About
Molly Zook’s always liked being in control, so she’s struggling with her mother’s wish that, to save the family farm, she marry Mervin Mosier. Especially after Molly meets Leon Fisher. He’s from Montana but is now training horses at a nearby ranch. He’s tall and muscular and confident–Molly has never met anyone like him and she’s sure he feels the same about her.
Determined to let nothing get between them, Molly tries to coax Mervin into falling back in love with Molly’s best friend, Hannah. A weekend camping trip in the Poconos could be just the place…but things quickly go awry, and it seems Leon and Hannah might be falling for each other instead! Will Molly keep struggling to control everyone and everything around her? Or will she learn to let God handle the twists and turns of her life?
Review
When I saw that Leslie Gould had another book out, I had to get it. Though I am generally not an Amish fan, Ms. Gould manages to write her characters in such a way that her Amish people don’t appear to be….ahem….strange. They come across as real people who just happen to live an Amish lifestyle. And, Ms. Gould manages to combine Shakespeare with the Amish, which always present an interesting twist. Minding Molly is based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream which is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. However, this novel somehow didn’t manage to do it for me. Here is what I noticed:
Molly is an amazing heroine. Ms. Gould manages to write ladies who are totally relatable; women who have flaws, but you still get them anyway. Molly is no different and I loved being in her mind. The novel did manage to give you that Midsummer Night’s Dream-feel to it, though I think it lacked the humor that the the comedy intended.
But, we are told Molly is a people person and that she is controlling. Based off of this book, Molly is not a people person. She had a hard time getting along with others and frankly, I never saw her as controlling. She was very much into the details, but I didn’t see anyone else trying to help Molly when she was getting things done. I just saw other people being lazy (Maybe I have Molly’s Type A personality…maybe I don’t). 🙂
Molly meets Leon and almost immediately they fall in love. I’m not such a huge fan of insta-love and I found myself even less invested in their relationship when after only two meetings they were having problems with where they should live when they got married. Don’t get me wrong, it was completely something to consider. But even though I adored Leon, I failed to see why Molly did so intensely.
Hannah, Molly’s best friend was so annoying. I could not see why they were best friends. She was not someone who even remotely looked out for Molly. It was all about her from day one.
Beatrice, the mean sister, who constantly criticized Molly, completely failed to see her own flaws.
Poor Molly, I just felt like she worked so hard and got very few breaks.
Spiritually, Molly learns to be less controlling and learns to trust God more with everything that goes around her.
Overall, though nicely written, this book wasn’t my favorite and left me more than a bit confused.
Romantic Scale: 6.5
**I received this novel from Netgalley. My opinion was not affected in anyway.**
remaininhislove 
Wow how interesting that the novel was based off a Shakespearean play! Molly sounds like an interesting heroine!