Shelley Shepard Gray

"Addie Holmes is Apple Creek's resident wallflower. She is kind and giving and has a lot to be grateful for. But she is full of self-doubt because her parents did not want her and gave her to her grandmother to raise. Now her life seems to be just hard work and loneliness. 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 receives a note from a secret admirer....

"Jackson Koch had already lost his wife to cancer when the town's coal mines shut down and his job was gone too. So, with a three-year-old daughter to care for and a broken heart to mend, he moved across the country to find a new life in Bridgeport, Ohio. Now he tends bar by night and tries to navigate life as a single dad by day. Luckily, his neighbor is happy to babysit while he works late nights. She's great with little Kate, beautiful, kind and...

"A solitary sort, forty-two-year-old Atle Petersheim spends his time hard at work in his wood shop. But as the days get long, he realizes just how lonely he's become. When his longtime crush, Sadie Mast, a widow and mother of three, asks him to help her build a room in their barn for her son Cale, Atle can't say no. Eager to pursue Sadie at last, he turns to bookmobile librarian Sarah Anne Miller for courting advice. More than happy to help, Sarah...

Viola Keim starts working at a Mennonite retirement home and soon finds herself torn between her attraction to Ed, missionary son of a resident, and her Amish values that require her to remain near home to care for her needy family members. Can she leave them behind to begin a new life abroad with Ed?

"Marie Hartman never thought she'd move back to Walnut Creek but, still reeling from a friend's heartbreaking passing, she's desperate for the comforts of home. And she's determined to surround herself with people who care more about her heart than her striking looks. Vowing to reconnect with her childhood best friends and find a larger meaning in life, she's also decided it's finally time to summon the courage to see if there's something more between...

After Beverly Overholt's beloved Orange Blossom Inn is broken into, she calls Eric Wagler, the inn's handsome owner to handle the repairs. Beverly's been closed off to love for years, but with Eric, she can't help seeing a glimmer of hope even if they're from different worlds.

Kurt Holland moves to Bridgeport, Ohio so his younger brother Sam will have more opportunities, maybe even a scholarship to college. When Sam gets in trouble for fighting at school, Kurt meets Sam's English teacher. Emily Springer is passionate about helping all of her students succeed., and goes to bat in Sam's defense. When she meets Kurt, Emily questions her strict no-dating policy when it comes to her students' parents, since Kurt isn't technically...

An English woman and an Amish man must struggle with how much to sacrifice for their love.

"A respectable young Amish woman finds herself falling for an Amish man from the wrong side of the tracks"--

Beth Byler has a secret. Ever since she met Englischer Chris Ellis while helping out at the Yellow Bird Inn, she cannot stop thinking about him. She knows a relationship could never go anywhere: Chris was working undercover in Crittenden County as a DEA agent. That meant he faced danger daily and carried a gun, making him completely unsuitable for an Amish woman like herself. But she knew he felt the attraction, too. It was the reason he left so suddenly,...