After reading Anything but Plain, by Suzanne Woods Fisher, with my mom, we have been enjoying such a delightful reading streak of other books by SWF (we originally started with her Bishop’s Family books, a few years back).
I had purchased book three in the Lancaster County Secrets from a thrift store a few months back, but had yet to read it. For this reason, I wanted us to work our way through books one and two, so that we could then read book three. It was a pleasant surprise, after completing the series, to learn that this was also the first Amish series the author published.
Now, we’re about halfway through The Keeper, which is book one of the Stoney Ridge Secrets series. It’s so fun because it appears to me that all of Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Amish books are set in Stoney Ridge, which means getting to walk alongside the characters and meet them again and again!
Why I Recommend the Series
In general, I enjoy the author’s writing style, and I have observed that the Lord often uses her delightful books to speak to me. However, this series especially stands out to me, in the romance genre, because the author explicitly dismantles some of the lies that are often perpetuated, even in Christian romance series. (I go into these more in my post, What Makes a Book “Clean?”)
Specifically, she tackles the lies that A) We can “save” a person by loving them and B) a person can fill the void that only God can fill. It makes me so happy to see an author engaging with these ideas. This, this is what romantic fiction should look like!
On top of the fantastic thematic content, there are some really funny moments in the books, including one involving… whoopie pies. I came across this delicious-looking recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie pies from RefreshHer, several weeks ago, and am posting it with the author’s permission.
Stephanie's Ninth Suitcase 