I got a copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.
Minding Molly was the first book I have ever read from Leslie Gould (though I own the other two - just haven't read them yet, but definitely am going to!) and it was the first Amish book I have read because of this I had a little bit of a tough time adjusting to Mamm for Mom and Dat for Dad as well as Denki for Thank you, but I adjusted fairly quickly.
The characters are quite captivating and I enjoyed almost all of them. Beatrice irritated me a little with her constantly complaining about Molly and Hannah was rather annoying due to her being so rude to her best friend - Molly. Maybe it is because Molly was the main character, but I felt bad for her being clearly misunderstood.
I mean, her dad had recently died and they were all acting like she was a terrible person because she was trying to stay strong for her family and keep the farm going. Yes, she was a bit too bossy and yes, she could have lightened up - but the other characters (in particular Hannah as her best friend) should have understood her whole life had been thrown into a complete tailspin and she was trying to stay above water.
Like I said, maybe I relate to Molly somewhat and that is why I got irritated with her friends and family.
Anyway, I really liked the way Leon and Molly interacted and the way Leon was from Montana. He seemed like a very good character though I wish there was a bit more of him in the book because it would have been good to see more of what caused Molly to fall so hard for him so quickly.
Overall, it was a cute story and I enjoyed it - but her friends and family really could have understood what was going on a bit better than they did. Perhaps that is a way different people respond to situations like that - I don't know.
I give it a solid four stars.
