About the Book
Book: Miriam’s Little Gentleman (The Heart of the Amish Book 13)
Author: Anne Blackburne
Genre: Amish/Christian Fiction
Release Date: May, 2026
Her Heart Is Set on One Man
Full of faith, hope, and romance, this series takes you into the Heart of Amish Country.
Miriam Zook has loved David Miller her whole life, and she confessed her feelings the night before he moved to Indiana and joined the Mennonite church. Miriam, having been baptized into the Amish faith, makes an income by painting beautiful vignettes of Amish life. She has never married, since no one ever compared to David, and, as she is an only child, this concerns the women in her family greatly. Now, seven years after leaving, David is back in Willow Creek to embrace his Amish roots and join the church. Miriam’s heart awakens, but can she dare to hope that he will also embrace her?
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About the Author
Anne Blackburne lives and works in Southeast Ohio as a newspaper editor and writer. She is the mother of five grown children, has one wonderful grandchild, and a spoiled poodle named Millie. For fun, when she isn’t working on Amish romance or sweet mysteries, Anne directs and acts in community theater productions and writes and directs original plays. She also enjoys reading, kayaking, swimming, searching for beach glass, and just sitting with a cup of coffee looking at large bodies of water. Her idea of the perfect vacation is cruising and seeing amazing new places with people she loves.
More from Anne
Hello Dear Readers!
It seems like only yesterday that the wonderful Christian bloggers who work with Celebrate Literature did a blog tour for my January 1 release in Barbour’s “Heart of the Amish” series, “Plain Jane’s Secret Admirer”! Yet here we are again, with another CelebrateLit blog tour, this time for my May release, “Miriam’s Little Gentleman”.
Miriam’s story is available now to readers in print and online wherever fine books are sold, and I feel blessed to have the help of the CelebrateLit folks in launching this next tale from my made-up Amish community of Willow Creek, Ohio.
In addition to Jane’s and Miriam’s stories, my previous Heart of the Amish books in the series include, “Ruth’s Gingersnap Surprise”, “Mary’s Calico Hope”, and “Lizzie’s Little Mouse”. If you’re read any of them, you’ll remember Miriam Zook, who does beautiful folk art paintings of Amish life scenes. Miriam was also mentioned in Ruth’s story as one of the lucky recipients of a kitten from their elderly friend, Lydia’s, cat’s final litter.
Miriam’s cat is a black and white tuxedo cat named Beau. He enjoys sitting outside in the fresh air while Miriam paints, safely wearing his natty red harness to keep him from wandering into trouble. If you read Jane’s story, you know kitties sometimes do wander off!
Miriam has been hung up on David Miller for years. She even told him so . . . but unfortunately, it was too late. David had already made plans to leave Willow Creek the following morning, running from troubles he didn’t make and couldn’t fix. Years later, Miriam and David still have feelings for one another. But are they strong enough to survive the hurt and years of separation, and to forge a real and lasting love? With God’s help, of course, anything is possible. That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy!
Thank you for taking the time to learn about Miriam’s story! This book is my fifth in Barbour Publishing’s series, “The Heart of the Amish”. Look for other great reads in the series from authors Mindy Steele, Kelly Irvin and Lisa Jones Baker.
I’m currently writing my sixth book in the series, which will feature a young woman you’ve met in some of my other stories, Rebecca Beachy. Her cat is Patches, a little orange and white boy. Together, with the help of Amish farmer Rudy Miller, they’ll figure out a way to keep a dear old woman from losing her home and business. A buried treasure and a small mystery are involved!
I hope you’re having as much fun reading about these remarkable young women – and their kitties! – as I’m having writing about them. Thanks for being part of our journey!
God bless you and yours!
Joyfully,
Anne Blackburne
Interview with the Author
- What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
The only thing I’ve done that qualifies was visiting Chincoteague Island with my family years ago. I’d always wanted to go there ever since I was a child and read all of Marguerite Henry’s stories set on the island. It was really neat seeing the ponies in the wild, just as Henry described.
One I’d like to do is to visit England and travel the Jane Austen path. I’d really like to attend the Jane Austen Festival in Bath someday!
- What is your favorite childhood book?
I absolutely adored the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read them over and over as a child, fascinated by the descriptions of life on the frontier, or in the big woods.
I found it very satisfying when Wilder wrote of Mary and Laura playing dolls in the attic of their house amidst all the big orange pumpkins, the gourds, the hams and other cuts of salted or smoked meat hanging wrapped in paper from the rafters, and baskets of fruit and cans of produce safely stored away against the coming winter. I still remember the illustration that went with the scene. It really made me feel good, safe and happy.
I purchased these books again as an adult — the original copies went through my five younger siblings — and read them all aloud to my own children.
Another author I couldn’t get enough of as a teen was James Herriot. I read everything he wrote and planned for many years to be a veterinarian! Then I went into journalism instead. I think I admired the stories more than the actual job, once I truly checked out what it was like in real life.
- Who is the author you most admire in your genre?
There are many authors of Amish romance I admire. I’ve learned a lot about writing for the genre by reading their work. Some of these include Patricia Johns, Mindy Steele, Vanetta Chapman, Wanda Brunstetter, Shelley Shepard Gray, Lisa Jones Baker, Virginia Wise, Kelly Irvin, Dana Lynn, Samantha Price and more. I know I’m forgetting a few I really enjoy.
- What comes first, the plot or characters?
It depends. For my Heart of the Amish Willow Creek Amish stories, it would be the characters. That’s because in the first book, “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise”, I wrote that eight young, single Amish friends each received a kitten from their elderly friend Lydia. Each of these women will have her own story. Miriam’s story is the fifth in this little series. Currently I’m writing the sixth, “Rebecca’s Patchwork Love”. The final book will be “Anna’s Runaway Chatterbox”.
BUT! I think I may do one more book after writing the initial eight stories, about the little girl featured in the first book, Abby Hershberger. She was four in that story, and got the final kitten from the litter, a tiny white cat with blue eyes.
Other times I may be assigned a specific topic, such as Christmas time in Amish Country. In those cases, I come up with a plot first and then design characters to fit the plot. Either way is fun!
- What do you like to do when you are not writing?
When I’m not writing, I might be found working at my day job as editor of a couple of small weekly newspapers. Otherwise, I enjoy reading, walking with my dog, kayaking, walking on beaches looking for treasure, and did I mention reading? Note that I didn’t mention cleaning my house!
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic, June 27
Artistic Nobody, June 28 (Author Interview)
Life on Chickadee Lane, June 29
She Lives To Read, June 30
The Avid Reader, June 30
For Him and My Family, July 1
Guild Master, July 2 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, July 2
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 3
Simple Harvest Reads, July 4 (Guest Review from Marilyn)
EmpowerMoms, July 5
Holly’s Book Corner, July 6
Vickey Sluiter, July 7
Fiction Book Lover, July 8 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, July 9
Little Homeschool on the Prairie, July 10
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Anne is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon e-Gift Card and a print copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/Gffm1/miriams-little-gentleman-celebration-tour-giveaway