5 STARS | Belonging by Karen Ann Hopkins

Title: Belonging
Series: Temptation #2
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Age Group: Young Adult
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B00B0A5XTC
Published: April 30th, 2013
Source: NetGalley
Events: Book Tour
Rating: ★★★★★
Series Reviews: Temptation

He's Amish. I'm not. Will love be enough?

I left everything I knew behind.
But it was worth it. He was worth it.

No one thought an ordinary girl like me would last two minutes living with the Amish, not even me. There are a lot more rules and a lot less freedom, and I miss my family and the life I once had. Worst of all, Noah and I aren't even allowed to see each other. Not until I've proven myself.

If I can find a way to make it work, we'll be NOAH & ROSE

together forever.

But not everybody believes this is where I belong.

Rose has begun her life as an Amish woman and is succeeding, much to her family's dislike. But it hasn't been an easy experience: the work is hard and the rules are constricting, and Rose's love for Noah is sometimes the only thing pulling her through the hard times. Rose is accepted by Noah's Amish community and they are officially allowed to court each other, and they are happy. But Rose's and Noah's happiness is suddenly brought to a screeching halt. Rose made it three months in the Amish community, but then her father had had enough and used lies and deceit to get her back. Trying to move past the pain of their forced separation, they both move on with their lives and move on to new people. The truth is brought to light by Rose's older brother Sam before either of them can move on in a permanent way, and Noah rushes to Rose's side and they find happiness again. But it's not only those close to them that threaten their happily ever after. A former peer with a sick obsession is out for revenge. And Rose's life is in danger.

Rose shows a great deal of strength, determination, and stubbornness during her three months with the Amish. Her love for Noah keeps her going when it feels like everything is closing in on her. Rose doesn't mention it, but her family's obvious dislike for the Amish lifestyle and their unsupportiveness takes its toll on her. It's during these moments that Noah fears that Rose has second thoughts about being Amish. While he is proud that Rose was able to succeed in becoming a member of his community and is overjoyed that their relationship is now official, Noah can't help but doubt Rose's resolve when she refuses to discuss their future. They both show how much their experience has taken its toll on them both when Rose is forced to leave and there is now a separation between them. That space eventually tears them apart and its takes Sam and Summer to bridge the gap.

The first thing I noticed in Belonging is that it seemed like Rose was the only one sacrificing anything for their relationship. Rose showed how much she truly loves Noah by not hesitating to become Amish when she finally made the decision, but Noah didn't seem willing to sacrifice anything at all if she had refused. And this was very frustrating for me while I was reading. I also couldn't stand Rose's family's happiness at making her unhappy. It's like, Really? You're happy that yourr daughter/sister is miserable? Now, Hunter impressed me greatly in this book. He doesn't get any kind of joy out of Rose being unhappy and does what he can to change that. I felt kind of bad for him, because he genuinely cares deeply for Rose but she can't show that same kind of commitment with Noah still in her heart. I absolutely loved Summer and how she has Sam wrapped around her finger. And she is a very good friend to Rose, loyal and not to a fault either. Rose desperately needed someone there for her and her alone.

That cliffhanger at the end was a real killer! I've been agonizing over not being about to read the final book in this series, Forever, until January 2014. That is just too far away to learn about what happens after the big reveal at the end of Belonging. I'm just so looking forward to the next book that I'm ready to burst.

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A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amish community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.


Disclaimer: This review was originally posted in 2013 to my book blog, A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books.