The story line held my interest. I loved the characters. One thing I truly appreciated was the way Marta brought both communities together. In a lot of Amish based stories the community tends to be broken between the Amish and the Englisch. Marta acknowledges that but also weaves them together in a very believable way.The romance between Katie and Caleb had a rocky start. Katie was jilted by a man who married her best friend. Caleb was working through having the woman he was to marry leave the community, pregnant, many believed, with his baby. Marta wrote of their feelings and matched it to their actions. It flowed very well. Marta does a wonderful job of weaving all the plots together. None of the plots interfere with the main plot. They are blended in to keep the story moving at a brisk pace. I found I did not want to stop reading this book once I started. It moved along fast enough and held my interest so I was able to read it in one afternoon.
*Full review is on my blog.*
**I was given a copy of this book for review. The opinions expressed are my true feelings. No compensation for this review was received. This review is part of Virtual Tours** ( )

Her father hopes that a change of towns will help his daughter Katie recover from a broken heart. Her mother thinks a change of towns will help people forget that her younger daughter Rhoda made a bad choice during her rumspringa. Thus Katie and Rhoda are now running Katie’s new quilt shop. Katie has one year to become self-sufficient and make a success of her business. But things go wrong from almost the very start. The man who owns the adjoining business, a woodworking shop, is not happy with a quilt shop next door. In reality, he is not happy at all, nursing a broken heart of his own. His life consists mostly of work, and his unfriendly manner puts off most people. But these two are tied together through happenstance, and not just by the proximity of their shops. They must deal with several problems that come their way, and through adversity, they just might find a common thread that links them together. This well-written tale is a welcome addition to this fine series. ( )

The more I read in the series set in Pleasant Valley, the more I continue to enjoy getting to know the characters in this series. In this book Katie has newly arrived to set up her quilting shop/store. Her next door neighbor is Caleb Brand who is a furniture craftsman. Caleb isn't thrilled with his new neighbor and her sister, but Katie is someone who is determined and like-able so Caleb begins a like/dislike relationship with her. A fragile friendship begins, but so does vandalism, as the town folks get together to get more people interested in their town and shops. A little bit of mystery and drama in this story, with a lot of fun and getting to see how the Amish and the English learn to get along and help each other out. A great community spirit in this story and a town I would love to visit (but alas, this is only a work of fiction). ( )

I love this series and this book is no exception. Marta Perry's characters are real and feel like friends. The bishop of Pleasant Valley seems to be a kind a wise soul which is a contrast to the bishops in some other Amish fiction. While her romances seem to be obvious from the first page, you want to stick with the book to see how the couple comes together. Because I've read other quilt series, I especially enjoyed this book in the series. ( )

Katie Miller finds herself moving to Pleasant Valley after her long planned on marriage falls thru. While her parents weren't really happy with her move her father pays the rent for one year allowing her to try and make a go of a quilt shop that she hopes will allow her to become financially secure. Her mother and sister come for the grand opening and Katie learns that her mother wants to leave her sixteen year old sister Rhoda with her to get her away from her wild rumspringa ways back home. Caleb Brand has a furniture shop next door to Katie's newly opened quilt shop and while he isn't overly happy with her being there he tries to make her welcome. But when his young niece Becky comes to work in his store he isn't sure that he wants Becky to become friends with Rhoda because he overheard the conversation about her wild ways. He also has issues from his past that causes him to try and guard his heart from Katie, but it seems God just might have other ideas.

I loved this story. Most Amish women Katie's age are already married and raising children, but Katie is different. When the one she loved married someone else all she could do was leave home to try and start over. Starting over for her meant becoming independent because she figures she will never love anyone else. Caleb Brand is a man who distances himself from most people to keep anyone from getting inside his heart. Rumors from his past haunt him and as much as he tries to guard his heart sometimes the heart has other ideas, especially after that first unplanned kiss between him and Katie. The tension and banter that went on between the two make the story interesting. While I could go on about the relationship between the two the author gave us a few secondary stories that made the plot move along at a brisk pace. From the diverse group of quilters that met in the shop to the plans Katie has to grow her business each facet was interesting. I enjoyed seeing the sisterly bond grow between Katie and Rhoda as well.

While this is the fifth book in Marta Perry's Pleasant Valley series it can easily be read as a stand alone work, for me I have only read a couple of books in the series and had no problems jumping right into this story. The author provides sufficient background information about the characters and town so that I didn't feel lost at all. Overall if you enjoy reading Amish stories with interesting characters, a fast moving plot, and a nice inspirational message then your certainly going to enjoy "Katie's Way." ( )