Joann Yoder, with past bookstore experience, is being let go from her job at an Amish publishing house because the owner's nephew Roman has a paralysed arm and needs a job. He's only worked in a sawmill, but a man gets work before a woman. Joann is single at twenty-six, living with her brothers' families in turn and wishing for a home of her own. But if she can't earn a proper living how can she be independent?

Roman, recovering from his accident, frets at not being able to do a proper man's job and knows nothing about publishing. His family asked for the job as a favour without consulting him, and the firm, serving the old order community, is a respectable employer. He recalls Joanna as a plain, shy bookworm in school, and doesn't realise his appointment is pushing her out the door... after she's shown him how to do the job. He's been escorting a young woman home from church, but her affections have moved on.

PLAIN ADMIRER shows some pitfalls of the old ways; Joann, a keen fisher, buys a new rod and reel but her brother resents that she has caught more fish than he and throws it into the lake, saying that her pride is sinful. Unable to stand up for herself or get a mortgage, Joann is being pushed around by everyone and called an old maid. On the other hand, she has women friends, is entitled to family support and will be given back her bookstore clerk's job. The magazine is printed old-style, with moveable type, and we hear the explanation of the typesetter minding his p's and q's. One staffer is an 'Englisch' man who left a press when they installed computers. Englisch printing tasks are accepted if the content is suitable, and Amish cookbooks are very popular with tourists, while the community collects money for state road upkeep. Amusingly Joann and Roman begin a correspondence over fishing, without knowing the other's identity, and we can see that they have more in common than they realised.

There is a lot to like in Patricia Davids' book, from her depiction of the Plain People to the fine details of occupations, while tensions mount when the Englisch man who caused Roman's accident is jailed and retaliation strikes occur. PLAIN ADMIRER is a good involving read from start to finish and a pleasing romance