May 1865, Weaver's Creek, Ohio.
After the war, Elizabeth Kaufmann's brother, Jonas, come home with a friend, wounded prisoner, Aaron Zook.
Aaron has no plan and no future hopes.
Elizabeth is a widow of a no-amish, dangerous, bad man, with no luck with men, a large farm and lovely friends.
The book is easy and fast to read, with interesting topics: war and slave, amish life, importance of the family...
I recommend it, I'm sure you'll have a pleasant time reading it.

#Softly blows the Bugle # by Jan Drexler is an Amish Fiction book. This book is the third in the the Amish of Weaver's Creek series. Jan brings a wonderful perspective to her writings with her Amish and Mennonite back round. The book is beautifully written. It has romance , suspense, and action. The Amish values are woven in a beautiful way into this book. The book takes place in 1863. The book is written from Elizabeth Kauffman's perspective. She strives to be kind, loving, honest in her dealings with others. The themes are : forgiveness, steadfast love, faithfulness, loss. , resilience . I like Aaron as a character in the book. He was in the Battle of Vicksburg. . He lost his leg. There is a scene in the book when one of the young children are at risk from a bull hurting him. Aaron puts his body over the child to protect him and prevent him from getting hurt. Aaron already has his own challenges getting around one one leg. How many people would be so caring and self sacrificing for others. Thank you to the author, the publisher, netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. I really enjoyed the book. I hope it is very successful. the opinions are my own.

This is the third book in this series, and yes, it can be read alone. If you have followed this series you already know about Ruben, and now I was cringing that Elizabeth was going to make the same mistake again!
The Civil War is now over, and we have a new arrival in this community in Ohio, Aaron Zook, an Amish name, but?
This story is so good, and will quickly have you page turning, and looking for answers. Who can Elizabeth trust? Surely one of her own, not a newcomer?
Secrets are revealed, and you will cringe, but the loving aspect of this community will warm your heart!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Revell, and was not required to give a positive review.

Softly Blows the Bugle was a well written story that was very exciting to read! A young widow, Elizabeth, has survived a bad marriage to a terrible man. She promises herself she will never marry again. Then she meets two men. Aaron has come home from the war with her brother. He's planning on going west to settle. Then there is Solomon, who seems to be a settled Amish man in good standing. As she gets to know both men, she gets closer to Solomon, who asks her to marry him. But there is something about him, she can't seem to explain, and she eventually turns him down. That angers him, and he kidnaps her. Aaron goes looking for her and Solomon shoots him. Very exciting story I enjoyed reading! Clean with a happy ending!

I received this copy from netgalley. I love Jan's books. they keep getting better and better.
I couldn't put it down!

A wonderful conclusion to the Amish of Weaver's Creek! The Civil War is over and the soldiers are coming home, including Aaron Zook, a friend of Jonah Weaver. As an amputee with no family, Aaron is having a hard time fitting in. Elizabeth, a young widow is dealing with her hopes of a husband and family over after an abusive marriage. Add Solomon, a new wealthy Amish man in the fellowship and things get interesting. Secrets are uncovered and relationships develop in this heartfelt story. Highly recommended!

After months of not reading Amish fiction, I wanted to read something with the calmness of the Amish faith (even if I don't agree with all of their beliefs.)

I ended up really loving "Softly Blows the Bugle" and I hope to get a paperback soon, the story was not anything like the normal Amish fiction you come across, the way that this book went into what it might have been like for the Amish during the civil war was something that intrigued me.

I could tell there was going to be a good bit mystery but I didn't expect it to get to be as dark as it did though it ended up to end nicely. The sudden ending fits well with the story and I look forward to more from Jan Drexler.

I voluntarily received and reviewed a complimentary e/copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher/review company. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Since I couldn't wait for the print copy to come out I borrowed a copy from Netgalley.
This book was awesome and I finished it one day! I mean, I couldn't help myself and Amish fiction is truly a delight to read.
I love Drexler's books! I love how her character's feelings come out to me through the story. So many emotions among a few other things. She also does an excellent job of including some mystery, not so favorable characters and a little bit of romance.
I think my favorite character is still Katie. She's so full of energy, love and I love her outlook on life. She never seems to let anything get her down and in turn it makes me happy too. It makes me happy because she reminds me of God's love for us all and not to let anything get us down no matter what it is.
I did however find myself rooting for Elizabeth. She's just truly an amazing woman. Yes, we all have fears in life too. She deserves a second chance just like we all do! Especially if it's God's will.
The one character I didn't like was Sammuel. He rubbed me the wrong way.
I will say that I highly recommend this book! It's post Civil War Amish fiction but oh my! It's still a wonderful read! I love anything by her.
My thanks to Netgalley for a wonderful read. I was NOT required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own.

An entertaining and well written historical romance. Loved this post Civil War Amish romance. Very good plot. Fans of historical romance will enjoy this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

“Softly Blows the Bugle”, by Jan Drexler (Revell), is an enjoyable historic Amish novel, with lovely characters, giving an interesting insight into Amish society, culture and religion in the post Civil War period.
In the beginning, Aaron is such a broken, wounded hero, feeling lost and without hope, and it was wonderful to see him slowly learn to deal with his issues and regain confidence. He is determined, thoughtful, kind and gentle; although the “lost family” twist felt a bit far-fetched, his character sort of deserved that kind of positive thing happening to him.
I liked the story, the main and side characters and I felt comfortable with the overall predictability of the plot, but Elizabeth’s character traits of naivety and immaturity rubbed me the wrong way. She was a good, generous person, but her blind trust in Solomon and the way the marriage ideas jump to her mind like they were the most natural thing felt just odd and unbelievable, especially considering her previous negative experience.
There were other things that seemed weird, defying basic common sense and not very clever or rational, like igniting a fire in July or some aspects of the chase of the villain.

Jan Drexler writes historical Amish fiction, which puts her in a class by herself. She has done her research well for her third book in this series The Amish of Weaver's Creek. The time era is post Civil War, when the men are coming home and life should be returning to normal--as much as it can.

When Katie sees her fiance, Jonas, coming home, she runs to greet him. He's brought with him a friend he met while being a medic at a prisoner of war hospital. Aaron Zook has lost his leg and doesn't know where he wants to go from Weaver's Creek because all of his family is gone.

Jonas has a sister, Elizabeth, who is widowed and really not looking to marry again. Aaron is not looking for a relationship, but somehow, . . .



Jan has included some suspense, some impostors, and some tenderness in this book and has really engaged the reader from beginning to end. It's worthy of five stars, two thumbs up, and a farm ready to plow.

Revell and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.