Amish Fiction

Chris Matlock, a wounded and weary ex-soldier, just wants peace in his life, and he believes he's found it when he visits Matthew and Jenny Bontrager. He envies their happiness and simple life but doesn't believe that life is meant for him. When he meets Matthew's sister, Hannah, a small spark of hope flares within him. Despite the clash of cultures between the former military man and the pacifist Amish woman, Chris and Hannah fall in love.

War correspondent Jennie King thinks she's just a temporary guest in her grandmother's Amish community while she recuperates from the devastating injuries sustained in a car-bomb attack that changed her world. But when she meets Matthew Bontrager, the man she had a crush on as a teenager, she wonders if God has a new plan for her.

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.

Shy, skittish Rose Christner is more comfortable tending to the beehives on the family farm and keeping her aunt's unruly cats in line than attending social gatherings with the rest of the die youngie. A childhood trauma and secret shame keep her heart under lock and key, and Rose just cannot accept the sweet attention she's receiving from a handsome neighbor. But the more she shies away from Josiah Yoder, the more their families sneakily plot to bring them together.

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.

Miriam Raber enjoys life in her Old Order Amish community, and she is hopeful that Saul Fisher will propose to her soon. But when Saul starts talking about leaving the only world either of them has ever known, Miriam imagines what her life might look like as an Englischer. One thing she knows for certain, she loves Saul and feels he’s the one God has chosen for her. But Saul’s indecision has come at an inconvenient time, as Miriam is noticing advances from Jesse Dienner, a man she went to school with and who wants to marry.

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 . . .

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.

As Promise Lodge's first wedding arrives, the evidence of a community building a foundation for the future is a cause for celebration. But the bishop's narrow-minded wedding sermon doesn't sit well with the Bender sisters, the town's courageous founders, especially widowed Mattie Schwartz. She believes marriage and family aren't the most important of God's gifts - even if she suspects her tender feelings for Preacher Amos Troyer run deeper than simple friendship.

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?

Daisy's worried one of her employees at Daisy's Tea Garden may be in a spot of trouble. Lately Karina's been loading up on soup and second-day baked goods at the end of her shift - and while the shop's scrumptious treats may be hard to resist, Daisy suspects there's more going on, especially since Karina has been seen hanging out in a rundown part of Willow Creek. Planning her own daughter's wedding is enough to keep her busy, but Daisy can't help feeling a protective maternal instinct - and an instinct to investigate.

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.

The Cramers and Mosiers have been angry with each other for as long as anyone can remember. Things had cooled to a simmer... until Addie Cramer and Jonathan Mosier fell head over heels for each other. Now old tensions are renewed, and Addie's parents insist she marry stolid and uninspiring Phillip Eicher. Distraught at a future apart, the two decide their best hope is to reconcile the two families... but that means digging into the past to see what tore them apart. Will their love be enough to keep them together or will long-held secrets ruin their chance at happiness?

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?

Doretta Schwartz used to be so happy and passed her positive attitude along to friends in several letters she wrote each month. But that all changed the day she learned of her fiancé’s death and a heavy weight of depression fell upon her. Feeling empty, she puts away her letter writing and won’t even respond to calls from friends. William’s twin brother, Warren, is also grieving his loss, while at the same time, trying to be supportive to his parents and Doretta. Doretta responds to Warren’s friendship, but is he just becoming a replacement for the once-in-a-lifetime love she lost?