Bountiful, Pennsylvania, is near enough to Pittsburgh that many people know of a Mennonite halfway house where lapsed Amish people can go to get a start in the outside world. This unusually fraught account of crime, broken promises and hasty loving makes for an unusual Amish romance, featuring a bookbinder’s daughter and THE PREACHER’S SON.

To fit with the concept of a peaceful inspirational tale, the story begins just after the shocking actions have occurred. Now the community has to come to terms with what they see as wrongs, and face the many consequences. Abe Yoder’s grown son Isaiah appears to be the most harmed when his father is jailed for his part in a swindle orchestrated by some Englisch men, who pretended to collect for a charity. The charismatic preacher convinced many Amish families to invest, so when that fell through, many see it as only just that Isaiah loses his family’s farm and respectability. He isn’t even allowed to contact his shunned, jailed father.

Bethany Glick works in her own dad’s bookbinding shop – I love that we learn about the trade. In this first ‘The Infamous Amish’ story, she’s secretly dreading facing her family and friends with the news that her young fiancé has dumped her and run off to the big world. She’d been so sure of Micah Weibe. He was the only man who ever drove her home in his buggy, and he might be the last, because her reputation is ruined.

Isaiah’s sister Lovina has also disappeared and several young people are leaving. Bethany’s wary of gossip about her upcoming wedding to her father’s apprentice Micah being cancelled, but would the Amish community approve of Isaiah taking the job? He might prove a bad influence, but doesn’t the Lord tell us to forgive? The rules seem strict and people narrow minded to outsiders, and double standards are still present. But Bethany and her dad and mamm are running out of options. 

I had a good time reading this romance by Patricia Johns, and met quite a few scenarios that don’t appear in usual Amish stories. Young women the world over have been faced with unpalatable choices. Isaiah, while a responsible young man, is considered a poor match now, with no land and a black cloud over his family. Who could blame him if he left to make his own way in the city?  I like the way he always acts to care for his buggy horse, and treats other people respectfully, whatever their opinion of him. As to whether the people fear that family members will ‘go Mennonite,’ I expect each community has slightly different outlooks, and this one doesn’t seem to use any modern conveniences. I’ll be keen to read more of this series, and recommend THE PREACHER’S SON to anyone wanting a tension-filled romance – sometimes we need to see a situation from the outside to understand our own lives.