Hearts in Harmony is the first book in the Amish Journey series. How does this book fit into the larger picture?
All of the books are love stories, but I don’t mean just boy meets girl, they fall in love, and the reader gets a HEA [Happily Ever After]. There are so many types of love stories, and I enjoy exploring the love between mothers and daughters, siblings, friends, and the families we often unintentionally create, then cherish.
When Levi and Mary meet, it is because their parents have a mutual non-Amish friend, a widowed woman who ultimately becomes more than a friend to Levi and Mary. As Levi and Mary’s friendship grows with Adeline, another person joins their group—Natalie, Adeline’s young cousin who isn’t Amish.
Yes, Mary and Levi are falling in love. But an elderly woman finds the family she’s never had. A young girl is introduced to God and begins a spiritual journey of her own. And these are all love stories intertwined within the plot.
What can readers expect from future volumes?
The main players in Hearts in Harmony are Levi and Mary. But I think readers will be able to tell that Natalie’s story was just beginning. So, in book #2 in the series—Listening to Love—we get to accompany Natalie on her faith journey, her evolving relationship with her mother, and her continued friendship with Levi and Mary.
And for the main love story, you’ll have to read the book, lol. I don’t want to give any spoilers!
What background or research do you bring to your Amish stories?
I have written novels about Amish people living in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Indiana. I have traveled to all of these places, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have connections in each area.
I interviewed one of the very conservative Amish women, from Orleans, in the car while it was snowing outside. She’d set up her buggy in the parking lot of a retail outlet and was selling vegetables, cookbooks, etc. But I think she was happy to meet with me in the car where the heater was on!
Beth talks her new collection with Amy Clipston and other Amish romance authors: Click through to continue!