Goodbye to Yesterday (book review)

Goodbye to Yesterday: Part 1 (The Discovery - A Lancaster County Saga)
is book 1 of an exclusive 6-consecutive-month release Amish serial novel.

From the back cover:

When Luke Stoltzfus loses his job at a furniture store in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, he is given an opportunity to learn a new trade from his uncle who lives in Indiana. Despite his wife's reservations, Luke jumps at the chance and makes plans for a quick trip to Middlebury.

Along the way, Luke meets with tragedy, and life as he knew it will never be the same.

Despite all odds, will the faith and love Luke and Meredith share be enough to bring them back together again? Or will Meredith begin a new life with another?

My thoughts:
The storyline is great and the most positive aspect of Goodbye to Yesterday: Part 1 (The Discovery - A Lancaster County Saga) It is engaging with just enough drama to keep the reader engaged and wanting to read more. I fell in love with the sense of reality that is being faced by Meredith and Luke as they face life with unemployment and a shrinking bank account and the ups and downs of newlywed life. I felt that I could relate to their story.

There were parts of the story that took away from the storyline though. There were several bouts of dialogue that felt repetitive and were dull and just didn't feel like they fit.

The other thing that took away was the story was the format. This was the first time that I had read a novel that has been published in parts. To be honest it kind of caught me off guard, as most books that I read have a definite ending, even when they are part of a series. Goodbye to Yesterday: Part 1 (The Discovery - A Lancaster County Saga) is not like that. There is no definite ending, instead there is a cliffhanger ending that is supposed to lead the reader to buy and read the second book. And to me that was a major flaw in this book. This "book" seemed more like something you would read in a magazine each month or watch in a mini series on TV. For me it does not work in book form. Because of this I am not sure if I will actively seek out the other parts of this saga. I don't think it is that worth it for me.

Disclaimer: This book was provided free of charge by the publisher and Handlebar Marketing in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed are my own.