The Courtship Plan

This sweet series launch from Fuller (Sold on Love) follows an unlikely romance between a socially awkward Amish woman and the Amish man who once humiliated her. As a joke, 15-year-old Jesse Bontrager places a newspaper ad boasting the number of eligible Amish bachelors (his brothers among them) in Birch Creek, Ohio, but he gets a taste of his own medicine after his brother tricks him into going on a date with the most desperate woman to answer the ad, Charity Raber. Jesse catches onto his brother’s prank and insults Charity, who runs out in embarrassment and moves away. A year later, Jesse moves to Marigold, Ohio, and learns that he’s neighbors with Charity, who works as a live-in nurse for Shirley, the Englisch woman who lives next-door. Shirley catches wind of a far-fetched “courtship plan” Charity has devised to find a husband and asks Jesse to talk Charity out of it because Shirley knows only God can mend Charity’s heart. Jesse obliges and develops a soft spot for Charity. Despite their history, she warms to Jesse as well, but becomes furious after learning that he placed the ad as a prank, leading Jesse to search for a way to make up for humiliating her. Fuller’s fluid prose and the chemistry between the leads are sure to entertain. This winsome romance charms. (Jan.)