A quartet of top-notch Amish fiction authors, Beth
Wiseman, Tricia Goyer, Kathleen Fuller, and Ruth Reid, present four delightfully
romantic Christmas-themed novellas in An Amish Second Christmas
(Thomas Nelson). Each novella is
captivating with a full story told, including joyous happy endings making An
Amish Second Christmas perfect for a warm and comfy read during the cold months
of winter.
The first novella is A Season of Hope
by Beth Wiseman which tells the tale of newly widowed Katherine living in
Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania with four children having difficulty handling their
dad’s death. Her oldest, Mary Carol, is 18-years-old, still in her
Rumschpringe, and dating Abe. Abe is having trouble keeping his ardor for Mary
Carol under control. The youngest, 5-year-old Gideon is drawing on the walls of
his room to try to express his grief. What appears to be a homeless man is
following Katherine around town but is it possible that this confused, elderly
man has the answers to all their problems?
Next up is Her Christmas Pen Pal
by Ruth Reid. Joy is a young Amish woman who has taken on the job of running
her family’s bakery in Sugarcreek, Ohio after her parents perished in a
fire.She has been waiting for her
special friend, Henry, to propose but Henry seems to have lost interest in Joy
and has turned his head towards his previous girlfriend, Priscilla, the
bishop’s daughter. Joy mails her cousin a letter and cookies explaining her
heartache. The package arrives at the wrong house but the young Amish man, Noah,
who receives the package, decides to write Joy back and a pen pal relationship
ensues. Can Joy’s pen pal help her see Henry for who he really is?
The third novella is A Gift for Anne Marie
by Kathleen Fuller. This charming story takes place in Paradise, Pennsylvania
with Anne Marie, 20 years old, waiting for her friend, Nathaniel, who is also
20, to arrive to play board games. Anne Marie never thought of Nathaniel in a
romantic way until her friend Ruth asked her to put in a good word for her with
Nathaniel. Ruth wants to date Nathaniel and suddenly Anne Marie feels uneasy
about sweet, thoughtful Nathaniel dating Ruth or is she really feeling
jealousy?
The final novella is The Christmas Aprons by Tricia Goyer, which takes place
in the beautiful mountains of Montana. Quiet and shy Esther is staying with her
cousin, Hannah, to help care for Hannah’s new baby. While at Hannah’s house,
Esther’s mother sends her super-secret recipe for Vanilla Crumb Pie. (And the
recipe is included in the book!) Esther bakes a Vanilla Crumb Pie to take to
the fundraiser for the fire department. Everyone is hoping that Esther will
finally make a friend with her special pie. Can a pie really spark a romance?
This enjoyable set of stories were released October
2014.
Gloria
is a 59-year-old retired RN and
former accountant who has
a life long love of reading. She has spent the
last two years reading every
Amish novel she can get her hands on. When not
reading, Gloria spends her day trading stocks
and options,
tweeting under the name of @gloriason, and
expressing her gratitude to God. She
blogs at amishreader.blogspot.com.