Amish Fiction

Spirited, forthright, impulsive—everyone told Greta Eicher she'd have to change her ways if she ever hoped to marry. Then her best friend Calvin, the man she thought she would wed, chooses another woman. Now Greta's wondering if the others were right all along. Noah knows it's time to think about finding a wife. When Greta offers to play matchmaker on his behalf, Noah eagerly accepts. After all, no one knows his children better. But none of the women she suggests seem right, because, unexpectedly, his feelings of respect and friendship for Greta have grown into something deeper.

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.

One moment Ben Miller was high up in the rafters at his neighbor's barn raising. The next his foot slipped, and he plunged to his death, leaving behind a young wife and six children - the youngest born four months after his death. Ruth Miller is not alone. Her Amish neighbors help her to make the difficult transition from wife to widow. But while the community has been generous, raising six growing children, all grieving their father's death, is overwhelming.

Simon can't stop thinking about the pretty Amish teacher at the local one-room school. But he's ignored the sparks between them because he's so shy. So Simon's little brother, Isaac, takes matters into his own hands. He's determined to give his brother the best Christmas present ever - a date with his favorite teacher. Amish novelist Byler brings her tender humor and skillful observation of family relationships to this holiday story.

Essie Lapp's birthday is doubly blessed. There's a delicious meal to savor with her family, and the sweet gift of time spent with her beau, Harlan. Over two years they've forged a bond as strong and hopeful as a tree reaching for the sky. To practical-minded Essie, there's comfort in knowing exactly what her future will bring. Yet Gott has his plan, and it soon turns her family's world upside down....

Edna's friend, Verna Bontrager, has a problem. Her outspoken 20-year-old daughter, Myrna, has been fired from her job. Again. Myrna's family really needs her to chip in, but she's clearly unsuited to customer service - not to mention that her sharp tongue scares away any boy who might come courting. But Edna has an idea - and his name is Ezekiel Riehl.

Twenty-year-old Ariana Brenneman loves her family and the Old Ways. She has two aspirations: open a café in historic Summer Grove to help support her family's ever-expanding brood and keep any other Amish from being lured into the Englisch life by Quill Schlabach. Five years ago Quill and her dear friend, Frieda, ran off together, and Ariana still carries the wounds of that betrayal. When she unexpectedly encounters him, she soon realizes he has plans to help someone else she loves leave the Amish.

Starting over in a new Amish community after suffering terrible heartbreak has been going good for Jonah Miller, until his heart takes another terrible hit. Elaine Schrock loves Jonah, but she feels she must dedicate herself to taking care of her grandmother. Jonah doesn't know if he can risk loving a third time.

A Christy Award winner, New York Times best-selling author Beverly Lewis has garnered acclaim as the queen of Amish fiction. The Thorn begins her Rose Trilogy, the stirring saga of two Amish sisters on the fringes of the church—and the unforeseen discoveries that change their lives.... Rose Kauffman finds herself growing closer to the bishop’s foster son despite the warnings of her older sister, who knows more than she should about falling for the wrong man.

To most townsfolk, he's known simply as The Beast. Annabelle Beiler has little interest in gossip, but she's heard about Adam Herschberger's scars and his gruff, solitary ways. Though he sounds like a character from one of Belle's treasured books, the man is real and, it turns out, just as unreasonable as the rumors claim. When a buggy accident wipes out the last of her daed's money, forcing him to sell their farm, Adam buys it. Then he offers Belle a deal - marry him, and her family can keep their home.

Addie Byler may be Apple Creek's resident wallflower, but she knows she has a lot to offer—and much to be grateful for. Raised by her loving grandmother, she lives a life filled with good friends and hard work. Wary of romance, Addie assumes no man will look beyond her glasses and her tendency to talk to her rescue donkey, Snickers—until the day she finds a note from a secret admirer. A prank, most likely. But then, a second note arrives . . .

For Amish widower Phillip Baker, providing for his family in the wake of his wife's death means back-breaking work and renewed dedication to his faith. Still, his strength can't help him relate to his little son's struggles. It seems a godsend when new doctor Emily White is able to treat Gabe's shyness and fear even as she helps heal him. But no matter how strongly Phillip is drawn to the caring Englisher from the city, their differences may be too great to overcome....

With his orphaned nephew depending on him, Amish carpenter Eli Troyer moves to Harmony Creek Hollow to start over. And when schoolteacher Miriam Hartz offers to teach Eli, who is hard of hearing, how to read lips, he can’t refuse. Spending time with Miriam forges a bond between them. Can two wounded hearts overcome their pasts to make a family together?

Housed in a rustic red barn, the Simple Gifts crafts shop celebrates the talents of the Amish of Willow Ridge and the faith that inspires them. For the acceptance of simplicity opens the path to love. As far as Edith Riehl is concerned, the baby twins thrust suddenly into her arms are a heaven-sent gift. Unable to conceive, she longs to be a mother with a home of her own.

Sadie may be married now, but she's as spirited as ever, and her life is no less tame. In fact, soon after she and Mark are settled into the farmhouse Mark is renovating, she's visited by three FBI agents who question her about the two children who mysteriously appeared one day at the ranch. Before the agents leave, they warn Sadie that her beloved horse, Paris, is highly valuable, and that she and Mark may be in grave danger because of Paris.

As Amish widow Emma Yoder contemplates the task ahead, her thoughts center on one: What if she fails? Longing to remove a burden from her family by becoming self-sufficient, Emma has offered to hold quilting classes in her home. But when she sees the patchwork of faces assembled for the first lesson, her confidence dwindles as doubt threatens to take hold.

When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home on Juneberry Lane in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they're looking for peace. Joel's recently returned from Iraq and is recuperating, and Shani is just happy to have her family back together. They can't imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son accidently hurts Simon, one of the Lehman boys.

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.

Katie Stuckey and Jonas Weaver are both romantics. Seventeen-year-old Katie is starry-eyed, in love with the idea of being in love, and does not want to wait to marry Jonas until she is 18, despite her parents' insistence. So much can happen in a year. Twenty-year-old Jonas is taken in by the romance of soldiering, especially in defense of anti-slavery, even though he knows war is at odds with the teachings of the church. When his married brother's name comes up in the draft list, he volunteers to take his brother's place. 

The setting is the beginning of an Amish settlement in colonial America in the forests of eastern Pennsylvania. There, a young Amish couple, Hans and Kate Zug, are in their ninth year of marriage, still waiting to have a child. Then, one April morning, Kate finds a Native infant, wrapped in deerskin and placed next to the spring where she went to fill her water bucket.