An Unexpected Joy

August 31, 2015
Three Amish romance novelists confect variations on the theme of Christmas in a collection that’s long on seasonal sweetness. Irvin’s tale has the most effervescence: Rocky, a young English (non-Amish) man, follows Frannie, a young Amish woman, to Texas after her parents send her to stay with family there to disrupt their growing attachment. The chemistry between the two is heartwarming, even if Rocky’s growing interest in the Amish way of life is not wholly convincing to the reader. Reid’s story uses the familiar romance trope of opposites attracting to bring together garrulous Abigail and critical Micah, when the latter engages the former to care for his grandmother. Clipston draws on one too many tired devices—the precocious motherless child, an injury sustained in a winter storm, multiple love interests that generate misunderstandings for the main character—in her tale of 24-year-old Naomi King resigning herself to unwedded life until widower Caleb Schmucker returns to town with a young daughter obviously in need of maternal nurturing. This trio is best suited to hardcore Amish romance readers. Agents: Clipston: Mary Sue Seymour, Seymour Agency; Reid: Susan Brower, Natasha Kern Literary Agency; Irvin: Mary Sue Seymour.