Stepping Stones

The first book in a new Amish romance series by beloved novelist Linda Byler, an active member of the Amish church. With her flaming red hair and inquisitive personality, Mary is a bit of an anomaly in her Amish community in western New York. She tries to join in the fun with the other youth as they gather for hymn singings and games, but she finds it all rather dull. None of the young men are interested in her and she's even less interested in them. With each passing year, she feels more and more out of place and stifled by life as a misfit in a rural Amish community. When her aunt comes for a visit and suggests she return to Lancaster with her to help manage her bakery, Mary sees her opportunity for the change she's desperately craving. But her parents forbid her to go, her father convinced that leaving the family for the busy life of Lancaster will lead her down a path of destruction. Mary is deeply distressed, wanting to honor her parents' wishes and also knowing she can't stay trapped in their isolated community forever. At twenty-one, she's old enough to decide for herself, and yet it's painful to be at odds with her father. Will she go, despite her father's dire warnings? If she stays, will she just continue to disappoint her parents, asking too many questions and never finding a man to marry? One thing is sure. Before she can even think about dating, she needs to figure out who she is and where she belongs. And that might require a boldness she didn't know she possessed.

Follow Mary's journey as she continues to search for a sense of belonging in this second book in the “Stepping Stones” series, following “Who Is Mary?” Running her own bakery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania keeps Mary busy, and her active mind engaged. But she continues to struggle with anxiety that is sometimes crushing, and though she has Aunt Lizzie and a few good friends, she often feels lonely and out of place. She's still questioning her very conservative Amish upbringing, too, and feeling torn between fear of an angry, exacting God and the hope of a loving, forgiving one. At a hymn singing, Mary meets Steve, a young man who intrigues her, but their fledgling relationship is interrupted when she learns that her father has been in an accident, and she must return home to rural New York to care for him. Tending to her very strict father, stretches Mary nearly to breaking point. Will they ever be able to really love and respect each other? Unexpectedly, Mary finds herself being pursued not only by Steve but also by two other young men, Chester and Bennie. Are any of them right for her? How can she even begin to know God's will when she's not even sure she knows who God is?