THE GIFT OF JOY is a sweet Amish romance that finds Joy Yoder trying to help Joshua Kanagy do what he loves to do. He is being pulled into the family gift shop but loves raising and training horses. He feels as a good son he must help his family despite the heartbreak it causes him. Joy is a determined, though sometimes clumsy, woman who wants to help those she cares about. Part of the reason for trying to help Joshua is to forget her own problems. Her Mamm wants her to marry the minister's son, but she isn't sure that is what she wants.
 
To help Joshua, she proposes a marriage of friendship between the two of them. This way she could work at the shop, and he can continue working with his beloved horses. It all sounds grand - the perfect solution - except for one unexpected complication. Joy realizes she loves this man she is trying to help, and now isn't sure she can go through with it as only a friend.
 
Oh what a heart touching web that has been woven by author Kristin McKanagh in THE GIFT OF JOY. The headstrong but loving and sweet Joy tries so hard to help others that she does tend to forget about her own wants and needs. Joshua knows what he wants but he is hamstrung by Joy's seeming indifference to the possibility that he might have feelings for her. It takes a special quilt and a heart willing to take a chance to get the happily ever after that readers need to see.
 
A well written, interesting look at a different way of life but a life where love still brings people together.

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