Caroline’s Secret

In this sweetly inspirational contemporary love story, Lillard (Gabriel’s Bride) sets up two romances in a small Oklahoma tourist community. Caroline Hostetler, a young Amish mother from Tennessee, not only grew up Plain, but also committed herself to the church. There’s just a small problem: the Amish of Wells Landing, where she arrived after fleeing her home two years ago, believe something about her that may not be true. It’s a secret that threatens both her and her toddler daughter. She’s taken in by Amish baker Esther Lapp, an older widow in love with the town’s woodcrafter, Abe Fitch. When Andrew Fitch, Abe’s nephew and a young Amish man with a broken heart, enters the picture, Andrew and Caroline’s friendship quickly turns into something more, with the help of their matchmaking elders. Rich with the trappings of Amish culture and tradition, the novel informs as well as entertains. Agent: Mary Sue Seymour, the Seymour Agency (Aug.)