Years ago a foolish mistake destroyed Roland Byler and Johanna Yoder’s relationship, both going on to marry other people and have children.  Now, both widowed, Johanna stuns Roland with a proposal.  She sees it as the perfect answer – she’d be a mother to his son and he’d be the father her two kids need.  But Roland has never forgotten the love he felt for Johanna those years ago and he wants more than an emotionless marriage.  Now he’s got to remind her what it was like when they were courting and that they can have those feelings again.

Johanna’s Bridegroom is a book in the “Hannah’s Daughters” series – sometimes it isn’t that important to have read the previous books but this is definitely one of those times that it would make a difference.  The core story of Johanna and Roland is wonderful and easy to follow – he’s determined to have a marriage full of love but, between his youthful indiscretion (which you don’t find out details of until the end) and problems with her last marriage, she’s not sure she can give her heart again.  I loved the interaction between Roland and Johanna.  He’s so steady and sure, hard-working and caring.  She’s assertive and brash, especially for the Amish, but she also has a deep love for her family and her community.  I enjoyed watching them come to terms with their past and their future.

But there is so much more to this series and the intricacies of the Yoder family are difficult to follow without having a familiarity with the previous books.  There was so much that I didn’t fully understand and I think that I would have enjoyed the book so much more if I’d had those details.  Don’t get me wrong, the book was interesting and I am glad I read it, but it was somewhat frustrating.  If you haven’t read anything else in this series, I highly recommend trying to find some of the others first or be prepared to have a few unanswered questions as you go thru it.  If this isn’t your first book, then I’m sure you are aware of the heart-warming story that you will find between the covers.

(I’m giving this one 3 stars because of the fact that it is so hard to read by itself but without that I would have given the core story 4 stars.)