Christmas Amish Fiction

Nicole Lantz’s life is filled with questions. At 19, she’s on the precipice of adulthood in her small Amish community: baptism, marriage, children, life as a homemaker on an Amish farm. And at the same time, her growing friendship with Englischer Viviana Holt is showing her glimpses of a whole different world. A world that grows increasingly alluring as Christmas draws near and Viviana’s gift sparks disapproval from her parents and Hamish, the young man who is courting Nicole.

Caleb Ebersole listens to his dying grandfather’s words in utter shock. The buggy shop is to be left to his brother Ephraim? Caleb is the one who has given his heart and all his energy to the shop. Caleb is the one who helped his grandfather run the store for years. His brother couldn’t care less about the shop. And to make matters worse, Caleb’s grandfather asks him to school his brother in the running of the business.

Join the Hochstetler twin sisters on stage as they bumble their way through baking a cake for a charity auction in front of a live audience. The take-charge Elma and the klutzy optimist Thelma manage to entertain their audience - and attract the admiration of two bachelors, an outspoken woodworker and a shy harness maker from a neighboring Amish community. As fall leads into the Christmas season, could romance be blossoming for one or more of the Hochstetler twins?

After a year of secrets and scandal, will this Amish community finally find peace under the bright promise of Christmas? Beth Byler has a secret. Ever since she met Englischer Chris Ellis while helping out at the Yellow Bird Inn, she can't stop thinking about him. She knows a relationship could never go anywhere Chris was working undercover in Crittenden County as a DEA agent. That meant he faced danger daily and carried a gun, making him completely unsuitable for an Amish woman like herself.

When Rebecca Vanderhall discovers her fate has been sealed, she has two choices: Embrace it or fight against it…and run. The only way out of the arranged marriage to a cruel man who is far too much like her father is to find her match as a mail-order bride. With courage, Becky sets out on a long journey to Shadow Gulch, Idaho, where she’ll meet the man she’s to marry. But she can’t leave her poor, defenseless mother to face her father’s wrath alone, and so tricks her mother into accompanying her.

Unlike most women her age, Linda Shrock has no plans to get married - ever. When her sister Ruth has baby number five in six years, Linda goes to stay with them. The infant can’t keep her food down and cries constantly, and Ruth’s husband’s furniture-making business is struggling - not the makings for a merry Christmas. And the Weavers’ hired hand, Luke Troyer, seems determined to disrupt Linda’s carefully made plans to live her life out as a spinster. She tries to fight the intense attraction that pulls her and Luke together.

Blanche Weaver’s life falls apart when her husband Andy is killed in a tragic accident. Now widowed with four children, she has no idea how she’ll survive. With winter upon them and Christmas approaching quickly, she manages to get hired at the factory where Andy worked. Blanche’s eldest daughter, at only 10 years old, is tasked with watching her younger siblings. Just when Blanche is about to despair, Jonas Eicher, the local toymaker, intervenes. Blanche doesn’t know what to make of this kind, quiet man who seems to instinctively know what she and her children need.

Frannie knows her parents have the best of intentions when they send her back to Bee County, Texas, to live with her aunt Abigail and her husband, Mordecai. After all, she knows nothing can come of a relationship with Rocky, the handsome but English farmer boy back in Missouri. It's best to put those feelings aside, no matter how hard it is. But all bets are off when Rocky follows Frannie to Texas to plead his case. Could he be the Christmas gift to end all gifts?

Kathryn Wittner has made a mess of everything. Her father calls her disobedient, rebellious, and even evil. Kathryn supposes he’s right and isn’t surprised when she’s banished from the house before Christmas. Help comes to Kathryn through a totally unexpected, and at first, totally unwanted, friendship with a Mennonite man. Isaiah shows her a truth she’s never before seen or experienced. Soon, she is rethinking her complete rejection of God and her Amish roots. But she fears she’s too late. Is there truly hope for her this Christmas?

Twenty-year-old Ruth Stutzman is a wonderful caregiver - but she has no experience with children. Laid off because of budget cuts from her job at a retirement home, she's relieved to find work - even if it means temporarily watching widower Martin Rhodes's brood of six! Martin has been doing his best since his wife's passing, but he and the children need help. Their house, once full of laughter and light, has been darkened by sadness. .

Englischer Marcy Sutton flees her home in Ohio when problems caused by her husband Scott’s gambling addiction wreak havoc. She takes her two young children to stay at a friend’s lakeside cabin in Indiana, but on the way, the car breaks down, and they are stranded in a blizzard. Marcy and her children seek shelter with Hester and Gideon’s Amish family, whose simple way of life reminds Marcy of the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Florence Glick has devoted her life to taking care of her injured, widowed sister and her four children. When a mysterious neighbor moves into the abandoned Yoder farm next door, Florence’s interest is piqued. Philip Lehman seems to always be in the right place at the right time to help them, but there is something odd going on. Something he’s not revealing. Something that makes his behavior confusing. As Florence falls for him, she yearns to know his secret.

Becky Kauffman loves her nanny job. Little Tommy Bookman is a charmer, with his toothy grin and mischievous eyes. His father, Englischer Travis Bookman, is also a charmer - something Becky tries her best to ignore. However, it is hard to ignore her handsome boss, who seems to appreciate her for more than the excellent care of his son. But there is Daniel Flaud, her Amish friend, who is intent on courting her. When things come to a head during a Sunday preaching service, Becky discovers where her love truly lies. But has she burned bridges beyond repair?

Doris Glick’s Amish beau was convicted of car theft and is in prison. Her parents are distressed about their relationship; indeed, the entire district is upset with Jordan. But Doris is undeterred. She loves Jordan Lehman and is determined to remain loyal to him. She’s sure that when they hear the complete story of what happened, everything will be cleared up. She only prays Jordan will be released by Christmas. After all, isn’t Christmas the time to be together?

Kirsten Bergman, writer for Harrisburg Magazine, is busy checking off the boxes on her Christmas lists. Her boss and secret crush, Richard Collins, unexpectedly assigns her to a story in Amish country, which seems like he’s setting her up for failure. But is he actually giving her the greatest gift of all?

Abigail and her grandfather have always enjoyed a special relationship. Especially at Christmas time on their farm in Ohio. Until this year. This year, something is wrong with Abigail's beloved grandpa. He will not eat, he will not drink, he will not rise from his bed. He only wants to die. Abigail and her family and the doctors are unable to do anything to bring him around.

Nineteen-year-old Amish schoolteacher Eliza Frey is in love with longtime family friend Andy Clymer - but Andy has no clue. He makes that perfectly clear when he asks Eliza for advice about dating two different women, so he can decide which one to marry, and he’d like to be wed by Christmas.