Fans of the series will enjoy this chance to briefly revisit Pebble Creek, and new readers will be introduced to an Amish community that is more deeply explored in the three full novels, A Promise for Miriam, A Home for Lydia, and A Wedding for Julia. When Joseph Bontrager left Pebble Creek, all of Esther Schrock’s dreams and hopes for the future went with him. Bravely picking up the pieces of her broken heart, she resumed her life teaching at the schoolhouse with Miriam King. Now, nineteen months later, Joseph has returned. Despite her initial excitement, Esther feels anger rise up instead of love. Will she be able to forgive him for leaving? Forgive him for more than a year and a half of silence without a single letter? With Miriam’s encouraging words, and despite ominous clouds on the horizon, will Esther be able to replace the bitterness in her heart with affection for Joseph once more?

    Founded by three Amish sisters determined to put misfortune behind them, Promise Lodge is a colony where faith's abiding promise can be fulfilled--and love can make all things new…Energetic widow Mattie Bender Schwartz is working day and night to get Promise Lodge going. She's also hoping the change will help her son Noah's heart to heal after his broken engagement. But his former fiancée, Deborah, is looking for a fresh start too. Filled with regret, and cast out by her dat for a reason she can't yet reveal, Deborah can only pray Noah will forgive her foolishness. Deborah is the last person Noah expected to show up at Promise Lodge. But with her cruel words still ringing in his head, he's reluctant to accept her apology--even if the Old Order ways demand he try. If only he could obey Christ's most important commandment: love one another. But one thing is certain--his mother and aunts, and their beloved Preacher Amos, will do their best to help him get there. Praise for Charlotte Hubbard's Seasons of the Heart series"Another great book centered around the Sweet Seasons Café." --RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars"These very special books will sit proudly on my keeper shelf!" --Romance Reviews Today

    Jennifer Beckstrand writes lovely stories, sure to touch your heart.”--RaeAnne Thayne, New York Times bestselling authorSmart, kind, and good-hearted, the three Christner girls are affectionately known as The Honeybee Sisters in the beloved Wisconsin Amish community where, under the care of their aunt, they've grown into skilled beekeepers--and lovely, sought-after young women. . .Though she has blossomed into a beauty, Lily Christner doesn't really believe it. Deep down, she still feels like a lonely, gawky teenager. Maybe that's why she's all but promised herself to Paul Glick, the one boy who never teased her in her awkward girlhood--unlike Dan Kanagy, whose creative name-calling left her in tears many a time. Now he's back in town after two years away--and being surprisingly sweet, suspiciously attentive--and making Lily unsettlingly yet deliciously nervous. It seems Dan wants Lily's forgiveness--and her heart. But can he convince her--not to mention her protective schwesters and aendi--that despite the past, her future lies with him?...  Praise for Jennifer Beckstrand and her Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series"Full of kind, sincere characters struggling with the best ways to stay true to themselves and their beliefs." --Publishers Weekly"Readers will treasure this series and put the first outing on their keeper shelf." --RT Book Reviews"A delightful voice in Amish romance. Sweet and funny." --Emma Miller

    Since Anna's death, it had been such a barrier...a place and a moment she could not seem to move past. A line I can't move beyond...The River Tilly and Ruth, two formerly Amish sisters, are plagued by unresolved relationships when they reluctantly return to Lancaster County for their parents' landmark wedding anniversary. Since departing their Plain upbringing, Tilly has married an Englisher, but Ruth remains single and hasn't entirely forgotten her failed courtship with her Amish beau.Past meets present as Tilly and Ruth yearn for acceptance and redemption. Can they face the future in the light of a past they can't undo?

    . . what if?Sixteen-year-old Faith has worked full-time in her parents’ restaurant since she finished eighth grade. She loves her Amish community—and the romantic attentions of her longtime friend, Gideon.When her sister seems to be getting too friendly with Englischers, and her parents are in a buggy accident, Faith wants to escape into her dream of joining the church and getting married.But then a local newspaper runs a story about a child named Adriana who was kidnapped fifteen years earlier, and everything Faith has held true comes into question.Suddenly the community Faith has known her whole life seems unreal. Can she even trust her own family? And how will she ever find home again if she no longer belongs in the world she knows best?

    Yet Miranda Klassen and Ted Wiebe must find a way to make peace to meet their common goal to open the doors of Ted's Old Order Mennonite church and community. Will they also find love in the process?

