or Englischer galleries, and still stayed true to her Amish faith. I was disappointed in how this book ended regarding Anna and her art.

The trend towards catastrophic accidents that cause a person to experience a sudden awakening seems to be a trend in the Amish novels I have been reading and reviewing lately. This plot device is getting old, and I wish writers of these novels would use some other devices.

Readers should be aware that the Christian message is overt, but not preachy. It is a genuine part of the personal make-up of the characters.

I received this novel from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. ( )

I loved being back in Pebble Creek, and visiting with old friends, and remembering dear Sam, and missing the love, kindness and wisdom he shared with others.
This story is a bit different when an adoptive daughter Anna King, decides she wants to discover her roots, and an old friend, Jessie Beiler, encourages her. Will you see the sparks fly between then?
The author sure gave Jessie a hard part, he is falling in love with Anna, or maybe he has always loved her, but he sees her talent and encourages her dreams. He seems to be between a rock and a hard place.
You hope that a sheltered girl, thinking she can uproot herself and head into the world will realize what she has before she leaves, if only Sam were still here to advise her.
I know how I was rooting, but you will have to read this quick book, and see for yourself!

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