Amish Fiction

Though Cassie Coblenz left her Amish community to go to college, her mother and father's farm will always feel like home. It's the ideal place for an extended study break - at least until her grandmother's handsome Englisch doctor becomes a regular distraction. Zach Reynolds is the kind of heartbreaker Cassie has learned to avoid, no matter how charming he may be.

Lorie Kauffman is grief stricken when her father passes away unexpectedly. But her heartache quickly turns to bewilderment when she discovers that he had been leading two lives - one of simplicity and hard work in Wells Landing and one fraught with painful ordeals in Tulsa. As she starts digging into her family's past, Lorie finds that she's no longer certain where she belongs. Lorie knows that if she leaves Wells Landing, she may never be able to return.

What would cause the Amish to move to Colorado, leaving family and friends behind? Some Amish are making the trek for cheaper land. Others are fleeing strict bishops with long memories. For Emily Detweiler and her family, the move is more personal. Tragedy struck Emily in Ohio, shaking loose everything she believed was firm, including her faith. Her family took the bold step of leaving Ohio to resettle in a small Amish community in Canaan, Colorado, where they hope the distance will help erase painful memories.

Collette Yoder's path hasn't been easy since her husband abandoned her—and she recovered from a near-fatal injury. But now-widowed, she feels blessed to provide for her children, especially when her new job means helping the also newly widowed Bishop Aaron Troyer straighten out his too-busy life. She simply won't let herself hope too much that their friendship could blossom into much, much more . . .

Aaron Ebersol left the Amish community 17 years ago when he could no longer bear the restrictions or the constant tension with his father. Despite years of unanswered letters to his parents and the roots he's put down in Missouri, Aaron rushes back to the Amish community of Paradise, Pennsylvania, after receiving word of his mother's stroke. Hesitant to get too close to the family he was once a part of, he decides to stay at the Heart of Paradise Bed & Breakfast. Talking with Linda allows him to explore his feelings about his family and his position in the Amish community.

Amanda Dienner hasn't spoken a word to her Old Order mother or twin sister in five years when she receives word that her mother has passed away and left her Lancaster County's most popular Amish bed-and-breakfast. Now an Englisher, Mandy is shocked: Her sister should have been the obvious choice! But because this is all her controlling mother's doing, of course there's a catch, and Mandy soon learns that the farmhouse inn will only truly be hers if she is able to successfully run it for one year.

Mary Anne Neuenschwander knows she should be content with what Gotte has given her. She has a comfortable house, a fruitful farm, and a good, steady husband. But after nearly six years of marriage, she still longs for a baby. Yet her husband, Jethro, seems to care more about fishing than about his wife. Unable to bear Jethro's indifference, Mary Anne moves into a tent in the woods where he won't have to be bothered.

It's autumn in Painters Mill, and Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti are taking a much-needed vacation at a small bed and breakfast an hour outside of town. After closing a difficult case, they're looking forward to some down time, but their relaxation is cut short by rumors that the old house where they're staying is haunted by a girl who disappeared twenty years earlier, leaving nothing behind but some bloody clothes by the river and rumors of a volatile relationship.

Welcome to Apple Creek, Ohio, where piano teacher and artist, Andrea Wagner, has a fascination with painting the rural Amish landscapes around her home. She has made it to her thirties feeling like she has had a charmed life and finally has fallen in love with Brandon Prentice, a local veterinarian. But then she discovers she was adopted and all she thought she knew about herself has crumbled. Andrea becomes so fixated on finding her birth mother that she pushes Brandon away, so she writes to the newspaper column for romance advice. What will Andrea lose before she finds herself again?

As May settles into family life, she has so much to be grateful for. Yes, there are plenty of challenges as she continues to heal from the demons of her past, but her loving husband and sweet children are the greatest earthly gift she could ask for. And having Oba in their home is almost more precious than she could have imagined . . . at least, if it weren't for his ongoing anger and hardness of heart. May's children are steadily growing older, and eventually they begin to face relationship struggles of their own. Can May help them navigate the turbulent waters of young love?

