Showing titles in Amish & Mennonite

In 1737, Anna Konig and her fellow church members stagger off a small wooden ship after 10 weeks at sea, eager to start a new life in the vibrant but raw Pennsylvania frontier. On the docks of Port Philadelphia waits bishop Jacob Bauer, founder of the settlement and father to ship carpenter Bairn. It's a time of new beginnings for the reunited Bauer family, and for Anna and Bairn's shipboard romance to blossom. But this perfect moment cannot last.

In The Shunning, beautiful 22-year-old Katie Lapp longs to experience the forbidden things of the outside world, even while she is making plans to forever embrace the traditions of her people. In a few days, Katie will marry Bishop John, a widower with five young children. She should be excited, but instead she feels trapped. Her thoughts in turmoil, she heads to the attic to be alone. As she explores a dusty trunk, she discovers a satin infant gown, much too fancy for an Amish baby.

Gregarious Rose Lehman, who's always the life of the Amish youth singings, is determined to marry the bishop's son, Reuben Byler - until the handsome Army buddy of her future brother-in-law shows up in Lancaster County. In comparison to Trevor, Reuben seems downright boring. Trevor shares Rose's sense of fun and adventure, and her easygoing disposition. When her sister Lila's buggy is rear-ended and Lila is horribly injured, Rose finds herself with more freedom than she's ever experienced.

Abram Lapp believes he could love his neighbor forever, but Rachel Ann is enjoying her Rumschpringe, exploring Englisch life with a very Englisch boy named Michael. As Abram watches Rachel Ann stray from the life he had hoped for them, he regrets not telling her that his feelings for her have deepened. Rachel Ann loves the freedom she has away from the familiar Amish rules and responsibilities. But when tragedy strikes and her brother is critically wounded in an accident, she begins to feel a pull toward home.

From the streets of Danang, Vietnam, where a boy falls in with a young American missionary, to fishermen lost off the islands of Honduras, to the Canadian prairies, where a teenage boys infatuation reveals his naiveté and an aging rancher finds himself smitten, the short stories in Here the Dark explore the spaces between doubt and belief, evil and good, obscurity and light. 

When wild child Sophie Deiner - the daughter of an Amish bishop - is forced to return to Nappanee, Indiana, quilt-shop owner Jane Berger is one of only a few who welcome her back. It’s the last place she wants to be, but Sophie’s recent illness requires that she lay low for a while. As Sophie recovers, she befriends a group of migrant workers and is appalled when one of them is detained and threatened with deportation. Sophie begins advocating on their behalf but soon finds herself opposed by an ex-boyfriend, who is the farm foreman.

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. 

Overwhelmed by grief and tending twin baby daughters, Rosmanda Lapp is without options. She still blames her brother-in-law, Levi, for her husband’s accidental death - but she and her aging in-laws need him to keep their farm going. Yet as Levi takes on his responsibilities with a new determination and steadiness, she can’t help but regret that she chose his serious-minded brother over him. For Levi is still very much the passionate man she loved - and Rosmanda now has even more reasons to keep him at arm’s length.... 

Leisel Bachmann left her Amish roots and beloved sisters to pursue a career in medicine without a second thought. She has an Englisch boyfriend, Nick Jordan, and dreams of a new life - but those dreams come crashing down when her sister Marie is diagnosed with cancer. Soon nothing is going as she planned - not her state boards, not her first nursing job, and certainly not her relationship with Nick. 

Outgoing and irrepressible, young Christina has her choice of suitors. But she and her practical-minded older sister, Hilda, have built a thriving life in the rugged Pennsylvania backcountry. Hilda has given up her marriage dreams as foolish - and Christina vows she'll never marry until she finds her sister a husband. So when two handsome newcomers arrive, Christina engages in a bit of secret matchmaking - with disastrous results.... 

Since losing his family in a tragic accident, building contractor Max Lambright can't seem to find purpose in anything but hard work...until he meets feisty newcomer, Willa Richards. As she struggles to make a new life for herself and her baby girl, she challenges him in just about every possible way. Dare he hope that, alongside this spirited woman, he might rekindle his lost faith, and find the path to love and the family he craves?

Cindy Riehl has watched her brothers and sister find love and happiness in Lancaster County. But as her family has settled down and grown, Cindy has continued to grieve her mother. Since that haunting day, Cindy has struggled to find peace and wonders if the community is the place for her - and if her faith in God will ever be like it once was. When one of the Riehl cows escapes to visit another cow down the lane, Cindy chases after it and meets a handsome Englisher named Drew. As they become friends and eventually much more, she is drawn further away from the Amish community.

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.

Mattie Schrock is no stranger to uprooting her life. Even as her father relocated her family from one Amish community to the next, she always managed to find a footing in their new homes. Now as the Schrock family plans to move west from Somerset County to a fledgling Amish settlement in Indiana, she looks forward to connecting with old friends who will be joining them from another Pennsylvania community - friends like Jacob Yoder, who has always held a special place in her heart. Since Mattie last saw Jacob, they've both grown into different people with different dreams.

Hannah Yoder loves her quiet life on the banks of the Conestoga Creek. In 1842, this corner of Lancaster County is settled and peaceful - yet problems lurk beneath the placid façade. Hannah's father worries about the spread of liberal ideas from their Mennonite and Brethren neighbors. And Hannah blames herself for a tragedy that struck their home nine years ago. She strives to be the one person who can bind the threads of her family together in spite of her mother's ongoing depression and her sister's rejection of their family. But her world is threatening to unravel.  

Emma Lapp tries to be the perfect daughter, to earn the loving embrace of her family and her Amish community in Pennsylvania. Yet she can't quite win her mother's smile - or her forgiveness for a transgression Emma can't quite place.... Emma knows she's a reminder of her mother's greatest sorrow, having been born on the same day Mamm lost her beloved sister. The one bright spot has been the odd trinkets anonymously left at her aunt's grave each year on Emma's birthday - gifts Emma secretly hides because they upset her parents.

Detective Abish Taylor left Utah for a reason. But with her husband’s passing, it’s time to come home. Reconnecting with her family means dealing with her past: the father she abandoned and the community she left behind. Her one escape is serving as the sole police detective in the small town of Pleasant View. But when the quiet Mormon suburb in the Wasatch Mountains is shaken by a macabre death - with the hallmarks of a sacred ritual dating back to the days of Brigham Young - Abbie is called into action. 

On her baptismal day, Becky Zook ran from the church, leaving her stunned Amish community behind. She only wanted to see something of Gott’s vast world, but city life didn’t turn out as planned. Tricked into a sham marriage, Becky has come home humbled, wiser...and pregnant. Her mamm and daed are welcoming, and helping an overburdened young widow gives Becky a new sense of purpose. But after creating such a scandal, Becky feels unworthy of a loving husband - let alone a wunderbaar man like Atlee Stauffer. 

Malinda is worried that no man would ever want to marry her because of her health issues, but Timothy is determined to ensure that she understands the true meaning of love. 

Martha Detweiler has a problem many Amish women her age would envy: She’s the only single woman in a community of young men, and they’re all competing for her favor. Overwhelmed by the unwanted attention, Martha finds herself constantly fleeing from her would-be suitors, dismayed at what her life has come to. Birch Creek’s resident matchmaker, Cevilla Schlabach, suggests a solution: Martha and the bishop’s son, Seth Yoder, should pretend they are dating.