Amish Fiction

Snow is falling, cookies are baking, and Christmas is just around the corner in Willow Ridge, Missouri, where a new season marks fresh beginnings for the residents of the tranquil Amish town. As another year draws to a close in Willow Ridge, life seems to be changing for everyone but Rhoda Lantz. Her widowed mother is about to remarry, her sister is a busy newlywed, and soon Rhoda will be alone in her cozy apartment above the blacksmith's shop.

Born a Native American but brought up Amish, Hester Zug, at age 20, flees her Amish home. Her father's too-tender care of her has made her stepmother wildly jealous, and so Hester sets off, knowing only that she can't stay. Hester's natural instincts for navigating the forests in colonial Pennsylvania, along with the book of medicines and remedies given to her by an aged Native American woman, allow her to survive until she gets sick from drinking river water.

It isn't that Lizzie doesn't want to stay Amish. It's just that there is so much to figure out. Like why can't she let her hair a little looser on top? And why can't she wear shoes with a little bit more of a heel? And will she ever really just know for a fact who she is going to marry, like her next-older sister, Emma, does? And how does it happen that her just-younger sister, Mandy, is going on a date before Lizzie ever has a real one?

Someone is shooting horses, and Sadie is determined to find out who it is. That is until she begins to suspect that Mark, her boyfriend, may be involved. Will Sadie discover the truth? Will it be too hard to bear?

The Amish community of Lancaster is being terrorized by barn fires. David and Malinda Beiler's barn was the first to go. The clues are sparse, but Levi, the Beilers' oldest son, happened to be awake in the middle of the night and spotted a white vehicle driving past the house with its lights off. Sarah, David and Malinda's daughter, observes her parents' agony. Not only is she afraid and wishing she could protect her parents, she's entranced by the flirtatious Matthew Stoltzfus.

Tourist season is approaching, and the Edna is busier than ever, between baking with her Amish Cookie Club friends and running her business serving meals to Englische tourists. You wouldn't think she'd have time for matchmaking....

Heidi King was one woman who needed a miracle. She left the Amish community years ago and built a life for herself as a successful New York City realtor. Loneliness and regret cause her to cry out to God. Heidi wakes the next morning to the life she would've had if she'd stayed in the Amish community and married Derek, her old Amish love.

At thirty-two, Ada Yoder is resigned to caring for her three sisters, her ever-impractical father, and their prosperous, but demanding, farm. The last kind of trouble she needs is Enos Hoover claiming that six acres of their land actually belongs to him—and taking steps to prove it. But Ada soon finds that battling Enos's clever strategies is delightfully intriguing—and lighting an impossible spark.

Summer has come to Willow Ridge, and Rachel Lantz is looking forward to a whole new season in her life as well - marriage to strapping carpenter Micah Brenneman, her childhood sweetheart. But when a strange Englisher arrives in the café claiming to be the long-lost sister of Rachel and her twin Rhoda, Rachel feels the sturdy foundation of her future crumbling - including Micah's steadfast love.

On the eve of Katie's wedding to widower Bishop John, startling news staggers out of her anguished parents, and nothing prepares Katie for the devastation their confession brings. Feeling betrayed, Katie watches as the only life she has ever known begins to unravel, leaving in its wake a furrow of pain and a future of hope.

Handsome, hardworking, and godly, Andrew Petersheim has always been sure of his place in his Wisconsin Amish community. He'll be a welcome catch for the local girl who finally captures his heart. Mary Coblenz certainly isn't that girl. Two years after "jumping the fence" for the Englischer world, she's returned, unmarried and pregnant. Yet instead of hiding in shame as others in the community expect, she's working at the Honeybee Farm, ignoring the gossips - and winning over Andrew's eight-year-old twin brothers....