It's autumn in Painter's Mill, and 14-year-old Katie Burkholder has been tasked with picking apples in Zimmerman's Orchard with her brother. It's just another day filled with chores - until her best friend, Mattie, arrives to help. Somehow boredom transforms into fun and games whenever the girls are together. The innocent fun comes to an end when Billy Marquardt and his gang of friends interrupt. Katie is no prude, but she knows better than to associate with the older English boys.

The mother of 10 and a widow of seven years, Mary Katherine is a bundle of energy, always willing to step in and help her friends around her Amish community. Now that her last child is married, she pours her abundant creative spirit into writing stories, even as she speaks aloud to her late husband every day. Her dream is to open a bookstore with an English friend, but the church elders want her to work in an Amish-owned store instead. When her old school friend Ezekiel offers her a position as a cook in the restaurant he opened after his wife died, she knows she should accept.

Making rugs for Simple Gifts has taught Loretta Riehl that an unassuming pattern can reveal surprising depth. People, too, have a way of defying first impressions. Drew Detweiler came to Willow Ridge under a cloud, but the handsome craftsman has gained the community's respect for his upholstery skills and commitment to making amends for his mistakes. As her new brother-in-law's twin, he's joining the family for dinners and Sunday visits at the Riehl house, and Loretta can't deny enjoying his attentions.

A student at heart, Ruth is finally a teacher at the Amish schoolhouse. But after her first day, she wonders if she's made a mistake. The students want nothing to do with learning. Deflated, she makes a promise to herself to not give up - not yet.

Anna was once betrayed by someone she loved deeply. In an attempt to never be hurt again, she and her mother relocated to Middlefield, Ohio. It was the ideal place for Anna's broken heart to mend. In Middlefield, Anna withdrew from risk, placing all her attention on managing the new gift shop she and her mom bought. When Lukas introduces himself, Anna can't resist her attraction to him. Though she finds herself falling in love, she's hiding a piece of her past in fear that their future will be destroyed if she tells him the truth.

A solitary sort, 42-year-old Atle Petersheim spends his time hard at work in his wood shop. But as the days get longer, he realizes just how lonely he’s become. When his longtime crush, Sadie Mast, a widow and mother of three, asks him to help her build a room in their barn for her son, Atle can’t say no. Eager to pursue Sadie at last, he turns to bookmobile librarian Sarah Anne Miller for courting advice. More than happy to help, Sarah Anne decides the best way to learn about love is through books - romance novels, to be precise.

In just a few short months, Moriah Miller's perfect life unravels. Newly wed and newly pregnant, Moriah is abandoned by her husband, Levi. He's left her, his family, and their faith without a backward glance. The community, stunned, rushes to the young woman's aid. But there is someone who feels more than just sympathy for Moriah. Gabriel Miller - Levi's twin - longs for an intimate commitment that might someday bind them to one another. Convinced of the impossibility of his dream, Gabriel settles for a mere friendship with the woman he loves.

Lillian's first 27 years have been challenging at best. Her decision to get reacquainted with her Amish grandparents in Lancaster County, PA, is an attempt at finding peace in a complicated world. But her plan has a flaw.... Lillian is practicing the Amish lifestyle with no real understanding or relationship with God. And despite her best efforts, complications arise when she takes a fancy to Amish widower Samuel Stoltzfus who has an 11-year-old son, David.

In this electrifying thriller by New York Times best seller Linda Castillo, Kate Burkholder must uncover a family's long-hidden past to solve a brutal murder. When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones - and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident, and Kate finds herself plunged into a 30-year-old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged.

Amish-raised Ada Rupp knows it’s time to make a commitment to the faith and join the church, especially if she wants a future with the handsome Amish widower Will Gundy. But when she has the chance to travel to Switzerland as the caregiver of a young child, she leaps at the opportunity.