Amish Fiction

After her husband's death, Grace Stevens returns to her family and her Amish community. She'd suffered through the challenge of an abusive marriage and wanted nothing more than to be baptized into the Amish faith and begin a new life. Grace finds it impossible to put the past behind her when Marlene, the woman who caused her to leave the community, is now living in Grace's family home and married to Grace's brother.

Convinced her illness has made her unmarriageable, Marietta wonders what kind of life she'll have if her sister marries - despite Molly's promise to never leave her behind.... Then a fire destroys the home of Amish neighbors and Molly and Marietta graciously make room for widower Glenn Detweiler, his dat, and his two young boys.

Annie Weaver always planned to return home, but the 20-year-old RN has lived in Philadelphia for three years now. Her time of rumschpringe is about to come to an abrupt end, bringing for Annie an overwhelming sense of loneliness. She returns home and finds herself face to face with a budding romance with an Amish farmer, and Annie has several important choices to make.

Mary Katherine is caught between the traditions of her faith and the pull of a different life. When Daniel, an Amish man living in Florida, arrives and shares her restlessness, Mary Katherine feels drawn to him and curious about the life he leads away from Lancaster County. But her longtime friend, Jacob, has been in love with her for years. He’s discouraged that she’s never viewed him as anything but a friend and despairs that he is about to lose Mary Katherine to this outsider.

Ever since her step-mom brought her a snow globe of the New York City skyline, Annie has wanted to visit the beautiful, big city. Since it's nearing the time of Annie's rumschpringe - the time when Amish youth experience Englisch life to make a decision whether to live in that world or become baptized into the Amish faith - the family decides a visit is a good idea.

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.

Susie Mast's Old Order life in Lancaster County's Hickory Hollow has been shaped by events beyond her control, with the tragic deaths of her Dat and close-in-age brother casting a particularly long shadow. Now 22, Susie remains unmarried despite her longtime affection for friend Obie Yoder. Believing Obie might never show romantic interest in her, Susie accepts Del Petersheim's invitations - it is only after Obie leaves to take an apprenticeship that Susie realizes her mistake.

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?

Two years ago Joseph King was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life in prison. He was a "fallen" Amish man and, according to local law enforcement, a known drug user with a violent temper. Now King has escaped, and he’s headed for Painters Mill. News of a murderer on the loose travels like wildfire and putting Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her team of officers on edge. A nightmare scenario becomes reality when King shows up with a gun and kidnaps his five children from their Amish uncle’s house. He’s armed and desperate with nothing left to lose.

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?

Petunia Yoder is Blueberry, Pennsylvania’s youngest old maid, at twenty-two years of age, and is completely unmarriageable. But she’s determined to celebrate her friends’ weddings with joy and a full heart. Unfortunately, Petunia’s best friend, Eden Beiler, is playing a dangerous game with a man who is ruining her reputation. Ike Smoker is the community’s ice man—the one who cuts, stores, and sells the ice—and when Petunia discovers him dead with an ice pick in his chest, Eden is found on the scene with blood on her hands.

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.