Olivia Newport Amish plowRufus Beiler moved from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Custer County, Colorado. He discovered that farming in dry, rocky, southwestern Colorado is a whole ‘nother skill than agriculture in good old PA. He’s not a quitter. He sticks with his family as they face the challenge of carving out a new life in a new settlement far from their extended family and church community. He uses his skill as a cabinet maker both to help support the family and also to create bridges to a new community.

And when Annie Friesen shows up accidentally in Rufus’s barn, he doesn’t freak out. He challenges her to consider what her own values are and how they form the choices she must make.

Jerry S. Eicher, author of four Amish series, including The Fields of Home, got this. He said,

“The wild English world arrives in Rufus Beiler’s life, and doesn’t leave. Olivia Newport stirs in a touch of historical and suspense, for a pleasant and accurate read on Amish life.”

I’m looking forward to when you can all meet Rufus—just a few more days now!