Reliable Amish romance author Emma Miller delivers another entertaining holiday romance with all the right notes. Hickory Grove, Delaware is the setting as we meet Ginger Stutzman, aged twenty-five and enjoying life. AN AMISH HOLIDAY COURTSHIP takes place all right, but not for some time. First Ginger thinks herself blessed – but somewhat pridefully, takes it as her due – when handsome new arrival Joe Verkler asks to walk out with her and drive her home from singing. She’s been told how pretty she is, and other young men enjoy her well-chaperoned company.     

Eli Kutz is an Amish widower, nine years older than Ginger. In the rush to get carpentry and fitted furnishings completed before Christmas, he needs someone reliable to mind his four children and cook for them. Ginger lives near enough to manage the daily visits, and the children are considered sufficient chaperonage.  Kent County is stricter than Lancaster County where Joe has been living, which might explain Joe’s sports shoes, but the older Eli can’t approve of his flirting with all the girls. Nor, when she finally notices, can Ginger. She has to start asking herself what she wants from a man – a suitor, a friend, a good companion for social gatherings?  Maybe she just needs to talk it out with Joe. Or maybe she needs to look around and see that Eli and his children appreciate her far more.

As a considerably sheltered young woman, without having had a rumspringa time to know the outside world, Ginger is doing the right thing by giving herself time to mature before committing to being a wife and mother. As Christmas approaches, I could see her growing up and changing her priorities. I was amused by the way that she didn’t think she did anything wrong by keeping men on a string, but the double standard kicked in when she saw a man doing that. Also, families feel pretty crowded with large numbers including adult children in the same house, something many families can empathise with as independent living gets more costly. No wonder relatives are keen for young adults to move out and wed.

AN AMISH HOLIDAY COURTSHIP is placed in the Hickory Grove area which Emma Miller is populating with plenty of distinctive, kindly characters, and she’ll soon be returning there to tell of a buggy-maker’s apprentice and what befalls him. Just writing that, it occurred to me that I didn’t have to say ‘him or her’ as I normally would. Sometimes it can be comforting to see roles and situations in traditional fashion, so we can set down our cares for a while and forget the fast-moving world. Celebrate the holidays at a buggy’s gentle pace with Emma Miller.   

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