     What she most needed was right there in front of her all along. At the age of thirteen, Clarise Aylward and her two best friends each pen a wish list of things they want to achieve. Deciding to bury a tin containing their life goals, the friends vow to unearth the metal box once they’ve all turned forty. But as the decades pass and each girl chases her dreams, the lists are forgotten. Heath Brock has been in love with Clarise for over twenty-seven years and counting. As a young man, he’d plucked up the courage to ask her out on a Valentine’s date, but the couple succumbed to pent-up passions, sending Clarise dashing for the other side of the country. Years after Clarise’s sudden departure, Heath serves as youth pastor. He’d held out hope of Clarise’s return, but buries his feelings for his childhood sweetheart when he learns she’s married. Almost penniless, divorced, and with nowhere to go, Clarise returns home to Chapel Cove, her future uncertain. She’s approaching forty with her dreams in tatters. When old feelings resurface, Clarise wonders whether she’s ever really fallen out of love with Heath. What’s the man of God to do when his old flame returns, seemingly to stay? With Clarise back in town, Heath is determined not to repeat past mistakes, but if he has anything to say about it, never again will he lose the only woman he’s ever loved.

    Tongues haven't stopped clacking in Jamesport, MO, since her daed, the bishop, was admitted to a mental hospital after hurting their small Amish community. But her sharpest wounds Bethany hides from prying eyes, quietly biding her time until she can take a chance at a new life away from Jamesport and away from God.Searching for a HomeSilas Beiler was kicked out of his own family's home. Dogged by a rough childhood and a family who blames him for each new disaster, he begins hitchhiking across the country, sleeping in barns where he can, working for food when possible; headed for Pennsylvania, in the hope of some stability. A Memory of LemonadeWhen Bethany spies a man asleep in the hayloft, she first fears the return of an unwelcome suitor. But when it is Silas who turns and speaks, the memories flood back: a happy summer six years ago full of lemonade, long walks, and budding courtship. Now, however, those months of bliss seem naive and idyllic. Will their old love overcome new pain? Or will hurt and rejection continue to haunt their path?

    After witnessing the death and destruction caused by the Civil War, Colonel Blake Wallace is eager to leave his once precious Southern homeland for the pristine shores of Brazil and the prospect of a new utopian community. Widow Eliza Crawford seeks passage on Wallace’s ship harboring a dirty secret—and a blossoming hope for a fresh start. But once the voyage begins, troubles abound. Dangers at sea and enemies from within threaten to keep Blake and Eliza from the new life—and love—they long for.

    Despite the many mishaps she encounters, she is determined to get that deed. If not for Luke, the Amish, tenant-farmer's oldest son, she could stay on task, but her attraction to him is becoming a little more than a distraction.

    She thought love had passed her by until she meets Jesse Smucker, a widower with a baby daughter. She quickly falls in love with them both and accepts Jesse’s proposal of marriage, but Jesse breaks off their engagement when he realizes he can’t marry only for convenience.   Resigned to living single, Lenore throws herself into caring for her elders. While working in her grandmother’s garden, she digs up an old jar. Will Lenore find healing for her broken heart and solve long-buried family secrets by reading the note contained inside?

    

     After her parents die in a buggy accident, Diane is bereft. It was all so sudden, not only for her, but also for her four younger siblings. Heartbroken, Diane turns to the young man she's courting for support. But when Elmo learns that Diane is determined to care for all four of her siblings, he's quick to back away. Now Diane is all alone, and the local bishop has told her that unless she can prove to him that she can run her parents' fabric store as well as raise her siblings, the children will be split up and sent to relatives in distant states. Diane has already lost her beau and her parents – she can't face losing the rest of her family, too. And the bishop has imposed an impossible deadline: Christmas Day. The snow is falling, the holiday is fast approaching, and Diane is struggling to cope with responsibilities she never asked for. Yet as Christmas Day draws near, there's a glimmer of hope in the darkness. Diane meets Ben Lehman, himself trying to raise his two children after grieving the loss of his wife. As Christmas approaches, he might turn out to be just what Diane has been missing ... before she runs out of time.

    A beautiful home, a loving husband, and a wonderful Amish community are only a few of her daily blessings. But she has carried a heavy burden for years: a secret that no one must know. When tragedy strikes, her secret threatens to be revealed, jeopardizing everything she’s ever loved. Will Hannah be able to face her greatest fear and find God's purpose for her life?

    In this delightful trio of stories, three cousins scattered across the country share their blessings—and reveal news of romantic surprises . . .   To win a friendly annual competition, matchmaker Marybeth Martin must bring one more couple together by Christmas. Her only prospect is a man more interested in a nanny than a wife—until his little girl shows him the light. . . . Struggling farmer’s daughter Katie Mae Kauffman discovers that she and a local widower and father of four can harvest more crops—and profits—together than separately. But she’ll have to put pride aside to make room for unexpected love. . . . Corralling an unruly brood of seven is not babysitter Carolyn Yutzy’s first choice for celebrating the season—but the sparks between her and their unsentimental yet irresistible uncle may be a gift neither was counting on . . .   Now, one by one, each resourceful young woman will have a holiday to remember—and to write home about . . .