The Roll of the Drum ~ Review

The Roll of the Drum
The Amish of Weaver's Creek #2
By Jan Drexler

Gideon Fischer is hoping for a fresh start and healing for his wife Lovinia. Having lost almost everything to Southern raiders his family has suffered greatly and his wife's health has drastically failed. The promise of help from the Amish community of Weaver's Creek has kept him pushing on. If not for his family he could never ask for help he can't repay.

Ruby Weaver is most unconventional but she is more than willing to help those in need and the Fischer family needs the help her family is more than willing to share. She soon becomes friends with the failing Lovinia. And the four young children who are hurting need her help as they must prepare for the worst. But when Lovinia extracts a promise from her to be there for her children and to agree to marry Gideon, Ruby agrees but with reservations.

Gideon can't image a life without his wife but his children need someone to mother them but marriage to Ruby Weaver, he just can't do that even if Lovinia felt Ruby was just what they will need. When they come with a workable plan to provide a home for the children/ Unfortunately wagging tongues find fault with the solution that they come up with.

The Roll of the Drum is the second book in the Amish of Weaver's Creek series and it is set during the years of the Civil War. The war has not left the area untouched and they are having to live with the cloud it has cast over them. This book is an enjoyable read and the characters are for the most part likable. I like the chance to again revisit the Weaver family and their community. This is an easy to read book and I have to be honest I like American Historical fiction so this was an interesting look at the Civil War era.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.




About the Book:

How far will she have to go to keep a promise?

Ruby Weaver's curly red hair isn't the only thing that sets her apart from her Amish community in 1863. Twenty-eight and single, Ruby doesn't believe a woman needs to be married in order to be happy. Her ailing friend Lovinia Fischer, however, has other ideas and wants Ruby to promise to marry her husband after she dies. Never imagining she'd have to fulfill that vow, Ruby agrees. And she's not the only one. Lovinia has extracted a similar promise from her husband, Gideon.

With both Ruby and Gideon reluctant to keep their promises, a compromise must be reached. Ruby will spend her days with Gideon's family--helping to raise the children and keep the house--but her nights will be spent at her sister's neighboring house. The arrangement raises eyebrows in their conservative Amish community, and it soon becomes clear that Ruby must make a decision--marry Gideon or turn her back on her friend?