Plain Fear: Forgiven: A Novel

By Leanna Ellis

"Leanna Ellis has written an emotionally powerful story with an unusual twist to the vampire legend."—Nina Bangs, USA Today bestselling author

What Must We Sacrifice to be Forgiven? Evil returns to Promise, Pennsylvania in this gripping finale of the Amish vampire trilogy…

Samuel Fisher has committed a sin of biblical proportions—he killed his own brother, Jacob. Haunted by guilt and talked by a vampire out for his soul, Samuel starts down the same dark path of destruction that led to his brother's death.

A captivating coming-of-age story unlike any other, Plain Fear: Forgiven pits redemption against temptation, love against fear, and simple faith against the intricacies of sin and salvation. In the gripping final battle between hunters and vampires, Samuel must choose where his loyalties lie. The lives of those he loves—as well as his own ultimate forgiveness—hangs in the balance.

Praise for Plain Fear: Forsaken:

"An intense, powerful novel of love and loss, deception and deliverance."—Nancy Haddock, bestselling author of Always the Vampire

"In a word...captivating. Leanna Ellis creates a world seemingly simplistic but teeming with complexity. Forsaken is a book you won't want to miss."—Elisabeth Naughton, author Tempted

"Leanna Ellis takes readers on a thrilling journey to the dark side of Amish life and beyond. Forsaken exemplifies the ultimate literary juxtaposition of good and evil, and is made all the more powerful by Ellis's ability to paint a vivid and realistic picture of Amish life."—Linda Castillo, New York Times bestselling author

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Aug 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781402279805

Leanna Ellis

Leanna Ellis sold more than 1.3 million romantic novels writing as Leanna Wilson, winning a Readers' Choice award and the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award for her work. Elvis Takes a Back Seat is the first book published under her married name, marking a new creative direction in her writing. Like Francine Rivers before her, Leanna has left behind a successful career as an author of secular romances to write novels of faith that glorify God. A former schoolteacher, Leanna is now a homeschool mom and lives with her husband and children in Keller, Texas.

Reviews for Plain Fear

[thelibraryhag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

OK, vampires and Amish folk. Love the concept. I have only read one other book with this combination. This is the first book in the Plain Fear series and It is an OK start. I liked the story and I liked the people both Amish and "English" in the story. The vampires are evil and they do not sparkle. I like the addition of the New Orleans born and bred Roc Girouard who comes to avenge his dead wife and learns to care for the gentle Amish people he meets. However, these folk all think way too much. We see the anquish and and pain over and over. Granted some of the characters are just teens, but please. Also, the poetry. I really got tired of all the quoting of poetry that really did not add to the story as far as I was concerned. Just more teenage angst really. Despite these issues, I liked the book and will be reading the second in the series. I think there is room for improvement and hope to see it in the subsequent books. I like books that include Amish culture so this is a great fit for me.

[blodeuedd_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have sure seen those Amish romance books around and wondered if I should try one, well I did (in a way), it seems my first Amish book was a Amish vampire romance suspense book.

Hannah is the heroine. The Amish do not dwell on things but she can't forget Jacob. She seems very lost in her pain and she questions God for taking Jacob from her. Still she is a nice enough young woman and she can see that Levi, Jacob's brother is in love with her. Levi, him I did like. He wanted to wait for her, until the end of times if that is what it took. A good man.

But something evil has come to Amish country. Dead animals and people, and a former cop named Roc comes hunting for answers. Yes vampires, we do get that from the start and that the vampire named Akiva is Jacob and he wants his lost love back.

I do like that it took place where it did. It just made it so more interesting, especially when they put their faith in God and what happens happens. And of course I also liked that vampires are evil. Nope they cannot become nice, they are evil and when they feed they kill. Just as vampires should be.

Still something was missing for me at times, perhaps it was the love. I did like the poems here and there but I still do not know if I felt the love between Hannah and Jacob, but I did feel that Levi loved her. And that she was entranced by Akiva. Perhaps the spark was gone.

Conclusion:
Vampires and Amish, I do like that the author tried something new.

[sarah_gruwell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I was inspired to read it due to the fact that a favorite book of mine combined the Amish and vampires before with fantastic results. It wasn't until I got started on the book that I realized this was considered a Christian fiction. That threw me for a bit… I couldn't see how that element would twist with the others to create a cohesive whole. But it surprisingly works…I like that the author is very subtle in her use of Christian elements and morality for the most part. The whole lamb bit was a bit over the top, symbolism-wise, but ultimately, the author concentrates on the story itself. She interweaves her Christian elements throughout the story in such a way that the reader isn't being preached at but can enjoy the depth that Christianity can add to a story.I really enjoyed the characters, as well. Hannah, at times, made me want to climb a wall with how often she seemed to swing back and forth between the Amish world and the outside one. But I liked her depth of emotion and character. I also really enjoyed Levi. He was strong and dependable like most Amish men are portrayed, but there was also an element of protectiveness that I find would have been absent in most other circumstances. He didn’t seem to just want to stand back and let God handle everything; he was proactive in wanting to protect Hannah and his community. I admired him for that.Another element I enjoyed was how the author balanced the Amish world and the outside one. Neither was portrayed as better than the other, which sometimes can be a real problem in a book like this. The strengths and weaknesses of both were portrayed, and I found that refreshing.One thing I felt could have been different was the length of the book. 416 pages seems a bit excessive and the story reflected that at times. Repeated scenes and themes would occasionally crop up that I felt were just padding for the page count and not actually needed to tell the story. A minor gripe but there it is.Altogether, I found this book very enjoyable. I enjoyed the characters, situation, and subtly of the author’s writing. Very different from my previous exposure to a fusion such as this, I liked that different direction the story took. While at times the story felt a bit thick with filler and repeated scenes/themes, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a different take on the Amish fiction.

[theseprettywords · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Orignally posted on These Pretty Words.

Have you ever been surprised by a plot twist in a book? Like truly surprised… where you sit and stare at the screen/pages wondering if you somehow got your books mixed up and are now reading something completely different from what you started? Yeah, that was this book for me. I expected an Amish love story with a little suspense. Never in a million years did I expect there to be vampires.

The overall plot for this book would have been a decent one but for the mixing of Amish and paranormal. The two really didn’t meld in my head. Also, there were a number of things that were absolutely unbelievable to me. Slightly spoilerish here, but after only two years the main character couldn’t recognize the love of her life in his vampire form? That little nugget broke right through my suspension of disbelief and had me ready to flounce. And that’s only one example.

Overall I don’t recommend this one for anything more than a library borrow. If you really love vampire stories (as I do) and have a penchant for the Amish (as I also do) you may enjoy it, just go in prepared. Vampires and Amish… next time I’m going to read the reviews a bit more closely before I buy.

[vampiregirl76 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Even though Jacob is long gone, Hannah still loves him. Yearns for him everyday. When a stranger, Akiva arrives he carries secrets with him that will change everything. As Hannah learns who Akiva is, she must make a choice - one that will decided her fate.Not a book I would normally read. This is the first book I've read where the lead characters were Amish. Being a vampire fan, reading the description peaked my interested. I had to see how this was gonna work out for Hannah. I found the whole story to be an enjoyable one, quite different then other vampire novels. I loved the good vs. evil pull to the story. Forsaken has a wonderfully gothic feel to it. Filled with everyday life of the Amish, but suspenseful as well. Hannah's story definitely takes a different turn, that is fresh and new. If you are looking for a different type of vampire story, you might want to give this book a go.