An Amish woman from a reclusive mountain town is married off to a visiting professor in “The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain” by Kelly Long.

Mary King shares a kiss with a visiting Amish studies professor Jude Lyons. Her father then insists the young man marry her and a hasty wedding ceremony is performed. Jude is determined to have the marriage annulled, but is taken with Mary.

When it is decided that she will accompany him back to Atlanta, he intends for her to return to her mountain town someday. But he is unprepared for the way she changes his family, his life and his heart. Not your stereotypical Amish story, this story has a bit of heat to it with the romance between the two main characters. Mary’s family seems a little more “mountain” than “Amish,” but the small town girl in the big city storyline is good, as well as her facing off against his domineering father and his former fiancee.

“The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain” is published by Zebra Books. It is $6.99 and 352 pages long.

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander brings an American to a British wedding in “The Shocking Secret of a Guest at the Wedding.”

Jack has recently gotten the surprise of his life – his father whom he thought died when he was a baby is very much alive.

And Jack’s existance is just as big of a shock to his father – it turns out he believed Jack’s mother had divorced him and never knew of her pregnancy.

His father offers him a chance to get to know him better in England, and Jack, not sure about his future as a banker or with the family friend he is supposed to marry, takes him up on the offer.

Once in England and attending a wedding with his father, he meets Lady Theodosia Winslow, and is instantly captivated by her. And while flirtations and bonding over their domineering parents brings them closer as friends, romance doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

When Jack decides to rescue Teddy from having to marry a man she doesn’t love, he steps in as a fiance, in name only, but will they soon make it official?

This is a story of matched wits between two dominant characters that the reader will enjoy. Their flirtation is funny and will fan the flames of your heart.

“The Shocking Secret of a Guest at the Wedding” is published by Zebra Books. It is $7.99 and 390 pages long.

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Rosalind Lauer continues her Lancaster Crossroads series in “A Simple Charity.”

Fanny Lapp has only recently become a widow for the second time in her young life.

Serving as a mother figure to her second husband’s older children and taking care of their own young ones, Fanny helps a local midwife and dreams of starting an Amish birthing center, like what was in her community in Ohio. Her community has sent Zed Miller to help the family restore a building on their property, one that Fanny thinks could serve as the center.

While Zed is there working, Fanny and he become closer together. But with her husband not yet dead a year, is there no chance of a romance between the two of them?

Meanwhile, Englisher Meg, a former midwife who is now being investigated, is the only one around to help when an Amish woman giving birth needs medical attention. Meg is pressed to help and reluctantly does.

When the birth is a success, it gives her the courage to face the medical board and fight for her license back.

She even makes friends with a local police officer who is ready to help her when needed. Will she return to what she loved doing?

Full of warm, rich characters, this is la ovely book that will make readers smile.

The characters will stick with you after the story is done.

“A Simple Charity” is published by Ballantine Books. It is $15 and 336 pages long.

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Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com