Plain Jayne by Hillary Manton Lodge

Jayne Tate is a staff reporter writing for the "Oregonian" newspaper and residing in Portland, Oregon. When her boss calls her into his office, she is sure is getting the prime assignment to go to Miami. Instead she is told her work is slipping, too many rewrites, and he suggests she take a few weeks of vacation to get her act together. He has given the assignment to another reporter. Her father has recently passed away and her boss thinks she is still grieving. Jayne know this is not true. She is estranged from her family and has been for some time. However, she keeps quiet - he can believe what he wants. Jayne is devastated about missing out on the assignment though - what will she do with all that time? She can't relax on the weekends let alone for three weeks.

Jayne is a motorcycle riding gal. She owns a 2008 Triumph Bonneville. She fires up her bike and goes for a ride to clear her mind. She doesn't get far - she spots a bookstore and stops to browse. A magazine catches her eye - there is an article about the Amish. She buys the magazine and returns home. An idea - there is a story, here, or maybe a series, and she is the one to write it, proving to her boss she is still his best reporter. The Internet reveals an Amish community just outside of Albany.

Jayne tells her friends and boyfriend what she plans to do, cranks up her Triumph and starts out for the adventure of her life. Reaching Albany she picks the name Levi Burkholder, an Amish carpenter and owner of his own business, out of the phone book. Making contact with Levi, she tells him she is a reporter and wants to do a story on the Amish people. She wants to stay with an Amish family to learn their ways.

Levi is clearly smitten by Jayne and takes her to an Amish family who agrees to let her stay for a few weeks. Jayne is unaware this is Levi's family. He left home before being baptized into the faith, wanting something more than what the Amish community could provide. Wanting to be closer to his family, he left the corporate world, returning to Albany and started his carpentry business. He has kept in touch with his mother, but is shunned by his father who won't even speak to him. The longer Jayne stays with the family, the more she is convinced the plain and simply life of the Amish is for her. Maybe she should try to reconnect with her family. Perhaps they didn't hate her or blame her for all the problems.

I highly recommend you read the book to learn Jayne's fate. Does she become Amish? How does her boyfriend fit into her new life style? Does she cultivate a relationship with Levi? Does she reconcile with her family? Readers will thoroughly enjoy their journey with Jayne - a tea drinking, motorcycle rider determined to prove to her boss that she is still his best reporter.

Ms. Lodge is an excellent writer of romance fiction. She has a firm grasp of the Amish community and their beliefs. The book is certainly an eye-opener and one you will find hard to put down.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.