A Healing Touch

Fisher (Love on a Whim) centers this poignant contemporary Amish romance on Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus, a doctor in her late 50s who treats the Englisch and Amish of Stoney Ridge, Pa. Ever since leaving the Amish community she was raised in for college and medical school, Dok has wanted to go the extra mile for her patients, but the long hours she spends at her practice grate on her husband, Matt. Their life gets even more hectic when a newborn—who turns out to be the son of Matt’s drug-addicted cousin—is left on their doorstep. Matt convinces a reluctant Dok to temporarily take in the baby, and to her surprise she slowly realizes how much joy the child brings them, as she begins to envision a future that she doubted she would ever have. Dok’s story line is intertwined with those of her Amish assistant, Annie, whom Dok encourages to become an EMT, and her patient Bee Bennett, who remakes her life following a breast cancer diagnosis. The author perceptively sketches her characters’ emotional arcs as life’s challenges yield unexpected gifts, speaking to the power of second chances, faith, and love. Readers will eagerly await Fisher’s next trip to Lancaster County. (Oct.)