Once, Leah Riehl prayed for a husband. The man she loved chose another, wanting the children Leah can't provide. But she's found a measure of peace, keeping house for her brother, Simon, and teaching in a nearby town. Now though, Simon's debts to an Englisher gambling ring have left Leah with a desperate dilemma - and a surprising offer from her scarred, reclusive neighbor. Jebadiah King needs to marry in order to claim his family farm. A union, for appearances only, will help them both.

The sun rises on a quiet June morning in 2009. August Epp sits alone in the hayloft of a barn, anxiously bent over his notebook. Eight women - ordinary grandmothers, mothers, and teenagers; yet to August, each one extraordinary - will climb the ladder into the loft, and the day's true task will begin. This task will be both simple and subversive: August, like the women, is a traditional Mennonite, and he has been asked to record a secret conversation. They have 48 hours to make a life-altering choice on behalf of all the women and children in the colony.

Number-one best-selling author Leslie Gould delivers a new Amish romance series. When Amish farmer Pete Treger moves to Paradise Township, Pennsylvania, seeking a better life, he meets sisters Cate and Betsy Miller. Both are beautiful, but older sister Cate is known more for her sharp tongue and fiery temper than her striking appearance. Betsy, on the other hand, is sweet and flirty - and seems to have attracted most of the bachelors in Lancaster County! However, the sisters' wealthy father has made one hard and fast rule: Elder sister must marry first, before the younger can even start courting.

Restaurant critic Derek Schumaker, notorious for his bitter reviews, is about to visit Daisy's Tea Garden, and Daisy and Aunt Iris are simmering with anxiety. A bad word from the culinary curmudgeon could really hurt their business. But how can he resist her cucumber sandwiches with pimento spread - not to mention the cheesy cauliflower soup and strawberry walnut salad? Schumaker takes a to-go order when the afternoon tea service is done, which Daisy hopes is a good sign. But when he perishes from a seizure, it looks like his food was dosed with something deadly.

Four Amish novellas: Noel Fisher can make entire villages out of gingerbread; why won't she make a few dozen gingerbread cookies for Hunter Darcy? When a widowed, Englisher, Hunter Darcy, asks Noel, an Amish woman, to make a couple of dozen gingerbread cookies for his daughter's class at school, he gets more than he bargained for. Two brothers find romance during Amish wedding season. Meet the Darcy brothers; two modern-day heroes who just happen to be the most sought-after bachelors in town. One visit to the local bakery opens the door for some sweet romance.

The tranquil little town of Willow Ridge is facing a startling challenge. Wealthy Nora Glick Landwehr is determined to make it her home again - and put her past to rest. Cast out by her own family, Nora can't reconcile with old Amish ways or her strict father. But she'll do anything to help her community embrace the future and to and make amends to the daughter she had to give up. So she certainly has no time for her reckless new neighbor, Luke Hooley. They disagree about almost everything.

From best-selling authors in the Amish genre come four delicious stories perfect for celebrating love, joy, and the holiday season. "Cookies and Cheer" by Amy Clipston: Alyssa Byler wants to build a sugar cookie nativity scene for her bakery’s Christmas window display - all she needs is the right cookie cutters. She turns to handsome blacksmith Kyle Smoker.

Esther's distant cousin, widower Menno Eicher, needs to be hard-headed and practical. Swamped by family and farm responsibilities, he must find the perfect wife as quickly as possible, so he's shown up in Colorado—with "finding a wife" on his To-Do list! Esther's community has many women who could match his ever-growing requirements. Yet after a chance meeting, Menno keeps coming back to baker Joanna Yoder. Hard-working, honest, and forthright, she's distracting Menno from his search, opening his heart—but refuses to believe he's falling hopelessly in love with her . . .

At age 20, Jessica Bachman left her two beloved sisters and her Amish community after clashing with the new bishop about her role in the family and the future of their farm. She tried to convince Silas Kemp, who'd been courting her for two years, to join her, but when he said no, she fled anyway. Three years later, she returns home for the first time since leaving Lancaster to attend her father's funeral. Her arrival back revives all sorts of emotions - yearnings and sorrows alike.