Building a Future

A young Amish man falls for his brother’s girlfriend in the lackluster second entry in Clipston’s Amish Legacy series (after Foundation of Love). Michelle Lantz has been dating Korey Bontrager for just over a year and is eager to marry and start a family with him, but Korey says he’s not ready. Meanwhile, Korey’s older brother Tyler has no time for dating as he works to expand his father’s roofing business, but he finds Michelle easy to talk to and dislikes Korey’s flippant treatment of her. Tyler runs into Michelle in town and the two get lunch together, but after Korey finds out, he accuses Tyler of trying to steal his girlfriend, and take over the family business to boot. Tyler denies the charges but later realizes he does have feelings for Michelle and decides to quit talking to her to stay on good terms with Korey. Michelle tires of waiting for Korey to propose, so she breaks up with him. Soon after, she gets into a serious buggy accident, leading her and Tyler to reevaluate their relationship. Korey’s frequent whining about perceived slights from Michelle or Tyler will test readers’ patience, and a surfeit of conversations in which Tyler or Michelle go over the same details of their internal conflicts with different characters stalls out the plot. This doesn’t quite get off the ground. (Aug.)