Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
An Amish Marriage Agreement has Amish basket-maker Olivia Bontrager moving to Montana looking for a fresh start after her father dies. Unexpectedly, she finds her sister has abandoned her baby on Olivia’s doorstep. Wanting to give her niece a stable life, she accepts help from handyman Andrew Eicher, who offers a shocking proposal: a marriage of convenience because he wants to pull their finances to buy a farm. Now, after long resigning herself to spinsterhood, Olivia says yes knowing she will have the home and family she’s always yearned for. As they get closer Andrew realizes Olivia is everything he wanted in a wife, and she realizes she is falling in love with him. Everything seems to be going great until Olivia’s sister, Adele, reappears and jeopardizes the happiness they’ve found.
The Amish Baker’s Redemption is Adele’s redemption story. After spending years in the English world, Adele Bontrager returns to her Amish community, desperate to redeem herself and reclaim her faith. Working in an Amish bakery, she feels like her life is finally moving in the right direction until Isaiah King arrives as the new head baker. Single father Isaiah has his hands full trying to raise his rebellious teenage daughter, Phoebe, and is grateful when Adele strikes up a friendship with his sullen child, despite her obvious reluctance toward him. But when he learns of her troubled history, he’ll need to decide if her past is worth risking their future and does he want her around Phoebe.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for An Amish Marriage Agreement?
Patrice Lewis: I liked the idea of a beautiful sister and a plain sister. The main character, Olivia, had a wonderful personality and a skill set, but lacks beauty.
EC: How would you describe Olivia?
PL: She is grief-filled after losing her dad. She considers herself a spinster. Olivia is stubborn, determined, responsible, self-deprecating, believes she is gangly looking, a risk-taker, kind, generous, hard-working, and clever.
EC: How would you describe the male lead, Andrew?
PL: He is bitter and angry about Sarah, his former girlfriend, who dumped him. He is orderly, level-headed, enthusiastic, and generous.
EC: What is the difference between Sarah and Olivia?
PL: They are opposites. Sarah has a shallow personality, while Olivia is a truly wonderful person inside and out. The only thing Sarah has going for her is beauty.
EC: What about the relationship between Olivia and Andrew?
PL: First, they were business partners, then friends who teased good-naturedly, shared chores, could make small talk, and both feel like outsiders. Andrew now believes he wants someone with beauty inside, not on the outside. He starts to recognize the value of Olivia.
EC: Why a marriage of convenience?
PL: They both wanted something very badly. The only way to get it was to join forces. Olivia had a baby placed on her doorstep, abandoned by her sister, so she felt the baby needed a father figure. Andrew knew he needed a financial partner in the farm. They decided to team up, both thinking they would not marry for love.
EC: What is the role of the baby, Helen?
PL: Olivia has no clue on how to raise the baby. I put in the scene on how they meet, and hope readers thought it was humorous. She literally yanked open the door and had a baby there. She panicked and motherhood did not come naturally for her. Andrew was on the doorstep because he was sent to repair the house. He knew what to do on how to handle a baby.
EC: Why did she keep Helen?
PL: She was Olivias father’s only grandchild and was named after her mother, both parents had died. She was motivation for Olivia to buy a farm with Andrew because he promised to be a father to Helen.
EC: What was the role of Adele?
PL: Flighty, selfish, self-centered, criticized Olivia’s looks, made her feel inferior, and yet was jealous of her. She was also shallow, insecure, and beautiful.
EC: Has Adele changed in The Amish Baker’s Redemption, the next book in the series?
PL: In the last story at the ending Adele had hit bottom. Before that she sought after wealthy, powerful men who were attracted to her because of her looks, but not her personality. She was rebellious, restless, and callous. In this book she changes because of the guilt she gave up her baby, men started dumping her, jealous of her sister’s life, and being financially destitute. Adele had to get redemption. She decided to now make the right choices. She became responsible, modest, has a good work ethic, devout, has humility, and is avoiding men. Adele saw herself as a fallen women who wanted to redeem herself in the eyes of God, the community, Andrew, and Olivia.
EC: Idea for the story?
PL: I wanted to show how Olivia had to develop her personality because she did not have beauty, while Adele used her beauty to get what she wanted. Many beautiful women are as kind, loving, and caring as anybody else, but not Adele. She never developed her personality.
EC: How would you describe the male lead, Isiah?
PL: Stable, moralistic, hard-working, and scared his daughter is making the wrong choices.
EC: What about the relationship between Adele and Isiah?
PL: He admires her and he wants to court her. She feels she is not worthy of his affection, especially after he finds out about her past.
EC: What is the role of Isiah’s daughter, Phoebe?
PL: Adele realizes if Phoebe takes her path she will get into trouble because she does not have Adele’s good looks. Phoebe wants to travel the world, does not want to be baptized, and wants adventures. She is thinking of leaving the faith and at first does not realize she will lose the support of the Church and community, Adele is motivated to save Phoebe from herself. Phoebe hero worships Adele, while Adele sees herself as Phoebe’s mentor, to save Phoebe from herself so she will not make the same mistakes as Adele.
EC: How would you describe Phoebe?
PL: She is candid, rebellious, restless, impatient, and vulnerable. She is good-hearted.
EC: Next book?
PL: The Amish Nanny’s Marriage Offer which will be released in May. The hero and heroine are widowed. He has a daughter and she has a son. During Church services since men and women are separated, they watch each other’s child. He gave her a job to babysit his daughter. The heroine left for Montana because she was being pressured by her family to marry a psychopath.
EC: THANK YOU!!
